Ex NYT editor Bari Weiss in her Twitter account on Friday lambasted a piece in which the outlet praised the stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris, Ella Emhoff, for signing up for a modelling contract.
"Please enjoy this press release!", Weiss tweeted ironically with a link to the NYT report after quoting a line about the contract that Emhoff secured.
The piece, headlined "Ella Emhoff Gets a Major Modeling Contract", sheds light onto Ella's contract with IMG Models, the modelling agency described by the NYT as "one of the world’s most prestigious".
The Times went on to say that the fashion world has appeared to embrace the Biden administration "with its focus on diversity and empathy, after four antagonistic years with the Trump administration".
A modeling contract (!!) "speaks to the fashion world’s growing embrace of the Biden administration, with its focus on diversity and empathy, after four antagonistic years with the Trump administration." Please enjoy this press release! https://t.co/Ts8UKNxITI
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) January 29, 2021
After sharing her position with followers, Weiss received divided opinion. Some netizens joined her criticism of what they saw as "a bourgeois propaganda piece" promoting "the elites", while claiming that liberals would call it white privilege if a Trump kid was in a similar situation.
She isn't that pretty. It's a cupcake deal for someone from the "elite."
— illinidiva (@illinidiva12) January 29, 2021
I found the article to be a bourgeois propaganda piece in which wealthy, vain, and condescending elites praise themselves for their own perceived majesty.
— Aurelian of Rome (@AurelianofRome) January 29, 2021
Progressives are always complaining abt legacy in elite college admissions. How is this any different? She got the modeling contract because of her stepmother, & not based on her own merits
— samantha (@SamanthaKelly32) January 29, 2021
Others did not support Weiss' condemnation, suggesting that it was "envy", pointing out that Emhoff is a private citizen who does not work for the White House.
I think you are being snarky but with all due respect, I think she should be off limits. She is a private citizen. If she was working in the #Whitehouse and strings were pulled so she could bypass the security clearance process then we should all care.
— Citizen_Campbell (@campbell_elroy) January 29, 2021
Envy is nasty stench, Bari.
— Chris (@Awesomenessly00) January 29, 2021
Yeah, I really liked Weiss a great deal but now it’s becoming whiny and especially petty. I also totally got the Ivanka insinuation and it’s so erroneous and off-putting. Her entire platform is becoming more of a grievance campaign
— EruditeCoastalLib (@letteredcoastal) January 29, 2021
Weiss became a vocal critic of The New York Times after she quit the outlet in 2020, slamming her former employer for what she declared was a "liberal bias", and for failing to act against what she claimed was a bullying, discriminatory and hostile work environment.
