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Three Bon Appétit Test Kitchen stars have announced their departure from the popular video channel following five weeks of failed contract negotiations. Priya Krishna, Rick Martinez, and Sohla El-Waylly announced that they would not continue to appear in the magazine’s videos for its YouTube channel, but El-Waylly will continue to write recipes for the magazine and website, and Krishna and Martinez will continue to freelance. “I am thankful for the platform Bon Appétit gave me,” Krishna wrote in a tweet. “But I refuse to be part of a system that takes advantage of me, while insisting I should be grateful for scraps.”
Employees have accused Condé Nast of failing to fairly pay contributors, especially people of color, for their work on the videos. Employees said only some contributors were paid for their work on the videos, and the majority of those who were not paid were people of color, while the majority of those who were paid were white. A representative for the media giant insisted that all employees are paid fairly based on “role and experience.”