Leaving a Toxic and Inequitable Work Environment: Where are the BA Test Kitchen Women Now?

Written by Maria D. Quintero

Bon Appetit Magazine (BA) and Condé Nast came under fire last summer amidst claims from staff of structural racism. It all began with editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport publishing an article on the magazine’s website in response to the uprisings sparked by Gorge Floyd’s killing and how the company would act upon the BLM movements; however, he was quickly called out for gaslighting women of color, and accusations emerged online in part by an Instagram photo of Rapoport in brownface.

The food media world was then filled with discussions about BA’s culture and the lack of diverse voices in the industry, and it led several of the BA test kitchen members and other staff to publicly denounce the company, and said they would stop appearing in the very successful YouTube channel until changes were made, or they asked for Rapoport’s resignation. The demands of the BA staff regarding Rapoport were successful, as he resigned from his role in June.

The movement within BA started with Sohla El-Waylly, an assistant food editor, chef, restaurateur and YouTube personality. Sohla wrote about the racial discrimination she experienced while working at BA on her Instagram stories, saying that she was “pushed in front of videos to display diversity” and that she was hired at a $50,000 salary “to assist mostly white editors with significantly less experience than [her].” Sohla received the support of her colleagues, with many other BA kitchen staffers saying they would not appear in any of the videos until POCs get equal pay and compensation for their video appearances.

This story is about them, those who chose to foster equality and justice in an overwhelmingly discriminating workplace by leaving the toxic environment and embarking on a new road towards success.

Sohla El-Waylly

Source: Time

Sohla has been keeping busy since leaving BA. She is now a columnist at Food52 and headlines the YouTube series Off-Script with Sohla, and is working on a cookbook! She is also working with Andrew Rea, a filmmaker and YouTube personality on his channel “Babish Culinary Universe” where she has her own series Stump with Sohla. In this channel, Sohla is challenged weekly to make dishes in odd formats, or odd themes such as a 7-course convenience store tasting menu. Most recently, Sohla began working with the History Channel on YouTube with her own series Ancient Recipes with Sohla.

Check out Sohla’s website here! and Instagram here!

Priya Krishna

Source: Shape

Priya walked away from BA with Sohla, as she too was told she would receive a fair contract with equitable pay but what she was offered was the complete opposite. In fact, she stated that the contract she received “would potentially allow for me to make even less.”. Priya is now working for The New York Times as a regular contributor. She also has an incredible cookbook “Indian-Ish: Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family” which was named one of the best cookbooks by The New York times, New York Magazine, Eater, and Food & Wine. Most recently, Priya was listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 in the Food & Drink category and is currently pitching a TV show and working towards a new cookbook with Momofuku founder David Chang.

Check out Priya on Instagram here!

Gaby Melian

Gaby was the Test Kitchen Manager at BA and initially stepped down from filming videos in August when her colleagues took a step back stating that her expectations were not being met “regarding plans to have a more diverse and inclusive video program”. She officially left her role as TKM in November, and is now embarking on a new adventure “Gaby’s Kitchen”. Aside from working on her YouTube Channel and collabing with other BA colleagues such as Claire Saffitz, Gaby is publishing a book later this year all about cooking stories. If you are looking for a great recipe for Argentinian empanadas, Gaby is your girl.

Check out Gaby’s instagram here!

Carla Lalli Music

Carla was the Food Editor at Large at BA and is now on Patreon, a subscription-based platform where she hosts “Carla’s Cooking Show”. This membership allows subscribers to directly support her, and receive exclusive content such as recipes and newsletters, BTS to her unpublished cookbook and news about other projects — she is launching her second cookbook in the fall of this year. She is also doing a series with another of her BA colleagues, Molly Baz, called “You Got Snack’d” on Instagram live, where they send each other secret grocery deliveries and then they cook what the other gave them.

Check out Carla’s Instagram here!