Versha Sharma, a top editor at left-wing NowThis News, will replace Alexi McCammond as editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue in the wake of controversy surrounding McCammond’s past anti-Asian and homophobic tweets.
Sharma, who said Donald Trump’s presidency induced “trauma,” moves into the new position at the digital-only publication on May 24 after McCammond and the Conde Nast title parted ways before her appointment took effect, AP reports.
“I am incredibly excited and grateful for this awesome opportunity,” the 34-year-old Sharma tweeted of Monday’s announcement.
The move comes after Condé Nast was inundated with criticism over McCammond becoming the publication’s new editor-in-chief earlier this year, due to a series of “insensitive” and racist tweets she published in 2011, which were resurfaced in 2019.
Anna Wintour, the global editorial director of Vogue and chief content officer for Condé Nast, said in a statement Monday that Sharma is a “natural leader” with a “global perspective and deep understanding of local trends and issues — from politics and activism to culture and fashion.”
Sharma is also no stranger to past controversy herself, publicly calling for the impeachment of then-President Donald Trump and accusing him of committing “several impeachable offenses.”
Sharma also had plenty to say in the run-up to last year’s presidential election, angrily claiming that “trauma” is a word that she’d use to describe Donald Trump’s presidency.
Joe Biden’s ultimate ascendancy to the White House met with Sharma’s unrestrained delight. She wrote on Now This:
Biden’s win comes as a rebuke to a chaotic almost-four years of the Trump presidency, during which the country became increasingly polarized; saw record unemployment; experienced a rollback in human and civil rights, particularly for Black and brown people; and suffered a once-in-a-century pandemic that has killed more than 232,000 Americans — a higher death toll than that of any other country.
Sharma said in the statement issued by Teen Vogue to confirm her new appointment, she has long admired the magazine for “building and fostering a community of young people who want to change the world.” The outlet constantly extols leftism and promotes Karl Marx.