Corby Kummer On Bon Appetit's 'Terribly White Culture'

Media Bon Appetit Apology — The staff at Bon Appetit, whose top editor resigned after a revolt by the journalists there after an offensive photo of him circulated online amid longstanding issues over treatment of people of color, said in a statement Wednesday, June 10, that "our mastheads have been far too white for far too long" and the magazine was making changes.

Hannah Uebele is a producer for Under the Radar with Callie Crossley and previously worked as associate producer for Boston Public Radio. She graduated from Tufts University with a B.S. in English and Environmental Studies. She's a proud Delawarean but has found herself saying "wicked" more and more often, so the Bostonian metamorphosis is well underway.Contact: hannah_uebele@wgbh.org

June 10, 2020

Updated August 07, 2023

Food writer Corby Kummer spoke with Boston Public Radio on Wednesday about food magazine Bon Appetit's recently exposed structural racism.

"The Me Too movement came for sexism, and now the moment is coming for racism," he said. "The editor of Bon Appetit, Adam Rapoport, was discovered in an old photo dressed up in Puerto Rican bling, and his assistant said [Rapoport] liked the picture so much that he had it framed on his desk."

The photo itself was appalling, but even more appalling was the culture of racism that has now been described at Bon Appetit, Kummer noted.

"The terribly white culture of the Test Kitchen at Bon Appetit has made millions...and that's why I think this culture went unchallenged," he said. "So the editor resigned and the Bon Appetit staff posted something today saying the culture is going to change and that they're going to right the pay inequity."

Kummer is a senior editor at The Atlantic, an award-winning food writer, and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition and Policy.