Refinery29’s global editor-in-chief and co-founder has announced she will step down following complaints of racial discrimination and a lack of racial diversity at the women-focused outlet.
Christene Barberich, who helped form Refinery29 in 2005, made the announcement on Monday on Instagram, saying she’d relinquish her position ‘to help diversify our leadership in editorial and ensure this brand and the people it touches can spark a new defining chapter.’
Her step back from the top editorial role came after ‘many women of color’ came forward last week to ‘thoughtfully share their experiences of racist aggressions at @Refinery29’, the R29 Union tweeted on June 5.
‘Their honesty deserves honesty in return,’ the union added.
Barberich helped found the company along with Philippe von Borries, Justin Stefano and Piera Gelardi. Refinery29 is a part of Vice Media Group and was acquired last fall.
Refinery29’s global editor-in-chief and co-founder Christene Barberich announced Monday she will step down from her post
Christene Barberich, who helped form Refinery29 in 2005, made the announcement on Monday on Instagram
‘We have to do better, and that starts with making room…I will be stepping aside in my role at R29 to help diversify our leadership in editorial,’ Barberich said
‘I’d like to start by saying that I’ve read and taken in the raw and personal accounts of Black women and women of color regarding their experiences inside our company at Refinery29. And, what’s clear from these experiences, is that R29 has to change,’ Barberich said in her Instagram post.
‘We have to do better, and that starts with making room. And, so I will be stepping aside in my role at R29 to help diversify our leadership in editorial and ensure this brand and the people it touches can spark a new defining chapter,’ she said in her post.
Refinery29 and Vice Media have already started the search for the next Global Editor-in-Chief.
‘It’s time for a new generation of leadership that’s truly reflective of the diversity of our audience with divergent points of view, one that builds and expands on our original mission to amplify and celebrate a wide range of voices, perspectives, and stories…stories that need and deserve to be told,’ she said.
‘That is still at the heart of this company and why its community has loved it so much for the past 15 years,’ she added.
‘We commit to you unequivocally that this search will be an inclusive hiring process with a diverse slate of candidates,’ Vice Media Group CEO Nancy Dubuc said in a memo to staff Monday.
Barberich helped found the company along with Philippe von Borries, Justin Stefano and Piera Gelardi. Refinery29 is a part of Vice Media Group and was acquired last fall
Dubuc said that Vice Media’s non-white employee base accounts for more than 40 percent of its headcount, which she claimed is nearly double most other media companies, as per Variety. Dubuc noted, ‘there’s still work to be done’.
Last week a slew of former Refinery29 employees complained of ‘toxic’ working conditions and racial discrimination on Twitter after Refinery29 blacked out its homepage for #BlackoutTuesday in honor of solidarity with George Floyd and against police brutality.
‘Hey @Refinery29, cool blacked out homepage! But you know what real allyship looks like? Paying your Black employees fairly, having Black women in top leadership positions & addressing the microagressions your Black employees deal with from management on a daily basis,’ former deputy director of news and politics Ashley Alese Edwards tweeted, launching the thread.
She said: ‘It’s really time WE as a community hold these brands accountable.’
Ashley C. Ford, who worked as senior features writer for nine months at the outlet, reported a ‘toxic company culture where white women’s egos ruled the near nonexistent editorial processes’.
She said one of the founders repeatedly confused her with another employee and the ‘pay disparity was atrocious’.
Last week a slew of former Refinery29 employees complained of ‘toxic’ working conditions, racial discrimination Twitter
‘This is not to say that *I* personally was underpaid, as I was not, but it didn’t take long to learn that no other black woman at the company was making anything close to my salary, while they were being overworked and under appreciated. I went back to freelancing,’ she said.
Andrea González-Ramírez, a former news and politics writer for Refinery29, claimed she was ‘paid $15,000 less than my two white coworkers while doing the exact same job’ for most of the three years she worked there.
Others pointed out there was a lack of black leadership at the company and there was racial insensitivity.
One employee said an exec mistook her for a caterer at an event because she was carrying a wine bottle and another said she was forced to write an ‘apology piece’ to white women for wearing gold chains, even though such jewelry is historically and culturally worn by people of color.
After the Twitter thread outing the company gained traction, the company released a statement saying: ‘We want to use this moment and this platform to say: We hear you. We are, and have always been, a company and a brand that seeks to hold ourselves accountable as we elevate underrepresented voices. And we recognize that commitment starts within our own walls. These changes will require a comprehensive look and assessment of ourselves, and we are committed to doing that work.’
On Saturday, Alyssa Coscarelli, senior fashion market editor at Refinery29, released an Instagram apology to a woman in the fashion business for her comment back in 2017 where she said ‘It’s always something with Subrina’ in reference to conversations about ‘blackness, Black Lives Matter, and racism in fashion.’
That thread seemed to strike a chord with multiple Refinery29 staffers, including those who held high positions.
On Saturday, senior fashion market editor Alyssa Coscarelli at Refinery29 released an Instagram apology to a woman in the fashion business for her comment back in 2017 where she said ‘It’s always something with Subrina’ in reference to conversations about ‘blackness, Black Lives Matter, and racism in fashion.’
‘I am deeply sorry for the comment I made and have been reflecting deeply on my behavior. No matter its intent or wording, it was a form of racism, and this is simply not okay.’
She clarified that Subrina did not work at Refinery29 but ran her own vintage business but the two women interacted on Instagram in regard to her fashion work.