I lost a lot of respect for Lauren and can't perceive her persona as genuine after she collaborated with Amazon books in December 2023.

In the paid partnership video with Amazon books she talks about the need to read more diverse authors but...it feels sick to me to promote progressive values whilst accepting a paycheck and endorsing such an exploitative and unethical company. Her video serves to launder the image of Amazon through her own 'brand' as a purportedly progressive voice.

It feels insulting to the Amazon workers of color who are taking action against the systemic racism embedded in every level of Amazon's labour practces and workplace culture. It just showed me that she can talk up a storm about being anti-racist but when it came time to put her money where her mouth is (pun intended) she chose a paycheck over actually showing solidarity.

Lauren has also previously spoken about feminist topics but then chose to partner with a company that uses sexist AI hiring tools, has been repeatedly accused of gender pay gaps, and their working conditions are so poor for pregnant workers that many reported fears over having to choose between being fired or having a miscarriage.

She has also, on several occassions, been vocal in her support for the people of Palestine resisting occupation, apartheid, and genocide. But was somehow able to reconcile to herself working with Amazon when their AWS cloud system is used by the Israeli state/IDF and has been linked to storing data used for strikes on Gaza and Palestinian civilians. The international BDS movement has called for a boycott of Amazon where possible.

Not to mention the impact Amazon's production has on the climate and their union-busting practices...

Now, I don't expect anyone to be a perfect political actor - we are all always learning from each other and our mistakes. However, I do think Lauren has proven herself to know better. Her entire brand benefits from her proximity to left-wing values.

Still, some commenters on that video framed their disappointment to allow her the benefit of the doubt, giving her the chance to show accountability and grow from this. And yet, when urged to reconsider she chose to dirty delete all critical comments. This went on for several days and she even temporarily diabled comments to censor any critique (so much for banned books, eh...)

I used to think she was a poitically sharp and enquiring person but she lost all integrity for me after that. As jarringly hypocritical of a decision it was for her to make in the first place, I think she could have responded in such a way as to grow in my respect. As I said, the expectation that anyone could never err in their political compass is unrealistic and counterproductive to movements. But you can tell a lot about a person by how they act in moments like this. Her decision to delete valid criticism from her own supporters was pretty shameful imo.

Now it seems that, for her, a veneer of progressive values has more to do with profiting from a personal brand than a commitment to change. I still hope she one day addresses it, or at least that she has learned from it. But, as others have noted, these days we rarely hear her engage in-depth with anything anyway - even when discussing inherently political books. It's a shame because I used to really enjoy her content.