For those who want to brush this off as just some intern who'll probably get fired tomorrow, don't forget that People magazine was recently sued for racial discrimination by a former editor, according to the Huffington Post:

Tatsha Robertson, reportedly the only black senior editor the magazine ever had, alleges her former boss left her out of meetings, dismissed pitches for stories centered on black victims, and verbally dissed her as well, once telling her, "You need to talk like everyone else here. You're not at Essence anymore."

[...]

The suit also has pointed accusations about People's editorial policy. In legal papers the magazine is described as "a discriminatory organization run entirely by white people who intentionally focus the magazine on stories involving white people and white celebrities."

So far, People magazine has had no comments about the deleted tweets. We will update if they do.