Chrissy Teigen takes 'break' from Twitter following row with food writer Alison Roman

Teigen was initially set to executive produce Roman's cooking series
Chrissy Teigen
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Megan C. Hills11 May 2020

Chrissy Teigen, who is known for her notable social media presence and cookbook Cravings, has announced she is “gonna take a little break” from social media following a dramatic falling out with New York Times food writer Alison E. Roman.

Teigen had been lined up to executive produce an upcoming series by Roman, but in an interview, Roman said she was “horrified” by Teigen’s cooking empire and accused people of “running a content farm for her.”

Teigen called the comments a “huge bummer." The fallout got nasty when apparent supporters of Roman called Teigen's children (conceived by IVF) “petri dish babies” and old and false Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theories were circulated about the star.

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Teigen has changed her Twitter account to a protected one - meaning that only Teigen's followers will be able to read her tweets.

The row began when an interview with Roman was published in New Consumer, which stoked controversy on a number of counts.

From reportedly faking an Asian accent (which Roman has refuted and the article writer has said was “incorrect”) to targeting another Asian lifestyle figure Marie Kondo (who she said “f**king just sold out immediately”), her comments about Teigen’s “crazy” cooking business have drawn the most controversy.

Roman, who is famed for her viral cult recipe 'The Stew', said, “What Chrissy Teigen has done is so crazy to me. She had a successful cookbook. And then it was like: Boom, line at Target. Boom, now she has an Instagram page that has over a million followers where it’s just, like, people running a content farm for her.”

“That horrifies me and it’s not something that I ever want to do. I don’t aspire to that. But like, who’s laughing now? Because she’s making a ton of f**king money,” she continued.

In response on May 9, Teigen shared an article with Roman’s comments and called it a “huge bummer” - adding that it “hit me hard” because she “genuinely loved everything about Alison.”

Revealing she had previously been a big fan, Teigen said, “I have made [Roman’s] recipes for years now, bought the cookbooks, supported her on social and praised her in interviews. I even signed on to executive produce the very show she talks about doing in this article.”

Teigen continued that she had started Cravings because she “wanted something for myself” which also made herself and other people happy, outside of her high profile relationship with singer John Legend.

She said, “Cravings isn't a "machine" or "farmed content" - it's me and 2 other women. I didn't "sell out" by making my dreams come true... Watching a company grow makes me happy. I get joy from it and lots of people do.”

“I don't think I've ever been so bummed out by the words of a fellow food-lover. I just had no idea I was perceived that way, by her especially... It has been crappy to deal with this all day but I couldn't not say something. I know the actual tears I put into the work I do and it's really hard to see someone try to completely invalidate it. Someone I really liked,” she added.

She continued, “There are many days I cry very hard because cravings, the site, is our baby we love to pump content onto. we do this work ourselves, and there is NO monetary gain yet. it is just work work work and the reward is you liking it. so to be called a sellout....hooooo it hurts.”

Marie Kondo
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Teigen also defended Kondo from Roman’s comments, calling her “awesome”, and tagged Roman directly to say, “I guess we should probably unfollow each other.”

Following Teigen’s statement, Roman reached out to Teigen on Twitter to say she had “sent an email” and was “genuinely sorry I caused you pain with what I said.”

She wrote, “I shouldn’t have used you /your business (or Marie’s!) as an example to show what I wanted for my own career- it was flippant, careless and I’m so sorry.”

“Being a woman who takes down other women is absolutely not my thing and don’t think it’s yours, either (I obviously failed to effectively communicate that). I hope we can meet one day, I think we’d probably get along,” Roman continued.

A fan then claimed in response to Roman’s apology that the writer had “also mouthed ‘she’s so annoying’” in reference to Teigen on a broadcast weeks ago.

Although Teigen did not directly address Roman’s tweet, it appears that she did know of its existence as she then responded to the fan’s response writing “good to know.”

A number of fans of Teigen’s cookbook and its merchandise lines later rallied around Teigen, however Teigen revealed that she had since been subjected to trolls.

Teigen, who conceived her children via IVF, revealed people were “calling my kids Petri Dish babies or making up flight manifests with my name on them to ‘Epstein Island’, to justify someone else’s disdain with me.”

Calling the actions “gross”, she said she was “gonna take a little break” and added, “This is what always happens. The first day, a ton of support, then the next, 1 million reasons as to why you deserved this. It never fails.”

Teigen has continued to post wholesome videos and photos of herself self-isolating with her family on Instagram, which includes moments such as her making cookies and other desserts with Legend and her children.

Neither she or Roman have discussed the controversy any further and it is not known if Teigen will remain an executive producer on Roman's show.

Who is Alison Roman and how has she become so popular?

Roman is a New York Times food writer who has pioneered a number of recipes that have gone viral, including ‘The Stew’ and her ‘Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies’.

Roman, who previously used to work for Bon Appetit and BuzzFeed Food, has made a name for herself as an authority on stepped up yet accessible cooking.

She also stars in a number of videos demonstrating some of her cult hits and is currently creating a cooking series, which Teigen had signed up to executive produce.

She is also the bestselling cookbook author of Nothing Fancy and Dining In.

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