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Alison Roman announces new project following Chrissy Teigen controversy

The cookbook author doesn't plan to stop cooking for fans anytime soon.
Alison Roman
Alison RomanCharles Sykes / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
/ Source: TODAY

Cookbook author Alison Roman is speaking out following weeks of controversy after facing backlash over comments she made about Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo in a recently interview.

On Monday, Roman, 34, took to Instagram and Twitter to thank those who have recently supported her.

View this post on Instagram

HI! I want to thank everyone who's reached out and taken the time to write to me over the last few weeks. I am still working my way through each email (of which there are...a lot!), so if I haven't gotten back to you yet, please know I will. The kindness, empathy, tough love, vulnerability and, honesty demonstrated by everyone who wrote in sharing experiences, book recommendations, anecdotes, and thoughtful advice has been overwhelming in the best way. I'm genuinely excited to turn this moment into positive, actionable change and so insanely grateful for even having that opportunity. This was a huge shake-up for me both personally and professionally, and I'm still processing so much, but know that I'm working on it and thinking about it 24/7. The issues brought to light by this whole thing won't be fixed overnight, and the healing process for many will be long, but I'm committed to doing the work to make it better. As for the other kind of work, for the foreseeable future, you can find me in that newsletter I started 3 years ago and never sent out lol. There will be recipes, reader emails, recommendations, and discussions about things that I hope you will like or find helpful. In lieu of the comments section or DMs, I encourage you to submit questions/comments/concerns to qcc@alisoneroman.com, the idea being to share some of them in the newsletter (I am learning "the comments section" is not the best place for public discourse). Anyway! I haven't been cooking and won't pretend I have, so here's a bowl of compost, which- a metaphor in there somewhere, I think! Link to subscribe to the untitled newsletter in the bio.

A post shared by Alison Roman (@alisoneroman) on

"HI! I want to thank everyone who's reached out and taken the time to write to me over the last few weeks. I am still working my way through each email (of which there are...a lot!), so if I haven't gotten back to you yet, please know I will," she said. "The kindness, empathy, tough love, vulnerability and, honesty demonstrated by everyone who wrote in sharing experiences, book recommendations, anecdotes, and thoughtful advice has been overwhelming in the best way."

She has not spoken publicly about the incident since her apology on May 11.

Earlier this month, Roman faced a barrage of backlash following comments she made about both the model-turned-cookbook author and the decluttering guru in an interview with The New Consumer posted May 5.

"Like, what Chrissy Teigen has done is so crazy to me," Roman said. "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."

Roman also apparently took issue with Kondo's branded organizational products.

“The idea that when Marie Kondo decided to capitalize on her fame and make stuff that you can buy, that is completely antithetical to everything she’s ever taught you,” Roman said.

Critics were quick to point out that not only did Roman single out two women of color, especially after facing criticism for culturally appropriating curry with her popular "Spiced Chickpea Stew," but also called her hypocritical since Roman herself had been in the midst of creating a branded capsule collection of cookware.

After the interview was published, Teigen quickly took to social media to express how upset she was and shared that she had been a big fan of The New York Times food columnist.

"This is a huge bummer and hit me hard," Teigen posted. "I have made her 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."

Soon after, Roman took to social media and apologized.

“I need to formally apologize to Chrissy Teigen and Marie Kondo,” she wrote. “I used their names disparagingly to try and distinguish myself, which I absolutely do not have an excuse for. It was stupid, careless and insensitive. I need to learn, and respect, the difference between being unfiltered and honest vs. uneducated and flippant. The burden is not on them (or anyone else) to teach me, and I’m deeply sorry that my learning came at Marie’s expense. They’ve worked extremely hard to get to where they are and both deserve better than my tone deaf remarks.”

On May 20, a spokesperson for The New York Times confirmed to TODAY Food that Roman's column had been put on “temporary leave," but would not provide further details.

At the time, Teigen said she disagreed with newspaper's decision.

View this post on Instagram

HI! I want to thank everyone who's reached out and taken the time to write to me over the last few weeks. I am still working my way through each email (of which there are...a lot!), so if I haven't gotten back to you yet, please know I will. The kindness, empathy, tough love, vulnerability and, honesty demonstrated by everyone who wrote in sharing experiences, book recommendations, anecdotes, and thoughtful advice has been overwhelming in the best way. I'm genuinely excited to turn this moment into positive, actionable change and so insanely grateful for even having that opportunity. This was a huge shake-up for me both personally and professionally, and I'm still processing so much, but know that I'm working on it and thinking about it 24/7. The issues brought to light by this whole thing won't be fixed overnight, and the healing process for many will be long, but I'm committed to doing the work to make it better. As for the other kind of work, for the foreseeable future, you can find me in that newsletter I started 3 years ago and never sent out lol. There will be recipes, reader emails, recommendations, and discussions about things that I hope you will like or find helpful. In lieu of the comments section or DMs, I encourage you to submit questions/comments/concerns to qcc@alisoneroman.com, the idea being to share some of them in the newsletter (I am learning "the comments section" is not the best place for public discourse). Anyway! I haven't been cooking and won't pretend I have, so here's a bowl of compost, which- a metaphor in there somewhere, I think! Link to subscribe to the untitled newsletter in the bio.

A post shared by Alison Roman (@alisoneroman) on

In her latest announcement, Roman acknowledged that the past few weeks have been a big learning experience for her. While she did not clarify whether her relationship with the Times had come to an official end or discuss the status of her TV show (which she had reportedly sold before the remarks were made public), she did open up about future plans.

"The issues brought to light by this whole thing won't be fixed overnight, and the healing process for many will be long, but I'm committed to doing the work to make it better," she posted. "As for the other kind of work, for the foreseeable future, you can find me in that newsletter I started 3 years ago and never sent out lol. There will be recipes, reader emails, recommendations, and discussions about things that I hope you will like or find helpful."

She also included an email address where fans can send their "questions/comments/concerns" for possible inclusion in upcoming newsletters.

A representative for The New York Times was not immediately available for comment.