The Collapse of Bon Appetit | Jack Saint

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Theyre aware Sohla is still working there in the same capacity as Molly right?

👍︎︎ 221 👤︎︎ u/Ivern420 📅︎︎ Aug 16 2020 🗫︎ replies

lol the collaspe of on apnet confused me for a second

👍︎︎ 170 👤︎︎ u/ShadowRaptor675 📅︎︎ Aug 16 2020 🗫︎ replies

Really liked this video seemed well thought out and paced, liked that he gave an emphasis to something this subreddit glosses over quite a lot in the semi-scripted nature and produced casual feel of the channel and it's actual purpose.

👍︎︎ 63 👤︎︎ u/eilidhnanci 📅︎︎ Aug 16 2020 🗫︎ replies

Personally I found this insightful. The videos were so light and fun I didn't recognize the deception for what it was.

Thankful for Sohla speaking up and bringing this to light.

👍︎︎ 65 👤︎︎ u/pianoman81 📅︎︎ Aug 16 2020 🗫︎ replies

Jack Saint?? On the BA sub?? As a leftist who likes to bake cakes and make pasta and has been pretty bummed out to lose a former source of mindless pleasantry, it must be my lucky day!

👍︎︎ 90 👤︎︎ u/cardueline 📅︎︎ Aug 16 2020 🗫︎ replies

Dude states he's documenting the state of BA for archival purposes, then doesn't do any kind of timline, much less a "this is where things currently stand" status at the end of the video.

It was a good video, I liked it. It would have been better if it had been honest, or at least self-knowledgeable. "Here is why BA Video shit the bed, and here is why it'll probably continue fecal mismanagement, and here is why it'll continually fail. It's not a problem of that management team, it's a problem built into the publishing system." That would have been fascinating. Maybe even a digression into how Unions have kept this continual imploding for becoming cyclical in other venues. Of course it immediately descended way more lefty than that and went straight to "capitalism bad, communism is the only answer", ugh.

But pretending this was a historical thing? No. It wasn't archival. If it was it would have had a timeline. If it was a discussion of politics it would have talked about the effect of unionization on capitalism in the media industries. If it was a dissection of the new soap-opera-cum-cooking-show, it would have talked about other similar LARPs, done a compare and contrast.

Instead it was kind of a stream-of-consciousness hybrid of all three things. I would have liked to see all three things separately, those ideas deserve more fleshing out.

👍︎︎ 27 👤︎︎ u/plotthick 📅︎︎ Aug 16 2020 🗫︎ replies

Yeah, that’s not “failing to learn” but “outright refusal to learn and hell-bent fervent determination to continue and uphold existing structures that led to this” concerning ba and cn... Nothing will really change, it will happen again, and again, and again, until either the people cannot stand it anymore or have been so desensitised to their daily abuse, being crushed and maimed, that it just won’t matter anymore.

👍︎︎ 7 👤︎︎ u/__radioactivepanda__ 📅︎︎ Aug 16 2020 🗫︎ replies

Jack Saint Good

👍︎︎ 6 👤︎︎ u/[deleted] 📅︎︎ Aug 16 2020 🗫︎ replies

I watched this today too. This was a great summation of all the stuff thats happened in the last couple months.

I saw it for what it was but that doesn't mean I wasn't enjoying it. Its a real bummer.

👍︎︎ 3 👤︎︎ u/Tarcos 📅︎︎ Aug 16 2020 🗫︎ replies
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- This video was sponsored by Skillshare. One cannot understand the collapse of Bon Appétit without first understanding live action role play. Now live action role play, or LARPing is essentially acting. It's the embodiment and performance of some assigned role. The role could involve varying levels of improvisation, maybe it's even just playing some version of yourself. But there is a reason in my mind that both role play and acting exists as terms and are used distinctly. Today we are gonna talk about that distinction. And we are gonna talk about it, using the recent drama around YouTube darling, Bon Appétit. - I guess, what did you think you were gonna be walking into when you took a job in the Test Kitchen, and were you prepared for all this? - Definitely not this. (band music) - Sohla. (band music) - You just called me Sohla. - Priya, sorry. - It's no secret that for several years now, mass media corporations have kind of been taking over YouTube. While we still get the odd viral sensation from a random no-name channel- - ♪ Cable television. ♪ - Far more common nowadays are hit videos to the tune of John Oliver's weekly take down or celebrity does funny noise, make James Corden go LOL. Or even more frequently, we get something from the Condé Nast family of channels. Are you unfamiliar with the Condé Nast family of channels? Almost certainly not. From GQ to Wired to Vanity Fair, Epicurious And oh, hey look It's Bon Appétit. This media conglomerate has been slowly dominating the platform. And while we can pin that on a variety of factors, I think there is a unifying idea here, that's really aided a lot of their success. In a word, personability. - What am I doing with my life? - Like here's an Epicurious video from early in the channel. - There are many ways to crimp your pie crust and add a decorative flair to your edges. The first is the pinch method. - And here's an Epicurious video now. - My girlfriend wanted to go out to more Italian restaurants. They were charging us $23 for a Fettuccine Alfredo and I was like, absolutely not. I'll go and make my own Fettuccine at home. And now I have a happy relationship. (chuckling) - Here's an early Bon Appétit video. - Kill as possible. (soft music) So there you have it, diced avocado. - Here's a Bon Appétit video now. - You want Claire to be able to hold that- - You are not listening- - Over your head for donut part four, donut part five- - But we are doing the right thing. - Still just talking about temporary goddamn chocolate. This ends today. - (laughing) - Okay? - The content hasn't necessarily changed that much. Both of these channels were and still are focused mainly around discussing topics relating to food. Usually offering some kind of advice to aspiring home chefs. Except that's not really true. The framing of these topics has changed so drastically at this point, that in many ways, we may as well be watching completely different channels for completely different reasons. You don't go to an Epicurious video to get spaghetti tips. You go to watch Steven Frank and Julie chit chat while making spaghetti. You don't go to Bon Appétit for recipes, you go to see what bullshit Brad is up to this time, or watch Claire in pain. Oh, Claire spent a week figuring out how to make jelly beans. Guess I'll check that out. These are no longer very apparent corporate attempts to dip their toes into the muddy waters of YouTube. But now totally integrated into that down to earth style, the platform used to be known for. We've got videos on this channel with almost two million views that are just the Bon Appétit crew talking about food they dislike. And in the end, we've got Pally in joke references, running gags, team collaborations, the whole thing. For Bon Appétit, maybe the peak of this was the Thanksgiving series, which I feel no shame in admitting, I've watched more times than pretty much any film. In that case, after spending time establishing the personalities and quirks of each Bon Appétit member, we had all of the best known faces of the show, working together to create the ultimate Thanksgiving meal. (upbeat music) - Making out. (chuckles) - We don't have time to screw around. - What will we do? - I will not be the last thing on that table. (upbeat music) - Erotic Andy and wildcard Brad, were forced to work together on cranberry sauce. We had wine moms, Molly and Carla on the mashed potatoes, affable dads, Chris and Rick on stuffing. And then the whole gang came together for one big Thanksgiving shebang. If this reminds you less of a recipe video and more like a sitcom, it's because it is. Bon Appétit became essentially the friends of food YouTube. And it became apparent very quickly that that's what the audience was responding to. Look at the evolution of the presentation in Claire's gourmet make series. The slow integration of more and more sides and cameos from both the rest of the cast and the camera crew. - Butter part. - Artisanal jellybeans in the most incredible flavor ever known to man. - Yeah. - Then people would be like, that's incredible- - I feel like the butter popcorn flavor is good at best. - (laughing) - So in this odd way, we had a commercial enterprise, trying to replicate the feeling of just some pals goofing around with food, and then looping back around to turning that into a highly manicured sitcom style product. And a distance, that's kind of genius, right? On its own, the shallow down to earth Veneer, wouldn't survive the scrutiny of the internet. If this channel really was pretending to just be a few friends hanging out in a kitchen with some cameras, we'd probably end up with a weird uncanny valley effect, where it became increasingly obvious that things were just a bit too off. So instead, we have a clinical sitcom formats, overlaying that personable unprofessional presentation, like a filter over an image to hide the parts that seem off. Directly or indirectly, this is what the show is reassuring us about, when for instance, it calls attention to the cast flubbing line readings and needing to do enough a take. They are making sure we know that they know that we know what they are doing. It is a manicured performance. But it's not acting, it's role play. Role play where in our own way, taking part in. A lie agreed upon. (soft music) So in June 8th, 2020, this photo surfaced, of Bon Appétit editor in chief, Adam Rapoport at a Halloween parties, some number of years ago. If it isn't already obvious what the issue here is, here is an image of Adam Rapoport normally. Yeah. Given that on top of everything else, this was at the height of Black Lives Matter, protesting against ongoing racial discrimination by police in the criminal justice system, a protest Condé Nast and Bon Appétit had themselves been showing support for. People weren't so into the idea of a man in power, doing essentially hood black face. Nor the comments underneath the post from other members of staff talking about how scary he was. And this would be one thing without what quickly followed. An Instagram expose written by Bon Appétit cast member, Sohla El-Waylly. In a series of posts, Sohla discuss the reality that instances like this did not exist in a vacuum or point to some easy answer of Adam Rapoport's unique phrases disposition. A narrative some outlets were already quick to paint. This was one symptom of a systemic issue within Condé Nast as a whole. A general indifference towards the issues of certain members of staff. Sohla revealed that in fact, nonwhite editors, often weren't even being paid for their appearances in videos. Something later echoed by a fellow staff member, Christina Che. Despite decades of experience in the field that Sohla remained an a subordinate position to less qualified white editors. Still only getting paid a flat 50K annual salary, an amount that may seem like a fair wage in a lot of the U.S but not so much when Bon Appétit runs out of literally the most costly place to live in the entire country. It quickly became clear that the fronting of cast members, like Sohla or Indian-American personality, Priya Krishna, were token efforts by Condé Nast. Pretty sloppy ones at that, given as Priya pointed out in her own resignation post, how often minority cast members were pigeonholed as monolithic experts for their own communities. Priya would even allude to the fact that, like Condé Nast, colleagues in the Test Kitchen would make outward public gestures of support, while remaining privately complicit. And in some ways even contributing to these injustices. In amongst all these, further stories emerged, like that Puerto Rican writer, Illyanna Maisonet being snubbed on articles covering regional cuisine, with the excuse that this wouldn't spark the interest of mainstream audiences. Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, Rapoport's personal assistant of over two years, and the only black woman on his staff, revealed that she'd been continually snubbed on pay increases from her starting 35K salary. With over a dozen fervor similar accounts, disclosed by past and present people of color contributes to the Bon Appétit, and a smaller drama involving one of the team members, posting Confederate flag cake projects. It was a law. Resignations would soon follow. First of Adam Rapoport's, then of multiple Bon Appétit members, who'd voice these issues. Now, part of why I made this video is just because I think this story is meaningful enough on its own. This was a burgeoning giants of online video, and it just completely shit the bed because it couldn't stop being racist. To date, after over a year of near daily uploads, barely even interrupted during the recent pandemic, it's been over two months since the last Bon Appétit video, as well as a month, since the last Epicurious video. Now, obviously there's a good chance after letting things sit for a bit, there'll be some corporate restructuring, some recasting and even some attempt to revitalize these projects or more likely, a complete rebrand with some minor format changes. As we're all things, time will pass and people will forget this ever happened. And that makes documenting these events in themselves valuable exercises. But what I think Sohla and Priya pointed out in their resignations, is really worth honing in on here. This was not a situation that can be boiled down to a racist editor, or as Bon Appétit's own press release put it, failing to learn from mistakes. I mean, certainly I'm sure Adam Rapoport regrets dressing up in gangster Brown face at Halloween party. I would be pretty surprised if he ever decided that would be a cool thing to do again. But wouldn't that just be the most unconstructive way this whole drama was resolved? A man who does racist shit is forced to apologize for racist shit. Maybe the site will sometimes have more stories from people of color. Maybe those people of color will sometimes be paid a fair wage and that's the end of the story. There's an obvious elephant in the room for anyone who tries to suggest this begins and ends with some social faux par, some corporate oversights and a few complicit staff members. This was a culture that was allowed to perpetuate itself through monetary interest. In all likelihood, there were people in power with deep seated, bigoted beliefs. Those people may have influenced these decisions to suppress the work and perspectives of people of color on staff. But in general, even if there are still many people knowingly or unknowingly harboring racist attitudes, most people are at least aware of racism. Bon Appétit didn't mistreat and underpay their people of color on staff, unaware of these issues. They did it because those issues would always be secondary to performance. Because as a mass media conglomerate, their priority is and will always be maximizing profits at the lowest cost. Because in the end, the best solution for a corporation is corporate LARPing. Like me telling you that Bon Appétit was in reality, always a highly manufactured commercial product and not just friends goofing around, me saying that the priority of a conglomerate like Condé Nast, is financial gain and not furthering social justice, is almost obnoxiously obvious. I might as well be telling you these people aren't actually knights! It's a lie agreed upon. But an interesting thing happens when that lie has been internalized well enough. It results in us ignoring the obvious truths in favor of a convenient narrative. I doubt most colleagues who didn't speak up to the racial injustice faced by staff, did so due to their own racial prejudice. They as people with their own families and loved ones to care for, took part in a system to protect their own monetary interests. In the case of team members who have since spoken out on this subject, like Claire, Molly, and Carla, it's unlikely they were even aware of this way disparity, given the institutional stigma against employees sharing those details. And if they did know, how much power would they have realistically had to change that? I'm sure when many people saw the litany of projects, meaningfully centered around people of color shot down, they didn't deny. Not because that validated their racist beliefs, but because they thought it better not to fight conventional wisdom, that these minority stories are less appealing to the general public. It is, after all that same conventional wisdom, that meant minority representation in mainstream media in general, was seen as pretty much totally non-viable. Until it suddenly was. These concerns and dynamics, did not create this prejudice. But they undoubtedly empowered it. We could be talking about the Me Too movement and the complicity to the abuse of women in the film industry. Going back to some earlier videos of mine, we could be talking about the mistreatment of workers and animation and VFX. We've cultures of unpaid work and crunch time. We can say overworking staff is bad. Rape culture is bad. Discriminatory practices are bad. But none of that is relevance when your paycheck is on the line. And you are not the one in charge. It's undeniable that for that fleeting period of a year or so, the Bon Appétit crew became kind of a family to a lot of regular viewers. That in itself is, not especially healthy. It was a parasocial relationship. A one sided connection reinforced between content creators and audience members. And it's clear Condé Nast was playing into that with the presentation they cultivated for the show. One need only flipped through the reply sections of videos, to see viewers fantasizing about what the cost might do with each other in their spare time. Even imagining romantic relationships between them. And as Priya herself pointed out, adults, Bon Appétit fanfiction, was increasingly becoming an unsettlingly unavoidable phenomenon. - Is really into fanfiction. Did you know that there's fanfiction? Like short stories. - What's fanfiction? - Rated R for language, or what are we talking about here? - No. - Given COVID was forcing most of these shows into the personal homes of cast members among their friends and family, it's almost a relief to see everything put on hold. Considering how far that unhealthy level of intimacy with strangers, could have gone. What I do hope, is that at least for some people, that feeling of empathy, reaches not just the sitcom roles assigned to the people at Bon Appétit, but those people themselves. This does not end with the big bad Adam Rapoport being forced into the shadows. Just as it doesn't end with Bon Appétit retreating into the night, changing its name to foodies or dish scrubs or whatever else, and reintroducing itself with a new cast of diverse likable characters. Nor does end with the people we all know and love, starting their own independent channels, free from the grasp of corporate interest. Condé Nast commands a powerful media empire. They have the means to recreate themselves, and the production resources to back it up. And if it isn't them, it'll just be someone else. A conglomerate more successful by virtue of being even more unscrupulous with its business. For more on that, just look at Anne Reardon's work, exposing the myriad viral fake cooking channels that have been flooding YouTube in a way more honest channels aren't able to match up to. - Here's our views per month from the top five bacon YouTube is for the last two years, and here's content for our views. The whole how to area is just being overtaken by these ones. Why genuine YouTubers aren't doing it anymore? Because they actually can't justify the cost. - This site is also not exactly a nonpartisan figure in these conversations. Adam Rapoport, Bon Appétit and Condé Nast are all symptoms of a system. There's the sided aesthetics, Trump meaningful change and have very little pushback against those decisions. It's not exactly hard to notice that with the advent of so called call out culture, issues like this, that might have once been left to organize Workers' Unions, are now dependent on social media outing campaigns. Whether or not coworkers speak up, whether or not their social media call out campaign succeeds, an unjust system can't be fixed by just hoping complaints reach a sympathetic ear at the tall. The claps of Bon Appétit was not an error or malfunction. It was an inevitability in a system that will always push workers as far as it can, before the whole thing falls apart. And in our own way, we are already aware of this. It's an obvious truth to the system, and one most people who've worked at any level of any industry for a decent length of time, have experienced. Especially those working from the position of a marginalized group. But I guess in its own way, that's part of the performance. Ignoring those truths, remaining comfortable and complicit in the fantasy. Every now and again, role play can be fun. But every so often it's worth remembering the importance, of a safe word. And the safe word is commun- By the way, in case you didn't notice, this video was sponsored by Skillshare. In case you don't know, there were an online learning tool, offering a wide array of classes in a variety of fields. Anything from art to editing design and more. While we've been stuck at home the last few months, Skillshare has been forever expanding its catalog. And so they reached out to me to spread the word on what they have to offer. Classes like Alison Malee's on Instagram poetry. Or my favorite, Danielle Krysa's class, on tips and advice that channel your ideas and creativity. An annual subscription is less than 10 bucks a month. And the first 500 people to click the link down below, will get two free months, throughout the service. And to all of you who might think there's a sort of vague dystopian irony in this segment, given what I've said in this video, all I can say is, no. (trumpet playing) - Well
Info
Channel: Jack Saint
Views: 2,259,105
Rating: 4.759768 out of 5
Keywords: bon appetit, gourmet makes, sohla el-waylly, adam rapoport, priya krishna, reality tv, trash tv, its alive, brad leone, conde nast, drama, exposed, critique, analysis, jack saint, lackingsaint, gordon ramsay, editor, molly baz, rick martinez, claire saffitz, chris morocco, parasocial relationships, corporations, collapse, lefttube, test kitchen, claire makes, from the test kitchen, politics
Id: PQV-W_Ut8MY
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 20min 53sec (1253 seconds)
Published: Sun Aug 16 2020
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