Jezebel deputy editor Dodai Stewart, Jezebel's longest staffer and one of the few women of color on a Gawker Media masthead, was passed over for Jezebel editor-in-chief. 

The announcement two weeks ago that Emma Carmichael, editor of The Hairpin, will succeed Jessica Coen as editor-in-chief of Jezebel left some Jezebel staffers feeling conflicted—both happy for Carmichael and disappointed that management passed over deputy editor Dodai Stewart for the top job. “I wouldn’t say that we’re unhappy with Emma at all, but…we had like a really optimal choice that they passed over,” one staffer, who asked to be quoted anonymously, told Capital.

Stewart is one of the few women of color on Jezebel’s masthead and the longest-serving staffer at the site, having been hired by founding editor Anna Holmes shortly after the site launched in 2007. In the past year, she has also assumed a larger role in running the site, three people familiar with the site's internal workings told Capital.