Doreen St. Felix, a prominent culture writer at The New Yorker, is facing backlash after inflammatory posts resurfaced from her social media history — including remarks widely condemned as anti-white and antisemitic. The controversy erupted just days after St. Felix published a column describing actress Sydney Sweeney as an “Aryan princess,” sparking accusations of racially charged rhetoric and hypocrisy.
St. Felix, 33, who had long maintained an active presence on X (formerly Twitter), deleted her account on Friday after users began circulating screenshots of her past posts. Among them were statements like “I hate white men,” “whiteness fills me with a lot of hate,” and the “the Holocaust is the worst thing to happen to black people.”
The posts, dating as far back as 2014, reflect a pattern of racially divisive commentary — remarks that critics say stand in direct contrast to the positions of tolerance and justice often championed by the publication for which she writes.
A Pattern of Extremist Rhetoric
Among the now-deleted tweets, St. Felix referred to white men as “the worst,” and urged them to “go nurse your f–king Oedipal complexes and leave the earth to the browns and the women.” She also made sweeping cultural statements suggesting white people “started the bubonic plague” with poor hygiene and that “we lived in perfect harmony w/ the earth pre-whiteness,” blaming environmental degradation on “white capitalism.” In another controversial post, St. Felix said she would be “heartbroken” if she had children with a white man.
Her commentary extended into Holocaust-related topics in ways critics have called grossly inappropriate and historically offensive. One tweet argued that “the tolerability of racism is linked to how its [sic] acted out on brown bodies. The Holocaust was not tolerable bc of white victims so it ended.” In another, she referred to “the Holocaust gesture” as “tricknological,” claiming it allowed white people to “slip on fake oppression.”
Fallout from Sweeney Criticism
The resurfaced tweets came to light shortly after St. Felix authored a 1,000-word essay in The New Yorker criticizing Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle campaign. In the piece, she accused fans of wanting to “recruit her as a kind of Aryan princess,” a characterization many found inflammatory and racially charged.
The ad — a play on words promoting Sweeney’s “great jeans” — had already drawn criticism from progressive circles online. But it was St. Felix’s pointed language that triggered a broader wave of scrutiny, including from conservative commentator Christopher Rufo, who highlighted her past comments, sparking calls for accountability.
Questions for The New Yorker
The incident has raised difficult questions for The New Yorker and its parent company Condé Nast, both of which have emphasized diversity and inclusion in recent years. As of this writing, neither organization has issued a public statement regarding St. Felix’s posts or her current standing at the magazine.
Her past accolades include being named to Forbes‘ “30 Under 30” media list in 2016 and winning a National Magazine Award in 2019. She has also contributed to Vogue, Time, and the now-defunct Lenny Letter, a feminist newsletter created by Lena Dunham.
Broader Cultural Implications
The controversy comes amid heightened scrutiny over political and racial rhetoric in media. It has reignited debates over whether major institutions apply consistent standards when addressing racism — particularly when the targets are white or Jewish.
While defenders have pointed to the broader context of racial tensions in 2014 — especially surrounding the police-involved deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner — critics argue that nothing justifies St. Felix’s language.
As of now, St. Felix has gone silent, deleting her X account and her critics — from across the political spectrum — are demanding answers.
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