What Is Your Idea of Perfect Happiness? Hanging out with My Kids and All My Friends and Family

Home , Buzz Bissinger, Chicago Honey Bears, Marie Brenner, Saintsations

Proust The star of Questionnaire Showtime’s Escape at Dannemora on Patricia midlife crises Arquette and motherhood

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Hanging out with my kids and all my friends and family. What is your greatest fear? Burying people I love. Which historical igure do you most identify with? I admire a lot of historical igures, but the people I most identify with are those who don’t become famous––they’re moms and other normal people. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? My PTSD. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Lying and a lack of morals and ethics. I am not very good at singular answers. Sorry. What is your greatest extravagance? When I was turning 40, I bought a Porsche. The fact that I was doing it kind of repulsed me, and I realized I was having a midlife crisis. But 10 years later, I still drive that car every day and I love it. What is your favorite journey? I am really digging this whole journey. It’s bloody and raw at times, but in general I am grateful for the whole ride. What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Beauty. What do you dislike most about your appearance? I’m actually just trying to go with the groove of getting older … and be happy celebrating the phases of the human experience. If there was a drug made tomorrow that made you live forever looking like your 20-year-old self, I wouldn’t take it. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it I told you, I can’t give a singular answer. What is the be? I would take better care of myself. Not so that quality you most like in a woman? The same qualities I could look different outwardly to the world, but so I love in men. Not that men and women are the same, I wasn’t stressed out. If you could change one thing but I love those qualities in all people. Who is your fa- about your family, what would it be? My mom and dad vorite hero of fiction? I love the story that we know and sister passed away, so I guess I would have them all about Jesus, and I do believe Jesus lived … but there’s a be alive. If you were to die and come back as a person lot more to the Jesus story. I think there are aspects of it or thing, what do you think it would be? I would be a that are historical iction, and there’s so much missing little Persian cat, a white one, that never grew past the from the story that I’ll never know. I’ll never stop won- kitten phase. I could it in the palm of your hand for my dering what that all was. Who are your heroes in real whole life. What is your favorite occupation? Being a life? I love Martin Luther King Jr. And I love Jesus. And mom. What is the quality you most like in a man? I love my boyfriend. And my family, and my kids, and I think the strongest quality a man can have is to be gen- my friends. How would you like to die? Peacefully in tle. It takes incredible strength to endure life and still be my sleep before I get really sick. No long illness. I don’t gentle. And ethics are really important to me in part- want to die in a hospital. What is your motto? I wish ners––strength, gentleness, and integrity. And humor. I had one. A motto, I mean.

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OCASIO-CORTEZ PHOTOGRAPHED BY CASS BIRD; CLOTHING BY CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC; EARRINGS BY TIFFANY & CO. PHOTOGRAPH, RIGHT, BY GREG NELSON/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED/GETTY IMAGES. FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS Contents Issue No. 699 100 Features 110 On the Cover NOVEMBER 2018 franchise to rival Denzel and Cruise. franchise andCruise. torival Denzel create aone-man man—and hisgeneration’swants tobe leading Panther Black of Michael B. Jordan The Technicolor Dreams PHOTOGRAPHS BYCASS BIRD BY JOEHAGAN For bonus-cover credits, seepage 149. in East Hampton, New York. For details, go to VF.com/credits. Grooming products by by Samira Nasr. Photographed exclusively for by Melissa DeZarate. Props styled Anthony Vaccarello. Michael B. Jordan star Michael B. Jordan wears atuxedo jacket by Hairproducts by La Prairie. 81 HairbyBarber Jove. Grooming by Hans Maharawal. Styled Vernon François. 124 116 Saint Laurent by V.F. byCass Bird

INVESTMENT the company isready foritsmakeover. With newC.E.O. David Solomon, Sachs iskeen towinover Main Street. A decadeafterthecrash, Goldman Solomon’s Dilemma toightback. and they’re starting But thewomenpaidasteepprice— turned itscheerleaders objects. intosex and attract theN.F.L. sponsors, Four viewers TV decadesago, towoo Skin intheGame PHOTOGRAPHS BY LANDON NORDEMAN BY WILLIAMD. COHAN BY MICHELLE RUIZ BANKING Goldman Sachs Moves to MainStreet “SOLOMON’S $1.5 (Projected new(Projected annual revenue by2021) B VANITY FAIR DILEMMA $2 B ,” p.124 COMMERCIAL 116 BANKING 25

130 Issue No. 699 Contents 142 134 30 VANITY FAIR he returns to TV with he returns toTV as misconduct own accusation of The creator Don Draper faces of his Mad ManintheMirror truth cameout. in giftsandinvestments. Thenthe tow, dollars acceptingmillionsof prince, royalas aSaudi entourage in For years, hetraveled theworld The Sultan ofBling Here, shesparkles incouture. Steve McQueen’s newheistilm. in lights upthescreen Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki Queen Elizabeth R. KIKUOJOHNSON ILLUSTRATIONS BY BY MARKSEAL PHOTOGRAPHS BYDANIEL JACKSON HENNEMUTH BY BRITT PHILIP MONTGOMERY PHOTOGRAPH BY BY JOY PRESS “If there adrugthat was made you 20-year-old self, Iwouldn’t take it.” live forever looking like your PATRICIA ARQUETTE, p.154 The Romanofs. Widows, 134 59 Vanities Park dreamscape. the designer’s career inaCentral anniversary showcelebrated transforms achurch club. intoanarts Books Books Fashion Opening Act Field Trip Fairground Beauty over-the-knee update. next star of Netlix, bywaynext starof Norway. of candidate shares hermust-reads. THE RALPH LAUREN LAUREN THE RALPH PARTY, p. 70 HILLARY BRUCE A literary-minded political All about blushing. Allabout AFerragamo heelgets an Master showmanKen Fulk Ralph Lauren’s Ralph 50th- Kristine Froseth isthe NOVEMBER KANYE POLO 2018 74

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEFAN BONESS/VISUM/REDUX. ILLUSTRATIONS: TOP, BY R. KIKUO JOHNSON; BOTTOM LEFT, BY RISKO

74 Contents Issue No. 699 36 76 Columns VANITY FAIR “Imagine aleader like Teddy Roosevelt, who DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PR among conservatives andprogressives.” strove to forge a common purpose and divisive—could surely learnfrom. and divisive—could the current president—hectoring and winningpersonality, something alike Deal withhisSquare poor Teddy therich and wooed Roosevelt Teddy vs. Trump vision of America’svision of story. aredemptive hisownnarrative—and of Barack Obama isstillthemaster Ten years afterhishistoricelection, The OnceandFuture King OLIVER MUNDAY PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BY DORIS KEARNSGOODWIN BY JONMEACHAM ESIDENTIAL HIS 81 TORIAN 81 78 , p.76 the changing face waritself. of captures notonlyherfearlessness but Thenewilm 2011. Colvin waskilled veteran, Marie A conlict-zone reporter A PrivateWarrior BY MARIEBRENNER 154 56 52 44 38 Hollywood. (Let thedebate (Let Hollywood. begin!) Washington toSiliconValley and players, from Wall Street and ranking America’s of 100toppower Welcome to The New Establishment AND MATT DORFMAN ILLUSTRATIONS BYSUPERMUNDANE Proust Questionnaire Correspondence Editor’s Letter Contributors Behind the Issue Vanity Fair’ by Syrian troops in in by Syriantroops APrivate War NOVEMBER s annual s annual 62 2018

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Michael B. Jordan, clockwise from top left: in a 1972 Chevrolet El Camino outside a school in East Hampton, New York; with V.F. executive fashion director Samira Nasr on East Hampton’s Louse Point beach; at the Louse Point beach.

It’s itting for a star of Michael B. Jordan’s wattage that even a photo shoot has a cinematic arc. For the images that accompany our proile of Jordan, which begins on page 100, the Vanity Fair team and photographer Cass Bird headed out to the eastern tip of Long Island, to a part of the Hamptons known as the Springs, where Jackson Pollock, Nora Ephron, and other creative lions have lived and worked. That list also includes Cass, who retreats to the Springs with her own family, so she knew exactly what spots to hit for some magical late-summer light. First stop was a local public school, which was gearing up for the fall semester. Michael held court on the court with some neighborhood kids, who got him to pose for selies. And Cass ofered up some magic of her own when she coaxed Michael into the water, wearing his Saint Laurent tuxedo, just as the sun was dipping below Gardiners Bay. The result was infectious. Executive fashion director Samira Nasr and editor Radhika Jones were knee-deep before long. One of the pictures from that dip became our cover—that of a star emerging. —KIRA POLLACK PHOTOGRAPHS: TOP LEFT AND BOTTOM, BY BY BOTTOM, LEFT AND TOP PHOTOGRAPHS: LEGASPI BY CHRISTOPHER RIGHT, BIRD; CASS

38 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018

Editor Radhika Jones

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42 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018

Contributors

“This was my irst major Joe Hollywood proile; I ordinarily write about politicians and media igures,” Hagan says Hagan, the author of the Jann Wenner biography, “I was “The Technicolor Dreams of Sticky Fingers. Michael B. Jordan” enthralled by Jordan’s personal history— how his success as an actor speaks p. 100 so powerfully to our cultural moment, in ways no politician can.”

The highlight of Ruiz’s reporting Michelle “was being on the dance loor at the N.F.L. cheerleaders’ reunion in Ruiz Nashville this past July, doing the ‘Cupid Shule,’ ” she says. “Everyone “Skin in the Game” was wearing sparkles and four-inch heels, and no one was out of step.” Ruiz p. 116 is a contributing editor at Vogue.com.

“I irst met Obama 14 years ago,” Jon says Meacham, the presidential biographer and author of The Soul of Meacham America. “Even then he was a strangely forceful persona, whose “The Once and Future King” power came from his preternatural calm. He has always seemed at p. 74 once participant and observer.”

The V.F. contributing editor read Mark the irst report on Anthony Gignac’s latest scam in Miami’s El Nuevo Seal Herald. “I started researching what turned out to be his decades of “The Sultan of Bling” incredible cons,” Seal says, “and picked my jaw of the loor.” p. 134 PHOTOGRAPHS: FROM TOP, BY JOE HAGAN, EMMANUELLE EMMANUELLE HAGAN, BY JOE TOP, FROM PHOTOGRAPHS: TRINGALE GASPER ROSS, HEIDI SAAL-FYE,

44 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018

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THE ROMANOFFS

The highly anticipated contemporary series, he Romanofs, is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video Friday, October 12 with new episodes released weekly, on Fridays. he Romanofs is created, written and directed by nine-time Emmy award winner Matthew Weiner (Mad Men) and reunites 14 of Mad Men’s creative team. Featuring eight unique stories about people who believe themselves to be descendants of the Russian royal family, each episode takes place in a new location with a new star- studded cast. Set in seven countries around the globe, he Romanofs was shot on location on three continents.

1. THE VIOLET HOUR OCT 12 5. BRIGHT AND HIGH CIRCLE NOV 2 Set in Paris, an ancestral home holds the A trusted friend under suspicion tests the key to a family’s future. loyalties of a tightly-knit family.

STARRING: Aaron Eckhart, Marthe STARRING: Diane Lane, Ron Keller, Inès Melab, and Louise Bourgoin. Livingston, Andrew Rannells, Cara Buono, and Nicole Ari Parker. Paris Los Angeles

2. THE ROYAL WE OCT 12 1 . 5. With their marriage in a rut, a couple 6. PANORAMA NOV 9 ﬁnds their own temptations. In Mexico City, an idealistic reporter falls in love with his mysterious subject. STARRING: Corey Stoll, Kerry Bishé, Janet Montgomery, and Noah Wyle. STARRING: Juan Pablo Castañeda, Radha Mitchell, and Grifﬁn Dunne. Ohio Mexico City 3. HOUSE OF SPECIAL PURPOSE OCT 19 7. END OF THE LINE NOV 16 2. 6. A movie star and a director go head to On a trip abroad to pursue their legacy, head in a battle over what is real. a couple faces destruction.

STARRING: Christina Hendricks, STARRING: Kathryn Hahn, Isabelle Huppert, Jack Huston, Jay R. Ferguson, Annet Mahendru, Mike Doyle, and Paul Reiser. and Clea Duvall.

Austria Russia

4. EXPECTATION OCT 26 8. THE ONE THAT HOLDS 3. 7. Over a single day in New York City a EVERYTHING NOV 23 woman is confronted with every lie she In a story that circles the globe, a man ever told. tries to escape a family curse.

STARRING: Amanda Peet, John STARRING: Hugh Skinner, Adèle Slattery, Emily Rudd, Jon Tenney, Mary Anderson, Hera Hilmar, Ben Miles, Kay Place, and Michael O’Neill. and JJ Feild.

New York City London & Hong Kong 4. 8.

WATCH FRIDAYS STARTING OCTOBER 12 FRIDAYS STARTING OCT 12 Contributors

In photographing Disney’s Bob Iger Sebastian and Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi for this year’s New Establishment Kim list, Kim “wanted people to see them up close and personal.” Plus, “The New Establishment 2018” he adds, “seeing the Uber campus was a treat.” p. 81

Goodwin, author of the newly Doris Kearns published Leadership: In Turbulent Times, was inspired by a comment from Goodwin Trump: “You hear lots of people say that a great deal is when both sides “Teddy vs. Trump” win. That is a bunch of crap.” She immediately thought of Teddy p. 76 Roosevelt’s Square Deal, which was designed for both sides.

“My approach to creating an R. Kikuo illustration is to distill the article’s conlict into a single narrative image,” Johnson says the artist, who teaches at the “The Sultan of Bling” Rhode Island School of Design. For this piece, Johnson “couldn’t resist the p. 134 opportunity to portray the impostor prince and his bejeweled Chihuahua.”

The V.F. contributing editor has Adam reported on Israel and the Middle East for nearly two decades. “I was struck Ciralsky that the YAMAM has operated in the shadows for more than 44 years,” “The Y Squad” he says, “and has allowed others to take credit for its harrowing work.” p. 110 PHOTOGRAPHS: FROM TOP, BY NATALIA READ-HARBER, READ-HARBER, BY NATALIA TOP, FROM PHOTOGRAPHS: LUKE FRANEK KIKUO JOHNSON, R. ANNIE LEIBOVITZ,

50 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018

Editor’s Letter November 2018

Since the last time this magazine published its annual New Establishment list, the Establishment has taken a number of well-deserved knocks. Down the titans fell—a bunch of them, anyway—from Hollywood to Palo Alto to Washington, and so the New Establishment of 2018 is newer than ever. Michael B. Jordan and Radhika Jones at Louse Point beach, in East Hampton, New York. “Disruption” has been the irritating buzzword of our era since the tech boom began, but it’s arguably in the past 12 months that this ethos started to I am always curious to know what notable people’s democratize itself and become a true cultural force, parents think of what their children do for a living, so one that delivered returns. Once upon a time, it makes me happy that Joe Hagan logged some quality the disruptors tended to be the people in charge; now time with Michael B. Jordan’s mother and father they can also be the women who ight harassment, while reporting his cover story on the Black Panther or underserved audiences who turn out to see Black star. You get a sense of how the two of them see him— Panther and Crazy Rich Asians, or political candidates their handsome young man who’s making good who answer to their constituents over their party on his upbringing—while the rest of us see a screen and their party’s donors. idol in the new Hollywood mold, from his prestige A list like the New Establishment ofers a snapshot roles (in The Wire, Fruitvale Station, and Creed, to of a moment, with signs of things to come. Not every name a few) to his plans to produce. Neither view face is new, of course, but even the familiar ones are up is incorrect, though on a sunny day in the Hamptons to fresh tricks—buying, selling, podcasting, uprooting in August he was just a guy looking extremely cool to the West Coast, making content deals with a former riding a bike no-handed down a quiet lane, casually president, getting tweeted at angrily by the current repelling sand lies with nothing more than his one. In these pages you’ll ind the architects of mergers charisma. I didn’t anticipate that the day would and deals that will shape what we watch and how we end with my walking into the bay to join him for a watch it; the new C.E.O.’s brought in to detox corporate photo, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Jordan’s cultures; the political newcomers who, win or lose world now is one of possibility, and how exciting in November, have already shifted the way we talk for all of us to be along for the ride. about issues like gun control, reproductive rights, and progressivism in general. The big tech companies still bestride the narrow world like lumbering Colossuses, but even they have been called to account for the role they’ve played, whether wittingly or RADHIKA JONES, Editor (worse?) unwittingly, in the unraveling of democratic institutions, the undermining of a free and accountable press, and the tainting of codes of civility and decency. And the work of the taciturn G-man in our No. 1 spot remains the wildest card in Establishment politics. Not to add to the burden on his shoulders, but he

could end up seriously disrupting the 2019 list. LEGASPI BY CHRISTOPHER PHOTOGRAPH

52 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018

THE 8 THE RETURN OF

Exclusively Distributed by BMW of North America, LLC. ©2018 BMW of North America, LLC. The BMW name, model names and logo are registered trademarks. AN ICON Correspondence “In your honesty, I have found something that helps me.” —Jessica King

Role Model Kudos to Amanda Fortini for a wonderfully written, non-stereotypical Carly Gillum, proile [“The Change Agent,” September]. And to Michelle Williams— Chicago, Illinois from another perfectionist Virgo, who is still searching for radical acceptance in this world—thank you. Your words, which were captured so beautifully in this article, are an inspiration to never stop seeking what we want, desire, and deserve. Know that, while your roles on ilm may “In the Mood help us escape, your role as a woman of strength and conviction helps us for Love” believe in a better future and in the freedom that comes with equality. by Wesley Yang, Never once have I teared up over an interview with an actor until Jessica King, September now. Thank you, Michelle Williams, for sharing. As a woman, mother, Chicago, Illinois Retro-chic is wife, and actor getting back in the game in her early 40s, I have something I’ve struggled. In your honesty, I have found something that helps me. always felt excluded from in Doggone It Hollywood. On the afternoon that I read David Ewing Duncan’s piece on the practice Hayden Smith, The ability to Camarillo, relate to a U.S. of cloning pets, I sat at home caring for my dog, Scooter, who is in the fashion-magazine twilight of his life [“A Clone Is Born,” September]. As I prepare for his California spread for the death, I wonder how I will ill the void he leaves behind. Duncan’s article ﬁrst time, with the Crazy Rich Asians superbly empathizes with these struggles while expounding upon the story, feels myriad issues surrounding pet cloning, including where ethical lines are awfully signiﬁcant. to be drawn (no surprise that Jurassic Park is invoked). @nancywyuen Duncan makes it easy to see the appeal of cloning a pet to those for whom it is a viable option—it provides the potential for the “Growing near-perfect replacement of a lost family member. Nevertheless, my Up Jobs” opinion on replacing a lost pet is still this: adopt. There are countless by animals in shelters and foster care who can love and support us Lisa Brennan-Jobs, just as much as our old ones did, if only we give them the chance. September

This is such CORRECTION: On page 126 of the September issue (“Decorative Arts”), the date of the an emotionally photograph of Katharine Hepburn was incorrect. It is from the 1957 ilm Desk Set. complex story. I’m always amazed by the generosity that some

Fab Five Freddy and Max Roach people are able DOGS (CLONED PRIOR THOMAS 35 to feel toward those who have YEARS deeply wronged them. But that AGO generosity is often Wrote the editors: “Who makes us a mark of self-love, beg, scream, cry, and crawl? It’s graiti despite it all. artist and rapper Fab Five Freddy @OhTimehin and his godfather, jazz legend Max Photograph by Nan Goldin, Roach, in a commission by the Kitchen, November 1983 the Lower Manhattan center for (her ﬁrst V.F.

assignment). performance and eccentric behavior.” (WILLIAMS, SCHORR COLLIER BY PHOTOGRAPHS

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Kristine Froseth, 23, star of the Netflix films Sierra Burgess Is a Loser and Apostle

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

PHOTOGRAPH BY DANIEL JACKSON STYLED BY JAIME KAY WAXMAN 59 Vanities Opening Act

V.F.’s Krista Smith speaks with of it with butter and strawberry jam … WHAT KRISTINE LOVES Kristine Froseth, the Norwegian model maybe two pieces of chocolate. It really turned actress. Style icon: Diane Keaton is the best breakfast. Then I would Favorite bag: My mom’s old travel to Drøbak, which is my hometown, You’re practically the face of Norwegian leather school backpack an hour outside of Oslo, and I’d swim Netlix this fall as a star of two and eat some ice cream. That sounds like Favorite shoes: Prada booties new original ilms. a perfect “of” button day. Yes, and they’re very diferent. Favorite sneaker: Nike Air Max 97 Did modeling prepare you for an In Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, a high-school Product you can’t acting career? comedy, I’m Veronica, the mean girl. live without: Weleda Skin Food It changes with each project. Often, High school is an awful time, so I Lipstick: Chanel you’re not able to be as creative— wanted to show the conlict that creates Poudre À Lèvres Lip Balm it’s up to the designer or the a bully. And in Apostle I play Fion, photographer to play and experiment. who gets wrapped up in this cult, along Favorite hotel: Le Bristol Paris But with some projects, I would with her lover. It’s a thriller with Necessary extravagance: talk with the photographer to create Dan Stevens and Michael Sheen, and Rent in New York City a character and a world together, it’s very, very dark. Favorite discovery: so it became very similar to acting. You were irst discovered as a model HU cashew-butter dark chocolate Your irst major role was in the in Norway, right? J. D. Salinger biopic Rebel in the Rye. I was in Oslo, which doesn’t really Whom do you text the most? What was that like? have a fashion community, but I was My dad I couldn’t stop smiling on set. scouted at my local mall, walking I had no idea how movies were made, in this catwalk event that they hosted. and play. New Jersey was a lot more so it was mind-blowing. Three months later, my family competitive: the playdates were But since then you’ve been busy moved to the States, so the timing scheduled, the parents were nervous, with a roster of roles. Are you starting was amazing, because it all continued and I was a lot less independent. There’s to feel at home on set? for me in New York. no “of” button with Americans. It’s I’ve always been a complete cinephile But you were born in the U.S. What crazy. For me, being around nature and and watched way too many movies was it like growing up between here horses is the best “of” button there is. growing up. But I never really knew how and Norway? What’s your ideal “of ” button day? to get into it, so I never had the guts Because of my dad’s job, we would Well, the bread in Norway is amazing. to try it. It’s complete luck that I get to do move every three to four years between I would wake up and have two this for a living. I’ve always been obsessed two very diferent worlds—Norway pieces that I get at a bakery right next with human nature, and now I get and New Jersey. In Norway, we lived in to my family’s apartment, in Oslo. to be a detective of sorts and dive into the woods, so we could run around You must add this brown cheese on top a character’s psychology—it’s a dream.

Reading List Georgia’s Democratic candidate for governor, Stacey Abrams, authored the political memoir Minority Leader this year—and eight romance novels before that, including Deception and Never Tell. Her current must-reads are equally eclectic:

HISTORICAL FICTION ROMANCE NONFICTION The Moor’s Account, Honest Illusions, The Dictator’s Learning Curve, by Laila Lalami by Nora Roberts by William J. Dobson “This novel about Estebanico, a Moroccan slave “Roberts’s ability to blend suspense and romance, “Dobson investigates how authoritarianism who was part of the de Narváez expedition, and to craft intense characterizations has taken on the trappings and lessons excavates the horror faced by Africans and native without losing the thread of any story, delights the of modern institutions to strengthen its ability to peoples in 16th-century Florida. His story makes mind and the heart. Plus, her heroines are strip nations around the world of the reader by turns uncomfortable, angry, iercely independent, and her heroes are lawed and their democracy. A timely handbook for

and bereft—yet it’s impossible to turn away.” dashing. Excellent romantic fare.” current political times.” (BOOKS, TIM HOUT BY PHOTOGRAPHS (ABRAMS LOWY/GETTY IMAGES BENJAMIN

60 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018

Vanities Market SKY HIGH A classic heel gets a reboot

Salvatore Ferragamo was both a technical genius and a born showman: he invented a last that made high heels shockingly comfortable, and he made stacked “Rainbow” platforms for Judy Garland, and ultra-femme four-inch pumps that Marilyn Monroe wore on-screen and of. It was Salvatore’s daughter Fiamma, though, who gave her father’s company its bread and butter, the Vara. Introduced in 1978, with its patent inish and sturdy, not too high heel, the kicky yet practical pump has served as a well-mannered companion to all manner of inluencers, from Princess Diana to Alexa Chung. For resort 2019, Ferragamo women’s creative director Paul Andrew has given the Vara an injection of joie de vivre, stretching the stalwart design up, up, up into an over-the-knee boot. Andrew, who until last year worked strictly in footwear, says he works in the Ferragamo tradition—that is, “toe to head.” The designer envisions a “modern creative” starting her look with

Salvatore these boots, then throwing Ferragamo on Italian knitwear or double- Vara boots, $995. dyed raw denim to spend (Salvatore “a crisp Sunday at the Ferragamo boutiques) Guggenheim.” The leather thigh-highs have all the history and tradition of the brand’s most iconic shoe, Andrew says—he’s just given them a somewhat subversive twist. — MAGGIE BULLOCK FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS GO TO DETAILS, FOR

62 PHOTOGRAPH BY KEIRNAN MONAGHAN & THEO VAMVOUNAKIS ROMAN BAROCCO COLLECTION | robertocoin.com Vanities Field Trip

I have a thing for obelisks and have been collecting them for years. They originated in Egypt as a tribute to the Sun God and then were brought to Rome. I wanted to have some tension between contemporary art Since I was and what came before. four years old, I would dress my family’s dinner table with lowers. Now, for the irst time, our arrangements are available to the public in Design impresario the Flower Factory. Ken Fulk unveils St. Joseph’s Arts Society, a shrine to culture CHURCHand entertaining

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Charles Darwin once called blushing “the most peculiar and most human of all expressions.” We are one of the only animals that, when hoping to hide, turn a color designed to stand out. For those of us who are particularly prone to the phenomenon— whose faces burn fuchsia at the least opportune moments—blushing is a bodily betrayal. It is “not only oxytocin, when it’s provoked by to-night.” On paper, it is almost always involuntary,” Darwin continues, “but libidinous thoughts. women who blush. the wish to restrain it, by leading to Perhaps this marriage of sex and While Zeichner notes that it’s self-attention, actually increases mortiication is why blushing has impossible to completely eliminate the tendency.” At its core, it’s a distinct covered some fertile literary territory. blushing—and, really, why would you sign of self-awareness. Mark Twain To blush connotes not only virtuousness want to?—there are treatments and put it well: “Man is the only animal and vulnerability but also eroticism. products that can help the chronically that blushes. Or needs to.” Jane Austen’s spirited heroines light lushed. The Vbeam is a pulsed-dye- Science has advanced 146 years up like stoplights at the mere mention laser treatment that works especially since Darwin’s indings set forth of a beloved’s name—a coy form well on broken capillaries or rosacea. in The Expression of Emotions in Man of blushing, John Wiltshire writes in More lo-i options include sucking and Animals, but the evolutionary his 1992 Jane Austen and the Body, on an ice cube before a stressful event, point of blushing is still far from that “declares sexuality in the very form or a wellness practice such as yoga understood. “We know that it’s caused of its denial.” In Elizabeth Barrett or meditation, which can help ease by the dilation of blood vessels,” Browning’s Aurora Leigh, she writes, anxiety. Prescription topicals, says dermatologist Dr. Joshua Zeichner, “Girls blush, sometimes, because they like Soolantra or Rhofade, treat the similar to the simple lush caused are alive, / Half wishing they were perma-lush that accompanies rosacea, by exercise and extreme temperatures. dead to save the shame.” In Romeo and while color correctors like the But while lushing is a straightforward Juliet’s balcony scene, the doomed Dr. Jart+ Cicapair line soothe redness indication of the body’s release (and thus far virginal) teen girl says, while providing light coverage. of heat, the dilations that cause a true “Thou know’st the mask of night One could also, of course, choose to blush are more mysteriously governed is on my face, / Else would a maiden enhance rather than reduce. History has blush bepaint my cheek / For been kind to those who don a heavy blush, from the circles of rouge on Queen Elizabeth I’s cheeks to Diana Vreeland’s THE OTHER CHEEK deep stripes, to the cheekbone-hugging NEWS LONDON ILLUSTRATED T/© purples favored by Grace Jones. These women, the antithesis of shy maidens, would never tip too easily into embarrassment. There’s a quiet power to a glowing face. It can signal 1 2 34embarrassment, sure, but also vitality, YSL NARS Cosmetics Urban Decay Chanel sexuality, health, vigor. A blush, Couture Blush Taos Blush, Afterglow Joues Contraste Blush Rose Lavallière, $42. $30. (narscosmetics Blush Bittersweet, $26. Quintessence, $45. sometimes, is the most charming proof PHOTOGRAPHS: TOP, BY PETER AKEHURS BY TOP, PHOTOGRAPHS: (yslbeauty.com) .com) (urbandecay.com) (chanel.com) of life. —MARISA MELTZER BY JOSEPHINE SCHIELE BOTTOM, LIBRARY; PICTURE EVANS LTD./MARY

66 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 Single? Join the club.

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Ralph Lauren—the man for a runway show and bow tie, it’s the suit. It’s an CAPTAIN who sublimated a certain dinner. A lifetime’s worth emblem of that character American identity of cultural icons—from and forever so.” Pierce into style—celebrated Oprah Winfrey to Steven wasn’t the only Brosnan AMERICA his half-century career Spielberg to Kanye present. “My son is in the with a golden jubilee in West—turned out to toast show,” Brosnan said. “He After 50 years Central Park. Vintage trolley the Bronx-born designer. doesn’t know that I’m here. cars ferried guests, in The dinner followed He’s 17, and he landed of fashion with black-tie and ball a show of the spring 2019 this job just a few days ago.” equal parts gowns, from the park’s collection, featuring Ralph aspiration and 72nd Street entrance Lauren hallmarks like For who’s who and more, to the Bethesda Terrace denim vests and cowboy turn to page 72. inspiration, Ralph boots along with velvet Lauren has gowns and double-breasted tuxes. Pierce Brosnan, reason to celebrate looking suited for a James By H. W. Vail Bond reprise, said, “It’s the

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1. Ralph Lauren. 2. Guests ascend the steps of the Bethesda Terrace arcade, in the heart of Central Park. 3. Huma Abedin. 4. Kanye West. 5. Alexander Wang and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.

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IN SELECT THEATERS AND ON THIS DECEMBER LETTER FROM L.A. Book ’Em There’s a mini-boom of By Rebecca Keegan literary scams on the big screen. Why revisit the likes of J. T. LeRoy now?

Early in the ilm Can You Ever Forgive name, details, the author spent 1991 Film Festival. That ilm stars Me?, struggling writer Lee Israel, and 1992 at vintage typewriters, Laura Dern as author Laura Albert, played by Melissa McCarthy in a salt- lovingly composing some 400 letters who invented the androgynous, H.I.V.- and-pepper wig and worn-out clothes, that she sold to collectors and dealers positive teenage-boy hustler-author crashes a book party at the elegant as original works by writers such persona “J. T. LeRoy” to sell her early- New York apartment of her literary as Dorothy Parker and Noël Coward. 2000s books, Sarah and The Heart Is agent, played by a deliciously snooty Having developed an ability to get Deceitful Above All Things, and enlisted Jane Curtin. It is 1991, a time before inside the minds of her subjects while her sister-in-law, Savannah Knoop Amazon.com, social media, Oprah’s writing biographies, Israel was now (Kristen Stewart), to dress up in a wig Book Club, or any of the seismic forces performing a kind of ghost-writing, and sunglasses and help carry out that would hit the publishing world albeit illegal. the ruse. Israel was eventually caught over the next 27 years. The odious McCarthy’s fabulist will have by the F.B.I., Albert and Knoop by celebrity-author complex, however, is competition this fall. Following a a New York Times journalist. Arriving at already alive and well. In the center summer when con artists seemed to roughly the same time is a literary-scam of the party, lanked by groupies and be making headlines everywhere, movie of a very diferent sort. A Million bellowing some self-aggrandizing autumn will see a host of movies based Little Pieces, which also premiered at comment, is best-selling novelist Tom on bookish frauds of a certain vintage. T.I.F.F., stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Clancy, who has managed to achieve In addition to Can You Ever Forgive James Frey, in an adaptation of Frey’s wealth and acclaim just as copies Me?, due in theaters October 19, there’s 2003 memoir of addiction that was of Israel’s latest book, a biography of Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy, which later revealed to have been signiicantly Estée Lauder, are gathering on the premiered at the Toronto International ictionalized. This movie takes the remainder piles. Clancy excels at the increasingly important art of self- promotion. Israel, a cranky, lonely woman, has neither the will nor the talent for it. “Why can’t you just do what you do?” McCarthy asks me, explaining the discomfort Israel had with her industry’s move toward telegenic authors. “Why do you have to also be the shiny star behind it? Something I loved about Lee is that she was never going to do that. She was never going to perform, and show up, and sparkle. ROY It was more like ‘Read my book, or not. E But I’m not going to play that game.’ ” Failing to play the game meant failing to work, at least until Israel found another avenue for her talents, convincingly impersonating some of the greatest writers of the 20th century in forged letters. As the ilm, based

on Israel’s 2008 memoir of the same PEYTON/GETTY BY MATTHEW PHOTOGRAPH L T. J. AS KNOOP (SAVANNAH IMAGES

VANITY FAIR PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL HOUTZ NOVEMBER 2018 “GORGEOUSLY FILMED. CHRIS PINE IS EXCELLENT.”

“A BIG, BLOODY MUD-AND-HONOR EPIC. IT COMES IN BLAZING, LIKE A KING.” memoir at face value. But it’s pre- and early Internet eras, such frauds protagonists were attempting to impossible to recall the book without have been on the national conscience work within. When cultural gatekeepers also recalling the moment in 2006 again lately. This year has already given began demanding that our authors be when Oprah Winfrey, who had helped the entertainment industry some larger-than-life igures, is it any wonder drive A Million Little Pieces to the top real-life scams to savor, from the silver- that some of them took it too far? of the best-seller lists by making it one tongued impostor who was calling “Sarah, I do think it was a great book,” of her book-club selections, lambasted around Los Angeles pretending to be says Justin Kelly, who directed Jeremiah Frey on her talk show for lying. In prominent Hollywood women like Terminator LeRoy from a script he the era of so-called fake news, and a Amy Pascal and Kathleen Kennedy to wrote with Knoop. “A lot of people had seemingly incessant war on the truth, alleged fraudster Anna Delvey, it on pop-culture books of the decade. there’s something almost quaint, if who ran up hotel bills around the world Some of those people felt like they cringe-worthy, in re-watching Winfrey’s in the guise of a New York socialite wanted to take it of their lists when indignant questioning of Frey. Getting and who will soon be the subject of a they found out that it was Laura Albert this riled up about a literary deception! Netlix series by Shonda Rhimes. There and not J.T., and I just ind that so Imagine the innocence of the times. was also the ex-cop who rigged the fascinating. The book is the same.” Though all three ilms center on the McDonald’s Monopoly game, detailed In stretches, Can You Ever Forgive Me? in a news story that producers planted unfolds like a buddy movie, as Israel in order to spark a bidding war over the enlists an accomplice in her scam: A BRIEF GUIDE TO THE ilm rights, which Ben Aleck and Matt a charming, street-smart, H.I.V.-positive REAL-LIFE Damon ultimately won. In that case, friend named Jack Hock, played by LITERARY FRAUDSTERS even a story about a scam seemed sort Richard E. Grant. Among the many ON-SCREEN THIS FALL of, well, scammy. Something about our pleasures of Can You Ever Forgive Me? current national mood suggests we’re is the way Lee and Jack cavort in a yearning to see con artists, to watch dirtier, more accessible, early-1990s their rise and, more hungrily, their Manhattan, a city where a loundering fall. As the public looks for answers, can writer could still cobble together the the scams of seasons past, just now money to rent a pre-war apartment and getting the movie treatment, ofer any? keep herself stocked in scotch. Heller made frequent use of the remaining Hollywood loves a handsome con vestiges of that era, like Neil’s Cofee man, from Paul Newman’s gifted Shop, on the Upper East Side, and pool player in The Hustler to Robert Julius’, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. Savannah Knoop Sarah Redford’s streetwise grifter in The “I always feel like I missed this perfect as J. T. LeRoy Sting, to the dapper gang of cardsharps moment in New York, this interesting, in Ocean’s 11 and its remake. But the grittier, more artist-driven time,” unorthodox swindlers in Can You Ever Heller says. “This movie is sort of as Forgive Me? and Jeremiah Terminator that was ending and New York was LeRoy are women who spend their time shifting and artists were getting pushed at book parties and use typewriters and out. In so many ways I related to what SCHIFFER-FUCHS/ULLSTEIN OM telephones instead of playing cards that must have been like for somebody ROY; FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS TO GO DETAILS, FOR ROY; and guns. “There was something like Lee, to feel their city changing. E so refreshing about seeing a female And to feel like there was no place for character who just unabashedly is her anymore. And just what a painful /REDUX (ISRAEL, FR /REDUX (ISRAEL, herself,” says Can You Ever Forgive Me? thing that is.” New York has also director Marielle Heller. “And doesn’t A Million James Frey changed in ways speciic to the literary Little Pieces apologize. And is the smartest person world since the early 90s, such that in the room, and knows it. And isn’t when Heller started location scouting, going to let anyone get away with she found many of the bookshops THE NEW YORK TIMES NEW YORK THE thinking otherwise. And that’s such a where Israel sold her letters had closed quality that you’d normally see in or were in the process of closing. a male character.” Early-90s New York was also L AS (KNOOP TRICKEY/FILMMAGIC ISAIAH Both Can You Ever Forgive Me? and a moment illed with loss for the city, Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy are more and for many, like Israel, in its gay and interested in the psychology motivating artistic communities. “We thought a their scammers than in the scams lot about this particular era in New York, themselves, and both ilms reveal the in the middle of the AIDS crisis [when] perversities of the celebrity-author- so many men were dead and dying,” Lee Israel Can You Ever BILD/GETTY IMAGES (FREY, BY BILD/GETTY (FREY, IMAGES Forgive Me? driven publishing industry their Heller says. “And people like Jack were HENDERSON/ ANDREW BY PHOTOGRAPHS

VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018

inding themselves very alone. And women like Lee—I mean, Lee was alone for her own myriad of reasons. So these two people who were very alone, inding each other by this twist of fate was such a miracle because they, in any other time, probably wouldn’t have opened up to each other.” In the case of Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy, which unfolds a decade later, Albert created J. T. LeRoy as an H.I.V.-positive teen, which may explain why many felt disposed to help him and why many felt angry and betrayed when he turned out to be fake. Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me? McCarthy was attracted to the Ira Silverberg, LeRoy’s agent at the time role because Israel “was never going to perform, and show up, and sparkle.” of the reveal, told The New York Times that “to present yourself as a person who is dying of AIDS in a culture which has lost so many writers and voices Knoop at a San Francisco clothing- including an autobiographical novel of great meaning, to take advantage of store opening that was posted online. released this fall, Katerina, which seems that sympathy and empathy, is the “I don’t think this would have to be an attempt to re-litigate the most unfortunate part of all of this.” happened at all post-Facebook and Million Little Pieces contretemps, in that -Instagram,” Kelly says. “The eventual it focuses on a writer with an addiction Jeremiah Terminator LeRoy reveals reason that The New York Times and experience of public shaming. that it’s a period movie in a diferent unveiled the story was a photo online of Frey’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, says way than Can You Ever Forgive Me?, in Savannah at this trunk show. Somebody Katerina “echoes and complements just how unfathomable it is to us now saw it and was like, ‘Huh, that looks a that most controversial of memoirs, and that someone could become as famous lot like this J.T. person.’ Post-2007, I just plays with the same issues of iction as J. T. LeRoy did without getting caught don’t think a story like this would ever and reality that created, nearly sooner. “Belief is powerful, and it happen.” In a wink to his audience, destroyed, and then re-created James can make people do some crazy things,” Kelly’s movie casts Love as herself. Like Frey in the American imagination.” Kelly says. “If someone presents many, Love was duped by Albert and Critics have been less generous, with themselves to you as who they say they Knoop, but she seems to have found the The Washington Post calling it “a million are, it’s just not that often that we think whole hoax so weird and wonderful little pieces of narcissism [that] may someone is lying.” Knoop-as-LeRoy that she hasn’t held a grudge. That may be the worst novel of the year.” While was photographed hanging out with be in part because of the complicated it’s probably true that Oprah—and Winona Ryder and Courtney Love, for psychological story Jeremiah Terminator the rest of us—over-reacted to Frey’s publications like The Village Voice LeRoy tells, in which Albert is working embellishments, it also seems clear and on the lashbulb-riddled red carpet out her own demons of childhood abuse he hopes to wring every last possible at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2006, and body image in the ictional moment out of what remains of his The New York Times discovered LeRoy’s character she created. literary bad-boy status. That Frey is identity thanks to a photograph of There’s a strange poetry to the idea now being played in a movie by a that these women who were trying to shaggily handsome and gifted actor, game the celebrity-obsessed publishing Aaron Taylor-Johnson, won’t hurt. world are now the subjects of movies It’s easy to picture Israel, who died in themselves. To be taken seriously by 2014, rolling her eyes at all these tales the literary cognoscenti, both women landing on-screen. One day while pretended to be someone else, in a ilming in Julius’, McCarthy says, she kind of extension of the long-standing noticed an older man watching her practice of female authors from the work. “He said, ‘I was a good friend of Brontë sisters to J. K. Rowling taking on Lee’s,’ ” McCarthy tells me. “And “Belief is male or gender-neutral pen names. immediately I’m like, ‘How am I doing? powerful, and In their day, Israel and Albert had to Would Lee have been happy about pose. Now they’re being played by this?’ He was being very sweet about it. it can make Oscar-nominated actresses, their He goes, ‘Well, happy wasn’t really people do some inventiveness reconsidered and even Lee’s gig. But she would have loved this fêted at ilm festivals. attention on her work. That she would

crazy things.” For his part, Frey is still writing, be very, very pleased with.’ ” FILM CORPORATION FOX CYBULSKI/TWENTIETH CENTURY BY MARY PHOTOGRAPH

VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018

LETTER FROM D.C. The Once and Future King By Jon Meacham Ten years on, Obama is still the master of America’s story

He is as cool as ever—the Mr. Spock of modern American politics, a man who can do the split-ingered Vulcan salute and intone “Live long and prosper,” a tribute to the television series that “Barry” Obama irst watched growing up in Honolulu more than half a century ago. To visitors and stafers who call on him in his Washington oices, in the West End section of the capital, near Georgetown, the former President Obama in the Oval Office, 2013. president’s conversations are thoughtful and wide-ranging. As he works on his much-anticipated memoir (there is no irm publication date), he is able to believed they would live to see. In the safe to say that his background—as a toggle between timelines, free to choose weeks after Obama defeated John child raised in Hawaii, the son of a among stories from his campaigning McCain, in 2008, I asked George H. W. white mother and a Kenyan father, days for the Senate in downstate Illinois Bush if he had thought an African- together with the hyper-vigilant care to Iowa vote totals, or from American American could win the presidency in his with which he approached the task demography to the state of global own lifetime. “No, I didn’t,” Bush 41 of living a life balancing disparate democracy. In his of-duty wardrobe replied. “But then I met him, and I totally traditions, inluences, and of jeans and a casual shirt, a go-cup get how he did.” worldviews—was critical to his rise to of tea at hand, still graying subtly but And therein lies a fundamental the pinnacle of American power. surely, and looking even leaner than element of the Obama story: he is the Never a candidate of grievance, he won in his White House days, he tends particular that made the general majorities in two national elections to take the longest of views on the possible. There is an ancient debate by appealing to the future, not state of the nation since his successor about the relative role of human agency by exploiting the past or by fueling assumed power. Recently, he has sagely in history—a fancy way of speculating familiar culture wars. remarked to those who ask, worriedly, about whether events are shaped about the Age of Trump: “Things are more by broad forces (demography, Obama has always led a charmed never as good as we think when they’re economics, geography) or by the political life. Though the young state going well, and never as bad as we characters and characteristics of senator’s credit card was rejected when think when they aren’t.” individual leaders at a given moment. he tried to rent a car while attending Barack Hussein Obama has been like The answer is usually mixed, but there’s the 2000 Democratic National this forever: unlappable when everyone no doubt that, say, Abraham Lincoln’s Convention, in Los Angeles, things else is lapping wildly, reasonable political gifts and moral compass quickly turned in his favor. Four years in a swirl of passion. Ten years ago this enabled him to save the Union when later, political opponents in Illinois month, he was elected as the 44th others might have failed. Or that imploded all around him, opening a president of the United States, a moment Franklin D. Roosevelt’s complexities path to the U.S. Senate. (A rival for the more than a few Americans had not informed his ability to rescue capitalism Democratic nomination was accused and lead a reluctant nation to global of physically assaulting his ex-wife, Presidential historian Jon Meacham responsibility. and the Republican nominee dropped is the author of The Soul of America These are early days for a historical out after his former wife said that

(Random House). verdict on Barack Obama. But it seems he’d asked her to accompany him to OFFICE PHOTO HOUSE PETE SOUZA/WHITE BY PHOTOGRAPH

74 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 sex clubs. Both candidates denied the the rise of nativism, xenophobia, and leadership at home and abroad. allegations.) And four years after propaganda, and fear in the broadest (The prevailing descriptor is “civic that, during the presidential campaign, of contexts. innovation.”) He and Michelle have the Great Recession erupted on the Framing our own moment of fear signed a whopping deal to develop Republicans’ watch, and fate helped was one of his goals on a summer trip content for Netlix. And with the hand the orator, conciliator, and hope- to Africa to deliver a lecture in honor of former First Lady’s memoir, Becoming, and-change nominee a landmark Nelson Mandela. Describing the out this month, her husband, in his victory—not once but twice. backlash to globalization in recent private hours, is focused on his. Ten years on, consumed as we are by years, Obama acknowledged the A night owl, he writes his irst drafts Trump, the start of the Obama era American and European movements in longhand, staying up late into the can feel as remote as Agincourt. Did we that have “tapped the unease that was evening and early hours of the really have a digniied, contemplative, felt by many people who lived morning. He mostly works in a sparsely judicious, diplomatic, African-American outside of the urban cores, fears that decorated study in the Obamas’ house president less than 24 months ago? economic security was slipping away, in the Kalorama section of Washington, We did, and now we don’t. Indeed, the that their social status and privileges D.C., and in his wood-paneled West current president’s persona, his impulse were eroding, that their cultural End oice, where he’ll put an old LP on to repeal, and his rash of executive identities were being threatened by his Shinola record player while he’s orders have had the strange efect outsiders, somebody that didn’t look working. (Otis Redding, Marvin Gaye, of dismantling Obama’s policy legacy like them or sound like them or pray Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and while ensuring his cultural one as a as they did.” That he was speaking the Duke Ellington are the usual suspects, gentlemanly, eloquent president in a same week that Trump was roiling with some Brandi Carlile, Leon Hobbesian reality-TV world. the NATO summit, and holding a Bridges, and Kendrick Lamar thrown And that’s the kind of historical bizarrely buddy-like press conference in.) As stafers are busy doing research irony that Obama keenly appreciates. with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, gave and interviewing former Cabinet The American story—and Obama loves particular force to Obama’s words members and senior oicials to help jog thinking in terms of story—is one of about America’s need to lead against his memory, he mainly sits alone, perpetual progress and reaction, strongman politics—and the “bigger drafting one sentence, then another. followed by more of the same, world and bigger lies” of authoritarians. Obama’s personal answer to our without end. It is Obama who has long He also made a special plea for the current plight? Tell a better story. Insist insisted that Americans focus on the straightforward role of fact in public on a more appealing counter-narrative. Founders’ understanding of the life. “Too much of politics today And follow his wife’s counsel to go national mission as a journey to a seems to reject the very concept of high when they—meaning Trump—go “more perfect Union,” not a perfect objective truth,” Obama said. “We see low. Obama believes in this rhetorical one. Informed by this Niebuhrian the utter loss of shame among political prescription to his core. And why vision of politics as a tragic undertaking— leaders where they’re caught in a lie shouldn’t he? He mastered American the country will never be all we and they just double down and they politics by telling his own story, and want it to be, and our moral duty is to lie some more.” Trump rose to high oice by telling a endure in the hope that our better diferent one. Democracies are by angels will prevail—Obama is perhaps Lately, Obama has been out making nature emotional entities, and it’s not the American most equipped to put the rounds, rallying voters before much of a reach to think that historians the midterms. “There’s always been [a] will see the Obama-Trump pivot as darker aspect to America’s story,” he the starkest of examples of the insisted in a September speech in competing American narratives of Illinois. “It did not start with Donald hope and of fear. Trump.” He continued along these lines In Africa, Obama spoke plainly. the next day, in California: “When “Let me tell you what I believe,” he you look at the arc of American history, said. “I believe in a vision of equality there’s always been a push and and justice and freedom and multi- pull … between those who promote racial democracy, built on the premise A night owl, he the politics of hope and those who that all people are created equal, and exploit the politics of fear.” they’re endowed by our creator writes his irst For the most part, however, Obama with certain inalienable rights. And I drafts in longhand, has been living his days outside the believe that a world governed by such constant oompah of the national circus. principles is possible and that it can staying up into He is deeply engaged in planning his achieve more peace and more the early hours of presidential library, due to open in cooperation in pursuit of a common Chicago in several years. His foundation good. That’s what I believe.” It’s his the morning. is focused on grassroots organizing story, and he’s sticking to it.

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 75 POWER PLAYERS Teddy vs. Trump From the Square By Doris Kearns Goodwin Deal to The Art of the Deal, the perils of too much bully, not enough pulpit

Picture a man with an unquenchable degree. People in rural areas felt he developed, in his own words, a thirst for celebrity, who gets into rows alienated. A menacing gap had opened “swelled” head. Whenever opposed, with everybody, who has a gift for between the rich and the poor. he would yell, pound his desk, punchy quips that make headlines; Roosevelt looked to the future with and retaliate with venom. While his a man of undeniable charisma who so what he called a “Square Deal”—for the blistering language made great craves being the center of attention rich and the poor, the capitalist and the newspaper copy, he soon found himself he wants to be the baby at the baptism, wageworker. Candidate Trump bereft of support. It began to dawn upon the bride at the wedding, and the promised to utilize his skill, which he him, he conceded, that he was “not corpse at the funeral. “While he is in the laid out in The Art of the Deal, to bring all-important” and that “cooperation neighborhood,” one critic grudgingly America back to a simpler time of from other people” was essential. concedes, “the public can no more greatness. But, in the end, the success of That President Trump has not look the other way than the small boy any deal depends on the character and developed such humility is evident. can turn his head away from a circus the experience of the dealer. No one When asked during his campaign parade!” We speak, of course, not would argue that either Roosevelt whom he consulted on foreign policy, of our current president but of Theodore or Trump sufered from a deiciency of he said, “My primary consultant is Roosevelt, based on depictions from bravado or conidence. Yet Roosevelt myself, and I have a good instinct for more than a century ago. grew in power precisely because he this stuf.” Accepting the Republican As a presidential historian, I am grew to know his limitations, because he nomination, he noted, “Nobody knows often asked which of our past developed the humility to acknowledge the system better than me, which is presidents might be best suited for our his mistakes. After his irst, wildly why I alone can ix it.” In the long run, current moment in time. No doubt it successful term in the state legislature, however, the presidency has a way of would be Roosevelt. T.R. could surely master our social-media age and especially the Twitterverse with his vivid, memorable aphorisms: “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” “Don’t hit till you have to; but, when you do hit, hit hard.” “It is hard to fail but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” Like President Trump, Roosevelt took oice in turbulent times. At the turn of the 20th century, the Industrial Revolution had shaken up the economy much as the technological revolution and globalization have redeined our lives today. Big companies were swallowing up small companies. New inventions had quickened the pace of life to a frenzied

Doris Kearns Goodwin, the presidential historian, is the author of the newly published Leadership: In Turbulent Times

(Simon & Schuster). LTD./ALAMY; PRESS PICTORIAL FROM LEFT, PHOTOGRAPHS: ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES BY DREW RIGHT,

76 VANITY FAIR ILLUSTRATION BY OLIVER MUNDAY NOVEMBER 2018 humbling even the most self-assured. great deal is when both sides win,” preached, “must be marked by the While both Roosevelt and Trump Trump maintains. “That is a bunch of fellow feeling, the mutual kindness, the were born to extraordinary privilege, crap…. I always win.” mutual respect, the sense of common Roosevelt’s empathy slowly expanded duties and common interests which through his long political career. As a Imagine a leader like Roosevelt, arise when men take the trouble to state legislator, he investigated the who sought a fulcrum point between understand one another.” Acrimony and dreadful conditions in New York City’s contending sides, who strove to forge a antipathy develop, he argued, when tenements. As police commissioner, he common purpose among conservatives “the two sections, or two classes, are so roamed the slums between midnight and progressives. To knit classes and cut of from each other that neither and sunrise. His understanding of his regions together, he traveled by appreciates the other’s passions, fellow citizens broadened during his train for weeks at a time through rural prejudices, and indeed, point of view.” time in the armed forces, as New York areas and cities in places where he The Square Deal, the slogan that governor, and as vice president. In sum, had been defeated as well as in states he would come to characterize he was amply prepared as a leader in had won. He listened to local complaints Roosevelt’s entire domestic program, 1901 when the assassination of William and spoke in folksy language that was predicated upon this fellow McKinley catapulted him to the reached the hearts of his countrymen. feeling and a determination to be fair presidency at age 42, the youngest man His inclusive leadership sutured, rather to all. “I believe in rich people who act ever to occupy the White House. than exacerbated, divisions. squarely, and in labor unions which During the unprecedented Imagine a leader who developed are managed with wisdom and justice. Republican-primary season of 2016, remarkably collegial relations with the But when either employee or long and broad public service was press, those now termed the “enemy of employer, laboring man or capitalist, perceived as a liability. The times were the American people.” Roosevelt invited goes wrong, I have to clinch him, and ripe for a candidate with no political reporters to meals, took questions that is all there is to it.” background to catch the lightning. during his midday shave, and, most The Square Deal, like all deals, Things were so topsy-turvy and toxic, importantly, absorbed their criticism hinged upon intention, promises, it seemed as if we had left a world with grace. A celebrated journalist pledges, and execution. All deals are where experience, temperament, mercilessly lampooned Roosevelt’s based upon stability and coherence. and character mattered, and entered memoir of the Spanish-American War The words that make up a durable one where knowledge of history and by claiming Roosevelt should have deal cannot be granted one day and government and law had all been called the book Alone in Cuba, since he walked back the next. Roosevelt called jettisoned. Candidate Trump brilliantly placed himself at the center of every words that were emptied of meaning capitalized on these atmospherics action and every battle. Roosevelt “weasel words,” as if a weasel had by railing against the political status replied with a winning capacity for sucked out the nourishment of truth quo and giving a voice to those self-deprecation: “I regret to state that and left behind an empty shell. who felt excluded. my family and intimate friends are Campaigning and stoking one’s delighted with your review.” Today, a pattern has emerged of base, however, is not governing. Consider today the novelty of a misspoken statements, half- Governing requires bringing sides leader like Roosevelt. When friends truths, invented distractions, and together, rather than simply tallying warned him against keeping on the outright fabrications. Critical analyses wins and losses. This understanding slain McKinley’s Cabinet, fearing some and disagreements are termed of leadership has eluded Trump so far. members might not be loyal to the fake. Blatant falsehoods are repeated “You hear lots of people say that a replacement president, Roosevelt again and again. Yet constant replied, “If the men I retained were repetition of an assertion does not loyal to their work they would be giving make it true—except perhaps in the me the loyalty for which I most cared.” nonsense realm of Lewis Carroll’s The What mattered was their sworn loyalty Hunting of the Snark: “Just the place to the job and the country—not their for a Snark! I have said it thrice: personal fealty. What I tell you three times is true.” Imagine a leader who used “the This is beyond simply winning or bully pulpit,” a phrase Roosevelt coined losing. There is a terrible danger in to connote the platform inherent in growing accustomed to the erosion of Roosevelt called the presidency, to educate the American meaning in our political discourse. words that people about the importance of a Serious, perhaps lasting, damage is healthy civic life. “Bully” to Roosevelt being done to our identity as were emptied meant irst-rate or superlative: gaining Americans and to our democracy. of meaning one’s objective by persuasion rather We are moving in a direction in which than through the darker meaning trust will be vaporized and truth “weasel words.” of bullying. “Civic life,” Roosevelt becomes a fugitive.

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 77 A few days after writes the about legendary war reporter. to openin November, set is Marie Brenner her lifefor I arrived towriteabout inLondon Send. Then Paul andMarieSend. screamed sand blowinginhiseyes. Marie hit onto theback thecarwithabooster, of driver screamed asConroy crawled Marie’s copy from herlaptop. The totransmit use theycould power of for theborder, there wasn’t awhisper carheading deadline, inaspeeding trapped fordays.been Minutes from civil war, where heandColvinhad duringtheLibyan outside Sirte, place the irst storieshetoldmetook Oneof her andalmostcosthimhisleg. from theexplosionsthat hadkilled the hospitalwhere hewas recovering photographer Paul Conroy’s at bed 78 feature Colvin, ilmabout government troops years seven ago. As a of Marie Colvin, targeted bySyrian- truth became alltoo real with the death become targets themselves. This hard those who attempt have to cover conlict and “citizen journalists.” Increasingly, blurred between seasoned correspondents has draft, line the irst history’s for has become the modern-day medium crews.news No longer. As social media repercussions of harming unarmed their plight; combatants the knew grave messengers who could tell the world about as often correspondents viewed conlict ensure ameasure of safety. Victims of in awarBeing ajournalist zoneused to Marie Brenner. All rights reserved. by Simon &Schuster. 2018, Copyright Brenner, 2018, 23, to October bepublished Adapted from By Marie Brenner DISPATCHES VANITY FAIR Vanity Fair. A Private War, Marie Colvin died, Marie Colvindied, I spent hours by I spent byMarie A Private War,

the ilm of viewwhenIvisitedtheset full she was a reporter andwearaneye she wasareporter grenade thrown at herafterannouncing toa sightinoneeyeand lose due that space. go Shewould toSriLanka for Colvinonceshel asIknewwhat wascoming unnerving, was onset Ispent The afternoon newsroom. re-created meticulously shouting match withhereditorinthe government forces. Shehada refugees were undersiege by a yet situation inwhich unreported 2001tocoverto SriLankainApril of determined toget herself assigned ilmed: Colvinwas wasbeing scene OnthedayColvin. Ivisited,apivotal month andstars as RosamundPike Fair pieceIwrotethe eponymous for Heineman’s cinematic rendering of in Matthew Heineman’s with “Well,them. you have never worked who worked this way,” thedriver told highway. “Ihave never journalists seen with relief asthecarstreaked downthe Rosamund Pikeas everything changed war reporting changedthe game. Her death A Private Warrior of The Sunday Times In January thisyear, of thenewsroom in 2012. It will be released this released It this willbe in 2012. The Sunday Times, A Private War The Sunday Times (U.K.) cameinto A PrivateWar. eft the safety of eft thesafety of —director Matt —director ” Marie yelled. foreign correspondent MarieColvin Vanity Marie Colvin’s the personal toll. the personal nomatter toman, to what mandoes witness andbear places on earth vocation: togo tothemostviolent a missionthat sheturned into a the consequences. whohavedramas those of sufered warbutratherof inthereal human She wasnotinterested inthestrategy a price:PTSD, nightmar circles,and political butthere was media inLondon wit itbeautifully raw Colvin’s truth. sangfroid and that camoulagedperformances the with storiesfrom the regalefriends whomshewould exuberance withdevoted a fountof Colvinwasaparadox— no easyfeat. bring herlifestorytothescreen; for three years has worked tirelessly to galvanized byColvin’s career and Syria’sof He was reporters. citizen his documentary his documentary nominated foranAcademy Award for patch fortherest herlife. of Ghosts, Ghosts, He has,however, directed never madeanarrative feature ilm. Heineman, just 34, has been hasbeen Heineman, just34, detailing thelives several of Cartel Land, Marie Colvinhad NOVEMBER ield, shaped into into ield, shaped es, alcoholism. es, alcoholism. City of of City but has but has 2018

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ILLUSTRATION BY SUPERMUNDANE 81 2018 NEW ESTABLISHMENT LIST

this year’s New Establishment list. In the past year, Iger has gone from Movers and Makers From Washington presidential hopeful to, once again, media savior. In the same time, Robert to Hollywood, the 100 Power Players on our Mueller has indicted dozens of people annual list are reshaping the world we live in for cyber crimes. Jef Bezos has upended grocery shopping and fashion. A year By Nick Bilton ago, few people outside the technology industry had ever heard of Dara Last December, Bob Iger sat company in this age of unprecedented Khosrowshahi. Now, as he leads Uber down for dinner in his mayhem and innumerable lurking to a likely I.P.O. next year, he is arguably Brentwood home with his wife, acronymic threats—O.T.T., A.I., the most important C.E.O. in the Valley. the journalist Willow Bay, and their two S.V.O.D.—is not without its own risks. teenage sons and shared some Technology has arguably upended Khosrowshahi knows that things unexpected news. Outside, the wind Disney’s portfolio of assets—news, move fast. Uber’s dispatching algorithm entertainment, sports, theme parks— that connects drivers with riders can more in the past decade than in the also predict where drivers will previous hundred years. When Iger took be needed at speciic times and over for Michael Eisner, Netlix was help usher them in that direction. competing with Blockbuster. Now, Amazon is readying technology under the leadership of Reed that will be able to predict when Hastings and Ted Sarandos, it you’re out of milk and automatically is the world’s second-largest drop it of at your house before you’ve media company, with a even realized it. Venture capitalist Marc market capitalization Andreessen just invested $65 million of $160 billion in a company that is hoping to replace to Disney’s $163 lawyers with machine learning—maybe billion, and not such a bad thing. unabashed ambitions During my conversation with Iger, he placed his iPad Pro on the table in front of me and played the trailer for the new Lion King movie. As the African for global chant Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba dominance. began, there were clips of wild animals Netlix, after all, running through the tundra and an has upwards of aerial shot of birds lying through the 130 million monthly sky. Then I saw a scene of a baby lion subscribers and that was so real I wondered how on earth recently won the same they’d taught the animal to act on cue. number of prime-time This was when I realized that the Emmys as HBO; it’s the clips had all been generated with culprit, the looming threat, computer graphics. I reminded Iger that behind the season’s rash of just a year ago, at the time of the media mergers—including not New Establishment Summit, I had only Disney’s play for Fox but asked him how long it would take also AT&T’s $85 billion before technology was so advanced acquisition of Time Warner. that real-life actors would no longer be Check out this year’s entrants In 2001, futurist Ray Kurzweil needed in a ilm. Iger to the New predicted that our society would said it was several Establishment’s Hall of Fame at efectively experience 20,000 years of decades away. Yet The Hive technological progress in the forthcoming here it was, in front (VFHive.com.) century. We are now watching this new of me, suggesting paradigm unfold, and it may—along with the opposite. “If you’re doing this with our still nascent reckoning regarding animals, why aren’t you doing it with acceptable workplace behavior and our people?” I asked. Iger looked at me like society’s now two-year-old reckoning a magician about to tell me which with the Trump presidency—be the most card I had picked. He smiled and signiicant leitmotif coursing through said, “It can be done.”

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RALPHLAUREN.COM/PINKPONY 2018 NEW ESTABLISHMENT LIST 7. MARK with its massive bets on Uber, 1. ROBERT MUELLER 4. BOB IGER semiconductors, and WeWork, Age: 74 Occupation: Special Age: 67 Occupation: C.E.O., Disney among dozens of other counsel, Department Previous Rank: 7 ZUCKERBERG Age: 34 Occupation: C.E.O., companies. Son, the company’s of Justice Previous Rank: 6 Facebook Previous Rank: 2 A new front in the streaming enigmatic founder, has said he Evidence of institutional wars: This time last year, Iger I’m still C.E.O., bitch! In a expects artiﬁcial intelligence inscrutability: The unoicial was considering taking on year punctuated by a data- to surpass humanity hero of the anti-Trump Trump’s divisive rhetoric and privacy scandal, disinformation “within the next 30 years.” resistance, and the avatar of running against him in 2020. campaigns, a massive one- American institutionalism, But Iger’s political ambitions day stock capsizing, and growing 11. DARA may or may not satisfy were suspended when he skepticism on Capitol Hill, the appetite of an electorate KHOSROWSHAHI saw the opportunity to buy 21st Zuckerberg, who as a young Age: 49 Occupation: C.E.O., Uber searching for answers about Century Fox, for a cool $71 founder infamously printed Previous Rank: 42 what really went down between billion. An antidote to AT&T’s cards with the mantra Übermensch: A little over a the Trump campaign and $85 billion acquisition of “I’m CEO, Bitch,” continues year ago, few people in Silicon Russia. But Mueller, and his Time Warner, the move helped to exercise nearly unchecked Valley had heard of the nearly three dozen indictments usher Disney into a new era power at Facebook. and guilty pleas, is proof of streaming—and open a new Iranian-born entrepreneur of the power of the law. front in its battle with Netlix. running Expedia. But after Uber 8. BEYONCÉ nearly imploded under Travis Age: 37 Occupation: Musician 2. JEFF BEZOS 5. TIM COOK Previous Rank: 77 Kalanick, Khosrowshahi appears Age: 54 Occupation: C.E.O., Age: 57 Occupation: C.E.O., Apple to be turning around a company Amazon Previous Rank: 1 Previous Rank: 3 The breadwinner: Beyoncé that seemed like it was about and husband Jay-Z just to crater from self-inlicted Display of Vulcan chess Trillion-dollar man: While other collaborated on a 48-date tour in injuries. Can he stay the course mastery: Antagonism from tech C.E.O.’s were skewered support of their album, Everything and take Uber public next President Trump and Bernie in the press for their role in the Is Love, which is expected to year ( for more, see page 94)? Sanders notwithstanding, 2016 election mess, Apple bring in more than $200 million Bezos has continued to grow stayed above the fray while also this year. In 2017, Beyoncé alone both his personal wealth 12. LARRY PAGE becoming the irst American earned more than $100 million, Age: 45 Occupation: C.E.O., (he recently overtook Bill Gates company with a trillion-dollar while her performances at Alphabet Previous Rank: 4 as the world’s richest person) market capitalization. “The Coachella, a tribute to historically Gravity-free zone: Neither and the value of his company, truth is, we could make a ton black colleges, secured her role a record-breaking $5 billion ine which hovers around the of money if we monetized our as a cultural igure well beyond from European regulators nor trillion-dollar mark. customer—if our customer the realm of music. was our product,” Cook recently the president’s constant Twitter said, in a veiled reference to 9. RANDALL barrage could impede Alphabet, 3. REED HASTINGS Google’s parent company, Age: 57 Occupation: C.E.O., Netix Facebook. “We’ve elected not Previous Rank: 9 to do that.” STEPHENSON which continues to beat Age: 58 Occupation: C.E.O., AT&T Wall Street expectations as it Previous Rank: 8 Started at the bottom ... : also creeps toward the vaunted Hastings founded Netlix 6. MICHELLE OBAMA Age: 54 Occupation: Author; The quant: After conquering trillion-dollar market- two decades ago with a thesis co-founder, Higher Ground Trump’s Department of capitalization threshold. that consumers would Productions Previous Rank: New Justice to consummate his one day stream billions of hours acquisition of Time Warner, Returning to higher ground: 13. LEBRON JAMES of content over the Internet. the Dallas-based telecom Age: 33 Occupation: Athlete, As the midterms approach, Now the company has a market executive now sits atop a war producer Previous Rank: 76 the Obamas have just begun capitalization of $160 billion chest of premium ilm and tiptoeing back onto the national Showtime: When James signed and recently beat out HBO television programming, from scene, but they remain as his four-year, $154 million on Emmy night for the irst time HBO to CNN. It’s enough to inluential as ever—particularly deal to play with the Los Angeles ( for more, see page 96). keep AT&T’s 159 million Michelle, whose forthcoming Lakers, some wondered if mobile customers glued to book, Becoming, is the irst the move was intended to get their smartphones. “Every highly anticipated release in the the four-time N.B.A. M.V.P. technological family’s pair of multi-million- closer to Hollywood. His dollar deals with Penguin 10. MASAYOSHI SON SpringHill production company, change Age: 61 Occupation: C.E.O., Random House and Netlix, with oices on the Warner Bros. SoftBank Previous Rank: 24 always brings and who launched her lot, is working on a remake two steps own get-out-the-vote campaign. One hundred billion reasons: of House Party and a sequel, forward The former First Lady’s With its $100 billion Vision Space Jam 2, starring James and one step upcoming book tour transcends Fund, Japanese giant SoftBank and produced by Ryan Coogler. back.” authordom—she’s selling has quickly become one of James is also involved in out stadiums à la Joel Osteen, the most powerful players in TV projects for HBO, Showtime, — REED HASTINGS, IN or Mick Jagger. tech, muscling out rivals and NBC. FEBRUARY 2018, ON HOW TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING SOCIETY NOVEMBER 2018 14. SERENA WILLIAMS Age: 37 Occupation: Athlete, activist, investor Previous Rank: New

The G.O.A.T.: The winningest player in modern history returned from pregnancy to reach two Grand Slam inals, redeine motherhood in sports, and continue as a board member of SurveyMonkey, all while remaining the world’s highest-paid female athlete.

15. KEVIN FEIGE Age: 45 Occupation: President, Marvel Studios Previous Rank: 21

Mister Fantastic: Marvel Studios has released 20 hit ilms in the past decade, and this year may have its irst best-picture contender in Black Panther. Expect Feige’s power to grow THE HOUSE OF MOUSE under the coming Disney-Fox merger, which will see popular Bob Iger was mulling a run for the White House until Fox-licensed characters the opportunity arose to acquire many of the most storied from the XMen, Deadpool, and Fantastic Four comics united assets from 21st Century Fox. Herewith, he explains under the Disney banner, his thinking—and where the future of media is headed and Feige’s trusted stewardship. Are you still considering We didn’t just buy the content 16. JEAN & a bid for the presidency? library. We bought the capability of LIU It wasn’t just something making more. We bought the CHENG WEI Ages: 40, 36 Occupations: I was talking about with reporters machinery in place, which is people President and founder, Didi Chuxing and friends and colleagues. I was and structure. That’s why we bought Previous Rank: 11 actually doing some work on it. Pixar and Marvel and Lucasilm. Globalization and its But the primary reason I dropped You ﬁred director James Gunn discontents: Didi has been on it was because of this Fox deal. over offensive tweets. Was that the a tear since running Uber out of China in 2016. The company What did your family say when you right call? The most important thing a has aggressively expanded its told them? ride-sharing empire into Mexico, They high-ived each other. C.E.O. does is create a value system Australia, Japan, and throughout Will you rethink your decision for the company. Then, it’s Southeast Asia. in 2024? incredibly important as a company Right now I’m not doing it to establish those values and 17. THE #METOO in 2020. I am running the company then to live by them. MUCKRAKERS: through 2021. I have made So this applied to Roseanne too? Ronan Farrow, Jodi I made the decision on Roseanne Kantor & Megan Twohey no decision about what I’ll do Ages: 30, 43, 38 Occupations: afterward. I have thought very within minutes. [Disney-ABC Journalists Previous Rank: New Television Group president] little about it. Mogul-hunting: Their reporting Netﬂix spends $8 billion a year Ben Sherwood called me and said, for The New Yorker (Farrow) on content. In the 21st Century Fox “Here’s this tweet, this is what and The New York Times (Kantor, deal, you essentially spent $71 she said,” and I said, “You know Twohey) brought down Harvey what this probably means?” And he Weinstein, opened the loodgates billion to acquire a library. Why not of #MeToo journalism, and just spend $7 billion a year said, “Yes, it’s bad.” And I said, culminated in a shared Pulitzer

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE PUGLIESE/AUGUST BY JOE PHOTOGRAPH and make 1,000 new things? “My sense is that she has to go.” Prize. Kantor and Twohey

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signed a high-proile book with Nike and American and challenging Amazon deal and walked the Oscars red Express), Lamar this year with its own smart-assistant 28. SATYA NADELLA Age: 51 Occupation: C.E.O., carpet. Farrow churned out received a Pulitzer Prize for his device, Google Home. Microsoft Previous Rank: 54 exposés that ended the careers album DAMN., the irst non-jazz of New York attorney general or classical record to win 25. KEVIN SYSTROM No more Clippy: Microsoft Eric Schneiderman and the award in its 75-year history. Age: 34 Occupation: C.E.O., has been on a tear since Nadella CBS C.E.O. Les Moonves. Instagram Previous Rank: 60 took over as C.E.O., in 2014, 22. RUPERT and his expansive vision for the The only thing people like company continues to transform 18. SHERYL about Facebook! Not only MURDOCH its corporate culture. Age: 87 Occupation: Outgoing has Instagram managed to SANDBERG executive co-chairman, 21st Century After buying LinkedIn, Nadella Age: 49 Occupation: C.O.O., replicate all the successful parts Fox Previous Rank: 16 resumed his shopping spree Facebook Previous Rank: 12 of Snapchat, but it’s also this year with the acquisition of Ulterior motives? At a glance, Facebook’s last, best hope: Creature of Congress? code database GitHub for Murdoch’s once unimaginable a platform insulated from If Sandberg has aspirations $7.5 billion. the data-privacy scandals and beyond being Facebook’s number divestiture of 21st Century misinformation that have two, she will have to help Fox looked like a white lag in plagued its parent company. 29. TED Zuckerberg ix the most powerful Big Media’s war with Silicon SARANDOS Valley. But look a little closer: Age: 54 Occupation: Chief content social network on earth— oicer, Netix Previous Rank: 27 especially given what’s at stake the octogenarian mogul gets to 26. JAMIE DIMON Age: 62 Occupation: C.E.O., in the 2018 midterms and keep the things he likes The closer: Netlix’s seemingly JPMorgan Chase Previous Rank: 39 2020 election. Otherwise, she best—Fox News and his global bottomless checkbook may again ind herself testifying newspaper leet—and it has irritated every competitor before Congress. doesn’t hurt that he and The new king of the Street: in Hollywood, but it’s his brood are set to become Thanks to Trump’s new tax law, Sarandos’s personal Disney’s second-largest JPMorgan Chase is rolling in salesmanship that has helped 19. ELON MUSK shareholders, either. the dough like never before. Last close key deals with marquee Age: 47 Occupation: C.E.O., Tesla, SpaceX, the Boring Company year’s quarterly proits reached show-runners such as Shonda Previous Rank: 5 23. STEVE BURKE a record of $6.5 billion to Rhimes and Ryan Murphy, $7 billion or so, and proﬁts this and endear Netlix to skeptical Post-peak Musk? After years & BRIAN ROBERTS year have poured in at more cinéastes like Alfonso of receiving adulation in Ages: 60, 59 Occupations: C.E.O., NBCUniversal; C.E.O., Comcast than $8.7 billion every three Cuarón and Martin Scorsese. the press, Musk made headlines Previous Rank: 22 months. With the retirement of this year for all the wrong Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman, reasons. While SpaceX has Outfoxed: It’s been a bumpy 30. MA HUATENG Dimon is the undisputed king of Age: 46 Occupation: C.E.O., Tencent year for the top two executives grown into the world’s most Wall Street banks. Previous Rank: 38 important aerospace company, of NBC. The company’s news Musk’s personal behavior has division was rocked by #MeToo 27. RICHARD The Insta of China: rattled Wall Street scandals, and Roberts had to Tencent, which owns the (see chart on page 92). call of Comcast’s pursuit of 21st PLEPLER super-popular app WeChat, is Century Fox when the bidding Age: 58 Occupation: C.E.O., HBO the irst Asian-based tech Previous Rank: 26 20. DANIEL EK got too hot. The good news company to hit a $500 billion Age: 35 Occupation: C.E.O., Spotify is that NBC and Comcast were One-man Netﬂix-slayer? market cap. Previous Rank: 30 ahead of the game in the AT&T’s bet on Time Warner M&A frenzy that continues really comes down to a gamble 31. THE Not bad for a failed musician: to upend Big Media. on whether Plepler, with Ek, who once dreamed of being PARKLAND millions more in his war chest, a musician, has now created 24. SUNDAR can rely on his golden gut to STUDENTS the world’s most popular music- PICHAI Age: 46 Occupation: C.E.O., Google out-program Netlix’s vaunted Occupations: Gun-control advocates streaming platform. Spotify, Previous Rank: 20 Previous Rank: New algorithm and seemingly which eschewed the traditional limitless resources. The kids are all right: After banker-laden pre-I.P.O. road Lying low: Pichai’s steady surviving a harrowing massacre show, is now worth $33 stewardship of Google at the hands of a lone gunman, billion, and growing. The next and relatively low proile have “More isn’t frontier: video. allowed him to sidestep Emma González and David controversies involving the better, Hogg, along with several company’s monopolistic power, only better is of their peers, organized the 21. KENDRICK LAMAR the proliferation of conspiracy March for Our Lives, which Age: 31 Occupation: Musician better— videos on YouTube, and drew nearly two million people, Previous Rank: New but we need an ill-received plan to launch a lot more making it one of the largest Pulitzer Kenny: In addition to a censored version of its search marches in American history. his 12 Grammys, 17.8 million engine in China. In the to be Cameron Kasky, Jaclyn Corin, albums sold, and net worth of $58 meantime, Google is quietly even better.” and Matt Deitch have helped million (thanks, partly, to deals making a major push into A.I. turn it into a movement. —RICHARD PLEPLER, AT HBO TOWN HALL, JULY 2018 86 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 Inside the Hive with Nick Bilton

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2018 NEW ESTABLISHMENT LIST 32. STEPHEN COLBERT Age: 54 Occupation: Talk-show host Previous Rank: 40

Late-night Trump bump? The comic’s unlinching nightly takedowns of Trump, along with viral monologues and a guest roster that included John Kerry, Bob Woodward, and Beto O’Rourke, have helped push his ratings past those of his tamer competitors Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel. 33. PETER THIEL Age: 50 Occupation: Chairman, Palantir; managing partner, Founders Fund Previous Rank: 17

Army of one: Tenacity pays A NEW BALL GAME of. In 2016, Palantir, co-founded by Trump supporter Thiel, Lisa Borders, former W.N.B.A. president, recently sued the government over an underwent a secretive interview process to unfair bidding process in trying to secure defense contracts, become the inaugural president and C.E.O. of Time’s Up, and won. Earlier this year, the the anti-sexual-harassment organization U.S. Army announced it had awarded Palantir an $876 Time’s Up was purposefully regard to women, how they are million contract for battleield started as a movement treated in the workplace, software. without one single leader. how they are perceived, how they 34. BRIAN What inspired the change? are received. We want to be There has to be someone who can ARMSTRONG true to our mission, which is making help coalesce all of those voices Age: 35 Occupation: C.E.O., sure the world is comprised of Coinbase Previous Rank: New and articulate it crisply and clearly safe, fair, and digniied workplaces to a broader group. We need a The Bezos of crypto? for women. So anything that If there’s one thing that happens formal structure so that we can be jeopardizes that or displays very quickly in Silicon Valley, as impactful as we need to be. the negative of that, we’re going it’s your net worth going from How did you learn about the to push back against it. nothing to everything. A few opportunity? It’s been a year since The New York years ago, Armstrong was I had a conversation with a group a software engineer at Airbnb. Times and The New Yorker published Now, he’s at the forefront of of women who said, “Take a their pieces on Harvey Weinstein. everything to do with crypto- look at this: You are doing this work Do you remember where you currency and bringing Bitcoin already at the W.N.B.A. It is were when you ﬁrst read them? to the masses after co-founding the same mission, but a diferent I was in New York at W.N.B.A. Coinbase, the app that headquarters. I remember reading allows you to buy and sell crypto battleield—and potentially more with the ease of shopping impactful.” them, thinking this is horriic. I really for toilet paper and toothpaste Time’s Up has been vocal about Les didn’t know that much about it on Amazon. Moonves, and has urged CBS to except what I read in the newspapers 35. REESE donate his still-pending $120 million or saw on television. What I did severance. How did the organization WITHERSPOON not envision is that there would be conceive and coordinate this effort? the civil-rights activist Tarana Burke Age: 42 Occupation: Actor, producer, entrepreneur Previous This is not about any one person. and all the amazing work that Rank: 80 This is about bad behavior. We are she and the women of the #MeToo Evidence of brand prowess: talking about making systemic movement have done. I did

The Oscar winner’s personal cultural and societal change with not envision that it would catch ire. IMAGES BY ELI EIJADI/NBAE/GETTY PHOTOGRAPH

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brand extends to her Draper directors Damien Chazelle has eyed 2019 for an I.P.O., that on a good day) after James lifestyle line, a popular (Whiplash) and Jordan Peele but nothing’s set in stone yet. co-founding Ethereum, the book-of-the-month club, (Get Out). eicient and blockchain- and her digital-media company, 41. TRAVIS friendly crypto-currency that Hello Sunshine, a joint venture 38. CHRISTOPHER banks and inancial institutions with AT&T and Peter Chernin, VANDERZANDEN have fallen in love with. Age: 39 Occupation: Founder and which just signed TV deals STEELE Age: 54 Occupation: Former C.E.O., Bird Previous Rank: New on ive series: three with Apple, intelligence oicer Previous Rank: 44. DAVID ZASLAV one with Hulu, and another New Display of disruptive Age: 58 Occupation: with Amazon—all with the expertise: Before founding C.E.O., Discovery Communications central focus of telling female- Golden-shower glory: The electric-scooter upstart Bird, Previous Rank: 41 driven stories. former head of M.I.6’s Russia VanderZanden was chief Display of acquisition-philia: desk compiled the infamous operating oicer at Lyft and, Zaslav kicked of the year with dossier that raised the possibility later, V.P. of international growth 36. JONATHAN GRAY Donald Trump was vulnerable Discovery’s $12 billion takeover Age: 48 Occupation: Incoming at Uber—jobs that would set to Russian blackmail. Steele of Scripps Networks, including C.E.O., Blackstone Previous Rank: him up for the familiar task even grew a beard and went into HGTV, the Food Network, New of dealing with local regulations hiding—merely adding to and the Travel Channel. and bringing new transit options May the Schwarz be with his mythic reputation on the left. With more M&A on the horizon, to cities worldwide. him: For years, Gray has run Discovery could be seen as the hyper-successful real-estate a potentially attractive target for portfolio at Blackstone— 39. LOGAN GREEN 42. FRANÇOISHENRI a mega-merger, itself. Age: 34 Occupation: C.E.O., Lyft the private-equity behemoth Previous Rank: 35 PINAULT with more than $439 billion Age: 56 Occupation: C.E.O., Kering 45. J. J. ABRAMS in assets under management— The alter-Uber: Now valued Previous Rank: 62 Age: 52 Occupation: Producer- masterminding its buyout of at a lofty $15 billion, Lyft has director Previous Rank: 46 Investor payoff: Pinault Hilton, one of the most managed to avoid the negative is the irst C.E.O. of a fashion And now appearing on the successful Wall Street deals ever. attention that its primary small screen ... The eminence Now he’s getting what he competitor, Uber, regularly conglomerate to make largely behind Star Wars, deserves: the blessing to succeed attracts. The company is also sustainability not just a talking Star Trek, and Mission: Impossible founder Stephen Schwarzman eyeing an expansion: as point but part of the company’s is currently directing Star as the irm’s C.E.O. of August, Lyft had surpassed underlying culture, and has 5,000 driverless BMW rides, invested heavily in this goal. Wars: Episode IX, and recently and in July the company acquired He has also invested in young joined forces with Tencent 37. JASON BLUM talent at the helm of his major to launch gaming division Bad Age: 49 Occupation: C.E.O., bike-share operator Motivate. Robot Games. Blumhouse Productions Previous houses. Rank: 55 40. BRIAN CHESKY Age: 37 Occupation: C.E.O., Airbnb 43. VITALIK 46. THE WOMEN OF Prestige play: After helping to Previous Rank: 25 nab almost $2 billion worth of box BUTERIN TIME’S UP Occupations: Co-founders, Time’s oice in a decade with genre No longer VRBO for Age: 24 Occupation: C.E.O. and founder, Ethereum Previous Up Previous Rank: New franchises, Blum gained awards millennials: Airbnb launched Rank: New cred by notching best-picture a luxury-vacation rental service, Power in numbers: When the Oscar nominations for producing and has toyed with the idea of Boy genius: Buterin is worth #MeToo movement took of, the feature-ilm debuts of starting its own airline. Chesky a number of powerful Hollywood

Elon Musk’s Year of Magical Thinking

A defamation suit, a tearful interview, and a Fatal Tesla crash potential S.E.C. violation—what could raises questions possibly go wrong for Silicon Valley’s Tony Stark?

SEPTEMBER 17 SEPTEMBER 6 AUGUST 28 AUGUST 24 AUGUST 7 JULY 31 Unsworth Smokes Revives his States that, Surprises investors Meets with sues weed on suggestion actually, Cries in an with tweet suggesting Saudi funders Musk for comedian that Tesla will interview with he wants to discuss defamation. Joe Rogan’s Unsworth is a remain a public The New York to take Tesla private, investment podcast. pedophile. company Times. setting off opportunities. after all. alarms at the S.E.C.

NOVEMBER 2018 “We are talking about making 48. JOHN STANKEY 51. RYAN COOGLER 54. DAVID systemic Age: 55 Occupation: C.E.O., Age: 32 Occupation: SOLOMON WarnerMedia Director Previous Rank: New Age: 56 Occupation: Incoming cultural change Previous Rank: New C.E.O., Goldman Sachs Previous Hollywood hitmaker: Coogler with regard Rank: New to women in the The new boss man: As of just may deliver Disney a rare June, he’s the guy in charge of non-animated best-picture Oscar The after-Lloyd: On October 1, workplace.” Warner Bros., HBO, CNN, nomination, for Black Panther, he has a big new job, succeeding TBS, and a lot more. Not bad when the nods are announced in Lloyd Blankfein to run Goldman — LISA BORDERS ON THE CREATION OF for a career phone-company January. The Marvel ilm grossed Sachs, where he’ll either keep TIME’S UP executive whose name more than $1.3 billion worldwide the powerful investment didn’t register in media circles this year, refuting naysayers bank in its lane or spearhead just one year ago. who doubted whether the ilm, an expansion to compete better women began holding

YLOR HILL (MUSK, UNDATED, UNDATED, (MUSK, HILL YLOR with a predominantly black with bigger, more proitable planning meetings last fall, cast, would sell overseas. commercial-banking rivals. eventually expanding their 49. LAURENE Y 18; Y 18; BY TA ranks to include more than 300 POWELL JOBS women in the entertainment Age: 54 Occupation: Founder, 52. JEFF ZUCKER 55. MARC Age: 53 Occupation: President, CNN industry. Time’s Up has since Emerson Collective Previous Rank: 14 ANDREESSEN S (JULY 7, JUL 7, S (JULY raised more than $20 million for Previous Rank: 44 Age: 47 Occupation: Managing a sexual-harassment legal- Season of change: partner, Andreessen The media-industry savior: Horowitz Previous Rank: 29

/REDUX (FEBRUARY 6; FROM COUGARSAN (AUGUST 16, FROM FROM 16, (AUGUST COUGARSAN FROM 6; /REDUX (FEBRUARY defense fund, re-invented the He’s heading into the coming Her primary media project red carpet as a forum for election season with a new for the next several years Disrupting the bottom of the activism, used its power to push contract, a new boss, and a is The Atlantic, which Emerson ocean: Andreessen is starting for more inclusion among mission to keep the ire burning bought a majority stake in to invest in A.I.-related with CNN’s wall-to-wall

. IMAGES; FROM GETTY IMAGE FROM IMAGES; . ilm critics and entertainment last year. But media gossips can’t technologies that will eat jobs THE NEW YORK TIMES NEW YORK THE reporters, and has now hired coverage of the man Zucker help wildly speculating about in the U.S., including Atrium, its irst C.E.O., Lisa Borders once transformed into a bawdy what other companies might one a legal technology irm that plans (see page 90). embodiment of reality TV. day reap the rewards of Powell to replace some lawyers’ (MAY 2, ALL FROM SHUTTERSTOCK; BY DIA DIPASUPIL/WIREIMAGE (MAY 7 (MAY DIPASUPIL/WIREIMAGE BY DIA SHUTTERSTOCK; ALL FROM 2, (MAY 17, BOTH FROM A.P FROM BOTH 17, Jobs’s strategic beneicence. duties with machine-learning

BY TODD ANDERSON/ BY TODD 47. DAVID TEPPER 53. JORDAN PEELE algorithms. Age: 61 Occupation: Age: 39 Occupation: Director, President, Appaloosa Management 50. SHONDA RHIMES entertainer Previous Rank: 59 Previous Rank: New Age: 48 Occupation: Founder, 56. BRADLEY Shondaland Previous Rank: 83 Popcorn auteur: With his Don’t hate the player: directorial debut, Get Out, Peele COOPER Age: 43 Occupation: Actor, producer, FROM GETTY FROM IMAGES; It’s Shondaland, and we’re SAKCHAI LALIT(SEPTEMBER This year has been a mixed suggested he is that rare kind of director Previous Rank: New bag for Tepper. His fund just living in it: The proliic ilmmaker who can captain a 23, BY 23,

23, BOTH BOTH 23, lost approximately 10 percent writer and show-runner box-oice hit and ignite a deep Display of political of its value in the second has decamped to Netlix, lured and lasting cultural conversation. intelligence: First, he persuaded quarter, but he’s still worth by a four-year, nine-igure At his company, Monkeypaw Lady Gaga to deglamorize around $11 billion, and he deal that gives her the freedom Productions, Peele is extending for the lead in his Oscar-buzzy recently acquired the Carolina to put her unique stamp on his idea of popcorn-friendly directorial debut, a remake of Panthers football team a slate of series, mini-series, genre projects into ive TV series A Star Is Born. Then he showed IMAGES FROM KTVU(MARCH FROM IMAGES NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP (MAY (MAY KAMM/AFP NICHOLAS KASPRI (APRIL 16, BY IGORSTEVANOVIC (APRIL 1, FROM OBER-ART FROM 1, (APRIL BY IGORSTEVANOVIC 16, (APRIL KASPRI for a record $2.2 billion. and ilms. and multiple movies. an early cut of Star to Steven

APRIL 2 APRIL 16 MAY 7 Says the car Model 3 MAY 2 Makes his business production is Musk berates public debut is “hell”; temporarily guy doing with new Musk tweets an sleeps halted. his job on girlfriend, the April Fool’s Day joke about Tesla in the analyst call. musician Grimes, going bankrupt. Funny! Tesla factory. at the Met Gala.

JULY 18 JULY 15 JULY 7 JUNE 12 MAY 23 Apologizes Baselessly asserts on Musk dispatches Tesla lays Goes on a Trumpian rant to Twitter that help to a off about the media; proposes Vernon Unsworth, a British Thai youth- 9 percent a Web site called Pravda, cave diver who worked soccer team of its which he had already incorporated, to free the soccer team, to track the credibility is a “pedo.” of reporters and news outlets.

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 93 2018 NEW ESTABLISHMENT LIST

Spielberg and the keepers of Leonard Bernstein’s estate to get the composer’s music in a biopic that he will star in, direct, and produce. 57. RIHANNA Age: 30 Occupation: Musician, entrepreneur Previous Rank: New

Work, work, work, work, work: She’s a hit-making recording artist (more than 250 million records sold, nine Grammys, 14 No. 1 singles); a fashion icon with a newly launched lingerie line and collaborations with Puma and other brands; and an actress (Ocean’s 8). Her Fenty Beauty cosmetics debuted a year ago and earned $100 million in its irst 40 days. THE TURNAROUND ARTIST 58. VLADIMIR PUTIN Dara Khosrowshahi opens up about life after Travis, Age: 65 Occupation: President, Russian Federation; election meddler cleansing Uber’s culture, and autonomous vehicles Previous Rank: New What’s it like being C.E.O. of industry change itself as a whole, Vlad the Impaler: The Russian Uber, with all that attention? given its recent problems? leader recently won another It’s quite literally Many of the C.E.O.’s out there right six-year term, hosted the World like drinking from a ire hose. now are in reactionary mode. Cup, and humiliated Donald What have you learned? In the next year we have to move Trump in Helsinki. His approval ratings in Russia have fallen, but You’ve got to be quick on your feet, from reaction to execution. he still commands the sort of and you have to react—you have to The rules of the game have changed. fear Trump only dreams about. keep building and not get distracted. Previously, our job was to just build Is Uber’s DNA harmful? Can it be a platform. That scope and deinition 59. JACK DORSEY ﬁxed? Age: 41 Occupation: C.E.O., Twitter has expanded. This is a new world and Square Previous Rank: 50 I think that there’s a part of the DNA that we’re all entering. If you go of the company that I very much A tale of two companies: in with the absolute true intention of Square has seen its value almost want to keep—of absolute belief and doing the right thing, the world will triple in the last year. Twitter’s taking on a giant and building a service understand that you make mistakes— value, on the other hand, that has never been built before. you’ll ind forgiveness, and you’ll bobs up and down like a yo-yo, There’s an inclination for speed and have room to make mistakes. as it remains the president’s favorite mouthpiece execution at a size and speed that You paused your driverless-cars and occasional weapon. I don’t think any company can match. division recently. Do you plan to Is Silicon Valley receiving retribution re-start it? 60. RYAN MURPHY for societal problems it initiated? We had a tragic accident. As a result Age: 52 Occupation: Producer Previous Rank: 49 I think there absolutely is a reckoning of that, we suspended all here. It might have started with driverless testing on roads until we Three-hundred-million-dollar complete a top-to-bottom audit man: The TV super-producer Uber, but it’s not going to end with once joked he’d be buried on the us. It’s bigger than Uber. Anyone of the technology. When an event like Fox lot, but when Netlix courted who meets the people at our company that happens, a bell is rung. It’s Murphy earlier this year— understands that Uber can be a a temporary stop. Ultimately the cars a few months before the studio’s will be safer. Ultimately it’s on merger with Disney was force for good. approved by shareholders—he Uber seems to have turned around us to build it right, and that’s really signed a $300 million, ive-year

quickly, but how does the tech what the pause is about. deal with the streamer. WARNER + BY FLOTO PHOTOGRAPH

94 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 “I will always 61. JEFFREY Although there have been rumors known as Oath. Vestberg likes aplenty that a change is afoot, content as much as the next guy, be the hardest KATZENBERG TPG, unlike its private-equity but he has bigger ish to fry: working & MEG WHITMAN rivals, has no plans for an I.P.O. rolling out Verizon’s next-gen 5G person in the Ages: 67, 62 Occupations: network by year’s end. room.” Founder, C.E.O., WndrCo Previous 65. PRISCILLA Rank: New CHAN —DWAYNE JOHNSON, Age: 33 Occupation: Co-founder, 69. ROBERT F. SMITH IN ESQUIRE, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative The $1 billion bet: When the Age: 55 Occupation: C.E.O., Vista ON HIS SECRET FOR Previous Rank: 75 Equity Partners Previous Rank: 86 SUCCESS former C.E.O. of DreamWorks Animation and the former C.E.O. Evidence of election- Hacking software stocks: (George Clooney earned the of Hewlett Packard Enterprise hacking remorse? Chan and Step aside, Oprah. Smith, No. 1 spot by selling his and eBay joined forces last her husband, Facebook C.E.O. the founder of Vista, one of the Casamigos tequila brand.) spring on a mobile-irst streaming Mark Zuckerberg, have been nation’s most proliic and platform called NewTV, they busy in 2018, pouring millions successful private-equity irms, His combined 179 million raised $1 billion in their irst into midterm-election initiatives is the country’s wealthiest followers on social media inancing round from companies with the help of Facebook African-American, with a net have been the engine such as Sony Pictures, Viacom, co-founder Dustin Moskovitz’s worth of $4.4 billion. At Vista by which the star markets his ﬁlms, which he now Disney, and Comcast. Open Philanthropy Project. he’s Mr. Everything: C.E.O., also produces, through his Seven investment guru, and head of Bucks Productions company. 62. JENNIFER SALKE 66. A. G. investor relations. The last Age: 53 Occupation: President, is probably his easiest job, given Amazon Studios Previous Rank: SULZBERGER 73. AVA U Age: 38 Occupation: Publisher, his wild success at investing in D VERNAY New Age: 46 Occupation: Producer- The New York Times Previous Rank: software, and only software. director Previous Rank: New Bezos’s scripted weapon: New Formerly the president of NBC Breaking down barriers: All in the family: Sulzberger, 70. EVAN SPIEGEL Entertainment, Salke took the DuVernay has made advancing who took over the publisher’s job Age: 28 Occupation: C.E.O., Snap reins at Amazon Studios earlier Previous Rank: 28 the careers of women and people from his father this year, inherited this year, replacing Roy Price, of color in the entertainment a newly revitalized Times, with Zucked: Spiegel has seen his who was ousted amid sexual- industry part of her legacy. a growing subscription model stock, user numbers, and net harassment allegations, which From hiring only women to direct (2.9 million digital subscribers worth fall over the past year after he denied. With Amazon’s deep her OWN series, Queen Sugar, and counting), a new media Instagram and Facebook copied pockets and Salke’s extensive to distributing women’s ilms darling (The Daily podcast), and almost all of Snap’s features to experience in scripted-series through her company, Array, to one mightily aggrieved reader great success. But he made development, she is well placed becoming the irst woman of in the White House. about $640 million in its I.P.O. to do battle in the increasingly color to direct a movie with a competitive streaming wars. budget over $100 million, 67. TIM SWEENEY 71. JIMMY PITARO A Wrinkle in Time, DuVernay Age: 47 Occupation: C.E.O., Age: 48 Occupation: President, has pushed hard to open up new 63. KIRSTEN GREEN Epic Games Previous Rank: New ESPN Previous Rank: New Age: 46 Occupation: C.E.O., opportunities. Forerunner Ventures Previous The genius behind the ﬂossing The pinch hitter: After Rank: 91 phenomenon: Fortnite, eight years dutifully heading up 74. JAMES GORMAN Exit strategy: Green’s irm the crown in Epic’s portfolio, has consumer products and Age: 60 Occupation: C.E.O., Morgan Stanley Previous Rank: New has poached talent from more become a global phenomenon, interactive media for Disney, played by professional Pitaro got Bob Iger’s blessing to senior venture-capital The long game pays off: competitors, and its star has athletes, middle-aged middle run the conglomerate’s vaunted Gorman, a former McKinsey risen in recent years thanks managers, and tweens alike. sports brand in the wake of management consultant, had his to a series of smart investments In total, the battle-royal- John Skipper’s drug-related exit. doubters when he re-oriented and acquisitions, including style concept has attracted Pitaro wants ESPN to move the white-shoe Morgan Stanley the sale of Dollar Shave Club, some 125 million gamers. away from the political around the asset- and wealth- Bonobos, and Jet.com. commentary that thrust the management businesses after 68. HANS network into the white-hot the inancial crisis. In the last 64. BILL VESTBERG center of the culture wars. year, Morgan Stanley’s market C Age: 53 Occupation: C.E.O., Verizon capitalization exceeded that M GLASHAN Previous Rank: New 72. DWAYNE Age: 54 Occupation: of Goldman Sachs. Managing partner, TPG Growth The ultimate data guy: Under JOHNSON Previous Rank: 66 Age: 46 Occupation: Actor, producer Vestberg, who was promoted this 75. ADAM NEUMANN Previous Rank: 37 Age: 39 Occupation: Co-founder, Impact investor: McGlashan summer from chief technology WeWork Previous Rank: New represents the new generation of oicer to succeed Lowell Baller: Johnson was 2018’s leaders at TPG, the private-equity McAdam, Verizon wasted no second-highest-paid actor, Wing man: WeWork is no powerhouse with stakes in time reining in the ambitions of according to Forbes, but the top stranger to the adage “Spend everything from Uber to Vice. the Yahoo-AOL media mash-up in actual box-oice earnings. money to make money,” and

VANITY FAIR 95 2018 NEW ESTABLISHMENT LIST

over the past year, the real-estate work-space tech venture Those FAANG Bandits FAANG has done plenty of the latter in The so-called s (Facebook, pursuit of the former—acquiring Amazon, Apple, Netix, and Google) are a bevy of start-ups across sectors remaking the media landscape in their own image. and making investments in others, including the women- And what is that image, exactly? only social club the Wing.

76. EDDY CUE Age: 53 Occupation: Senior vice president, Apple Previous Rank: 73

After the iPhone: As interest in the iPhone wanes, Cue has MARK TIM JEFF REED SUNDAR overseen the growth of two ZUCKERBERG COOK BEZOS HASTINGS PICHAI emerging businesses: Apple News, C.E.O., Facebook C.E.O., Apple C.E.O., Amazon C.E.O., Netlix C.E.O., Google and the tech giant’s forays into ilm and television projects. Apple PREFERRED Harvesting is reportedly spending more than METHOD viewing Censoring Russian-troll Foxconn $1 billion on original content. FOR Prime metadata Google memes factories IMPERILING for in China 77. BOBBY KOTICK DEMOCRACY future shows Age: 55 Occupation: C.E.O., Activision Blizzard Previous Rank: 57 ARCH Donald NEMESIS Trump A new call of duty: Kotick, the Zuck Bob Iger godfather of modern gaming, YouTube Alex will need to re-invent the wheel stars Jones to stay relevant in the next couple of years as games like REDEEMING Waze Fortnite, which are free to play, VIRTUE Strategically Moon become cultural obsessions. Instagram deployed Ozark colonization wokeness 78. JOHN LANDGRAF Age: 56 Occupation: C.E.O., FX CHERNOBYL Accusations Previous Rank: New MOMENT Cambridge of poor working Fined iPhone X Fuller Analytica conditions $5 billion Peak Landgraf: The head of launch House mess in fulillment cable-network FX has by E.U. centers distinguished himself for both his astute analysis of pop culture (he coined the term “peak TV”) and KARDASHIAN for incubating award-winning AVATAR shows such as The Americans and Atlanta. As Disney takes over Fox and sets its sights on streaming Kourtney Kendall Kylie Khloé dominance, Landgraf’s long view could be an asset. invest in e-commerce and fosters more interesting the new cabal of audio real-estate companies, and as conversations and better phenoms proving that 79. TRAVIS the C.E.O. of real-estate connections—is now worth a podcasting is a place for star start-up City Storage Systems. billion dollars. power—and money. KALANICK In two short years, former Age: 42 Occupation: Founder, Obama stafers Jon Favreau, 10100; C.E.O., City Storage Systems 80. WHITNEY WOLFE 81. THE PODSTARS Previous Rank: 23 Jon Favreau, Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor, HERD Jon Lovett, Tommy Vietor, and Dan Pfeifer have turned Age: 29 Occupation: C.E.O., Bumble He’s baaack ... : A year after Dan Pfeier Previous Rank: New Crooked Media, home leaving his post as C.E.O. of Uber Ages: 37, 36, 38, 42 of Pod Save America, into Occupations: Podcasters in disgrace, Kalanick is making a I’m with her: Herd’s dating a revenue-generating Previous Rank: New comeback: as the founder of a app—built on the premise that powerhouse that can sell out venture called 10100, which will women making the irst move Friends of the pod: They’re Radio City Music Hall.

96 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 IMAGES BY JOHN RUDOFF/SIPA USA/A.P. IMAGES (YOUTUBE; BY TAYLOR HILL (KOURTNEY, JEFF KRAVITZ (KYLIE, BOTH FROM FILMMAGIC; BY ANTHONY GHNASSIA (KENDALL, PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP (HASTINGS, DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG (PICHAI, MANDEL NGAN/AFP (TRUMP, ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ (BEZOS, DONATO SARDELLA (KHLOÉ, SIRI STAFFORD (PRIME, TOM WILLIAMS/CQ ROLL CALL (JONES, ALL FROM GETTY IMAGES; BY JESSICA MIGLIO/NETFLIX (OZARK; BY PIETRO D’APRANO (COOK, RODIN ECKENROTH (KRIS, BOTH FROM WIREIMAGE; FOR DETAILS, GO TO VF.COM/CREDITS land grab. andBobIger’sAmazon, latest dominatedlandscape byNetlix, NBCU ightsforterrain ina will increasingly rely onheras Steve Burke andBrian Roberts history.executive inTV And the longest-reigning female possibly tobecome is set in November 2017, company Stitch FixheldanI.P.O. When Lake’s tech-retail The clothes make boss: the Nicolle Wallace, Cooper, Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo, Anderson Rachel Maddow, 86. musician Age: 85. Stitch Fix Age: 84. world:Alone inthe Previous Rank: Outgoing C.E.O., Fox Century 21st Age: MURDOCH 83. The queenofcable: Previous Rank: Chair, NBCUniversal Cable Age: 82. Renaissance man: to take acompany public. youngestthe female founder on “This Is America.”“This series series Emmy nominations forhisTV in HBO’s the Kendall Roycharacter who bears aresemblance to admired andrespected Murdoch, his owndesign. is anewinvestment vehicle of The pervasive assumption and heexitsthefamily business. after theDisney dealcloses hisnextact about tight-lipped in themovie domains:hestarred pop-cultural Glover multiple wasmasterof TALKING HEADS NOVEMBER Billboard’ 35 35 45 68 BONNIE DONALD JAMES THE KATRINA Atlanta, Occupation: Occupation: Occupation: Occupation: Previous Rank: Previous Rank: Succession,

s Hot 100 chart with s Hot with 100chart Solo, andhitNo. 1 56 65 2018 HAMMER GLOVER nabbed 16 nabbed 16 LAKE Actor, director, C.E.O.,

she became

In 2018, In2018, The The has been hasbeen Hammer New 99

carpet murderers’carpet row. areTrump era, ared- these are the thecelebrities of If cable-news personalities at $7.1billion. This year, messaging company. workplace- anowubiquitous of Butterield sitsat thehelm Nice Guy SiliconValley, of BUTTERFIELD Little-screen bigwigs: Previous Rank: Occupations: MELEDANDRI actually likes: The onlypersoneveryone Previous Rank: Illumination Age: 89. Age: 88. Age: 87. Ages: the software developed by the developed bythe the software lessthan eight yearsIt took for Ireland’s greatest export: Previous Rank: Occupations: Ages: 90. Jake Tapper, Shep Smith Shep Tapper, Jake The professional: Previous Rank: domination: oftween-worldEvidence Life of Pets, Me,Despicable Minions, The Secret ilm franchises— has ahandinseveral animated- Illumination founderandC.E.O. $1 billionworldwide last year. 3 Me currently underway. forthelatter three with sequels are ixed. (not tomentionrevenue issues) sure its#MeToo problems make culture—and corporate thecompany’sthe wildsof wasbrought intotame Dubuc back from theday-to-day, ShaneSmithstepped co-founder BROTHERS 59 45 49 alonebrought inmore than NANCY STEWART CHRIS THE 45, 48, 51, 52, 46, 49, 54 52, 51, 48, 45, 30 (Patrick);30 (John) 28 Occupation: Occupation: Occupation: Slack was valued andnow Previous Rank: COLLISON Cable-news anchors Founders, Stripe The producer and and The producer 89 88 The unoicial Theunoicial DUBUC New 84 Ice Age, Age, Ice C.E.O., C.E.O., Slack As Vice AsVice C.E.O., Vice Sing— Sing— Despicable Despicable

take Uber publicnextyear.take Uber can stick tohisplan and is hopingthat Khosrowshahi early onUber. bet Thecompany toits concerns, thanksinpart proliic venture-capital SiliconValley’sis oneof more SALMAN issued aracist tweet. issued Roseanne this year whenshecanceled grabbed headlines shows—but made hernamedeveloping hit television network, Dungey broadcast head upamajor African-American womanto Previous Rank: hopefuls Democratic 93. Benchmark Age: 92. Age: 91. in SiliconValley. choiceplatform of foreveryone the $9.2 billionpayment in CountyLimerick, tobecome brothers,Collison whogrew up Ages: Beto O’Rourke Andrew Gillum, Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio- 94. Age: Saudi Arabia Arabia Saudi No holds barred: Previous Rank: EntertainmentABC DUNGEY socialist revolutionsocialist against Bernie launched thedemocratic- The left’s besthope: It’s allon Dara: and, yes, Jared Kushner. C.E.O.and Amazon Jef Bezos— Apple C.E.O. TimCook, Brin, Sergey co-founder Google biggest names,including American busine the of withsome audiences M.B.S.fortune, hasearned Through hisfamily’s trillion $1.4 Jared’s boy inRiyadh: BREAKERS BREAKERS 52 49 33 CHANNING BILL 28, 44, 39, 46 44, 28, MOHAMMED BIN THE Occupation: Occupation: Occupation: aftertheshow’s star Previous Rank: Previous Rank: GROUND GURLEY New New Gurley’s irm ss community’s Occupations: Theirst General partner, General Crown prince, President, If If 31 New

to better investto better theirmoney. entirely onhelpingwomen largest focused digitalbusinesses the oneof of the co-founder She’sand Bank America. of now Citigroupher bigjobsat both more orlessdefenestrated from Wall Krawcheck Street, was womenon themostsenior of Clinton campaignstafer, is Dunhampal andformer Lena Taking ﬂight: Wing Age: 97. Disrupting Street: the Previous Rank: Age: 96. black women. to invest ventures inthe of million fundexclusively she announced anew, $36 founders, andthisyear led byunder-represented in more than100 companies invested $4million inexcessof inequality dynamics.Shehas gender- andracial-woeful aims torectify SiliconValley’s Equity forall: Previous Rank: Backstage Capital Age: 95. gap ( attempt toclose theenthusiasm with universalism anditsbest avatars theleft’s of lirtation are hissuccessors— these ossiied neoliberalism, KRAWCHECK HAMILTON “When you’re LXNRA OCASIO — ALEXANDRIA OF COMPROMISE CORTEZ ON THE POLITICS end point.” in with your can’t go hostage, you the country people holding with insane dealing 31 53 37 Previous Rank: see next page see next AUDREY ARLAN SALLIE VANITY FAIR Occupation: Occupation: Occupation: New New Hamilton’s irm Gelman, a a Gelman, GELMAN ). C.E.O., Ellevest C.E.O., Ellevest C.E.O., the Founder, New

One One

97 2018 NEW ESTABLISHMENT LIST

a co-founder of the women- only co-working space and social club, the Wing. With ﬁve locations in three cities and about 5,000 members paying up to $3,000 for annual memberships, the Wing is already eyeing international expansion, with planned outposts in London, Paris, and Toronto. 98. SUSAN WOJCICKI Age: 50 Occupation: C.E.O., YouTube Previous Rank: 81

Not a media company? Long the premier destination for makeup tutorials and iPhone- unboxing videos, Wojcicki’s YouTube found itself at the epicenter of controversy YES SHE CAN after the Parkland shooting in early 2018, when the platform Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is preparing to become inadvertently boosted the youngest member of the House of Representatives. conspiracy-theory videos. Wojcicki has insisted that But is the quixotic Bronx universalist ready YouTube isn’t a media company. for the sharp elbows and sinecures of the swamp? But what is it, then? How are you preparing to I think all of us are committed 99. ANONYMOUS weigh the urgent desires a thousand percent to winning back Occupation: Trump-administration of your progressive base— senior oicial, aggrieved op-ed writer the House, because, frankly, it’s Previous Rank: New such as universal free college existential for the country. Almost education—with the reality that most A New York Times whodunnit: every major institution is at change in Washington is achieved The anonymous author of stake. We are living in a world where through incremental compromise? the most famous opinion piece in recent history not only I tend to think that we as a party impeachment is a realistic possibility. But in relation to the garnered more than 15 million compromise before we even get to page views for the Times party, my whole thing is, well, what the table. When you’re dealing but also seized the attention with these insane people holding constitutes the party? Is the party of an audience of one. the country hostage on the right, just every elected oicial, or every donor? Or is the party every 100. KYLIE JENNER you can’t go in with your end point. Age: 21 Occupation: Founder, You have to go in with a strong registered Democrat in the United Kylie Cosmetics position. If they’re trying to end States? I like to think it’s the Previous Rank: New Planned Parenthood, I don’t latter. That’s where I come from. Sign of the apocalypse? think we go in with “No, let’s keep But a lot of people think the party is Thanks to her 100 percent ownership stake in Planned Parenthood.” I think the Democratic National Committee or the Democratic Congressional her eponymous makeup we go in with “Let’s expand women’s line, Jenner is now worth rights to health care and have it Campaign Committee. We’re going $900 million. guaranteed in every state.” I think to square up on Medicare for all. There are certain issues where Reporting by Nick Bilton, Maya we can compromise on our tactics Kosoff, Joe Pompeo, Gabriel and how we get there, but we I’m going to make some Democrats Sherman, William D. Cohan, can’t compromise where we’re going. mad if they’re trying to deliver Abigail Tracy, Emily Jane Fox, As a democratic socialist, paydays for Wall Street donors. Bess Levin, Tina Nguyen, Claire Landsbaum, Ben Landy, what changes are you proposing But that doesn’t mean I’m going to Krista Smith, Anna Lisa Raya,

to your party? burn the house down over it. Joy Press, Rebecca Keegan. IMAGES/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK BY SETH WENIG/A.P. PHOTOGRAPH

98 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018

MADE IN THE SHADE Michael B. Jordan, photographed in East Hampton, New York.

Clothing by Louis Vuitton; shoes by Common Projects; socks by Pantherella.

The Technicolor Dreams

100 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 of Michael B. Jordan Inspired by Wakanda and his Newark upbringing, the Black Panther star is building a singular career, equal parts Denzel, Tom Cruise, and Louis B. Mayer

By JOE HAGAN Photographs by CASS BIRD Styled by SAMIRA NASR

101 It’s right around the time I’m prattling on about racial diversity in Hollywood that Michael B. Jordan, the he wants the ultimate kind of racial equity—to be a movie star, movie star, loors the gas pedal and sends his blade-like sports full stop. “I’m irst and foremost a black man, for sure, but what car ripping down the Paciic Coast Highway, a fast-forward jolt I’m trying to do, and what I’m trying to represent and build, is that turns Malibu into a kinetic blur of pink and blue. universal,” he says. “Oh Jesus Christ!” I cry out. “We live in the times where everything is based around race,” I grip the armrest and see terrible visions of us slicing a beach he says. “And for me, it’s like, I get it, I understand. It just makes bum in half as he accidentally stumbles into the road or explod- everything so loaded. When the way to do it is to Trojan-horse ing into that white van that looks to be edging unexpectedly into it, so then people look up, and say, ‘Oh wow, what happened? I our lane. didn’t even realize that.’ ” “I got you,” Jordan assures over the engine roar. On the surface, Jordan’s two goals might seem incompatible— When he inally slows—imagine the Millennium Falcon after to be both black and not black. But Jordan’s biggest ilms to date, hyperspace—he turns to me and lashes that winning Michael B. both directed by 32-year-old Coogler, have cannily achieved a Jordan smile, a dazzling display of superstar teeth that sends parity between racial advancement and Hollywood entertain- 7.3 million Instagram followers into squeals of delight (“YOU’RE ment—Creed, which lipped the script on Rocky by putting a black SO HOTTT, BABY!!!”). A nervous laugh catches in my throat. A boxing hero at the top of a traditionally white franchise; and Black minute later, Jordan does it again. Panther, which embedded an almost entirely black cast and Afro- “We’re at a hundred right now,” he mentions, cutting left to centric themes in a tableau of Marvel comic superheroics. avoid a car. “110.” This Sunday afternoon in Malibu, on a trip to a burger joint Me: “Oh shit.” up the coast, perhaps the real point is the car, an Acura NSX— His oversize sports jersey says “Fear of God” on it. a stunning white objet d’art with a low, sleek sci-fi design (I It’s quite a rush, but for a split-second it does cross my mind couldn’t igure out how to open the door) and a window in back that Jordan is unnecessarily tempting fate. What if we kill some- for viewing the turbo engine. The nearly $160,000 machine is body? What if we’re pulled over for reckless driving? A black part of an endorsement deal Jordan cut with Acura—an arrange- man doing—let’s see, 127 m.p.h.—at four in the afternoon? In ment orchestrated by Phillip Sun, his agent at William Morris lily-white Malibu? Endeavor, after the irst Creed movie, in 2015, wherein Jordan More is being risked here than our necks, something that Mi- played Adonis, the illegitimate son of boxer Apollo Creed, and chael Bakari Jordan, of all people, is equipped to understand. Jor- Sylvester Stallone played the aging Rocky Balboa. The car is dan was the star of Fruitvale Station, the 2013 breakout indie hit a dream come true for a kid from Newark who used to race directed by Ryan Coogler, in which Jordan played Oscar Grant, illegally with friends in high school and obsess over this very the real-life black youth gunned down by a transit cop in 2009 model while his devoted and politically aware parents toiled in for a lot less than speeding. Jordan himself says that, a few years a small catering business while ferrying him to modeling gigs before, he was racially proiled, stopped for alleged speeding, and plotting his future in a hostile world. and got searched, handcufed, and detained on South La Brea Built on this hard-won foundation, Jordan is aiming for Avenue. He informed the oicer he was late for a light at LAX. breathtaking heights. His ambition is to be not only an actor, “I think I mighta said something slick,” says Jordan. “ ’Cause but a one-man movie studio whose every move has a dollar it was the end of the month, I was like, ‘Oh, you guys trying to sign attached to it and for whom nothing is left to chance. With meet a quota.’ I said something like that. That probably didn’t multi-million-dollar endorsement deals, his own production help me at all.” company, and a new marketing-and-consulting start-up in the By the time the cop let him of—without a ticket—Jordan had works, he’s applying the old Jay-Z adage—“I’m not a business- missed his light. At the time, he was starring in Red Tails, the man / I am a business, man”—to the business of moviemaking. George Lucas movie about black ighter pilots. “He knows exactly what he is, which is a commodity,” says When Jordan inally gears down, we look at each other and Tessa Thompson, his co-star in Creed II, the new sequel. “Then laugh. A lot just happened. And then it dawns on me: in rocket- be owner of it, really and truly.” ing down the Paciic Coast Highway and freaking out the white It’s a lot of pressure on a 31-year-old whose journey isn’t just writer from Vanity Fair, Michael B. Jordan had just turned a his own. An entire community is depending on this particular theoretical conversation about race into a palpable theater that commodity—his parents and siblings and an ever growing en- VF.COM/CREDITS TO GO DETAILS, FOR STRICT; ZARATE; PROPS STYLED BY HANS MAHARAWAL; BY HANS MAHARAWAL; STYLED PROPS ZARATE; requires no words at all. tourage of advisers, friends, and consultants, not to mention the E black actors, writers, and directors cheering his success because This might be the most optimistic time in history for black it is theirs as well. His agent is casting him as the Tom Cruise of artists in Hollywood, and Jordan, who starred as the villain Kill- his generation. His publicists are campaigning for an Oscar for monger in Black Panther, an urban antihero who smolders with his role in Black Panther. He could go all the way or the whole sex appeal, has become its most distinct leading man. As his thing could blow up—and not only at 127 miles an hour. co-star in Fruitvale Station, the actress Melonie Diaz, told me, BY MELISSA D GROOMING “This is our time. This is our time to be leading men and leading The irst time I see Michael B. Jordan he’s playing a demon- ladies—how does that feel? I think Mike gets that.” stration game of air hockey in a gigantic arcade in a Hollywood Jordan has declared that he wants to advance the cultural aims mall. Jordan hosts a yearly fund-raiser called the MBJAM, sell- of black people on ilm. He also wants to become a matinee idol ing tickets to fans and bringing in celebrity friends to draw at- SPECIAL THANKS TO SPRINGS UNION FREE SCHOOL DI FREE SCHOOL UNION SPRINGS TO THANKS SPECIAL on par with Leonardo DiCaprio or Matt Damon, which means tention to lupus, the chronic autoimmune disease his mother, HAIR BY BARBER JOVE;

102 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 ON THE HORIZON Jordan says his upbringing has influenced many of his roles.

Clothing by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Donna, sufers from. His entire inner circle is here—high-school friends and movie-industry pals, his agent, his agent’s assistant, “I just happen his high-powered publicist, his publicist’s assistant, his personal to do more than assistant, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, and, of course, his parents. Jordan, in an olive-green satin bomber jacket and designer just act.” sweats, does a photo shoot for Coach, his latest endorsement deal, and an interview with E! Channel, with his mother by his side. Jamie Foxx shows up for the photo splash. Lena Waithe gives an interview. It’s a family afair. When Jordan goes home, his family goes with him—to Sher- man Oaks, where his parents and younger brother Khalid, a Howard University grad who works in development at Warner Horizon Television, live with him in a mansion he purchased in 2016. In part, it’s to care for his mother, but also because his parents remain deeply engaged in his career and life. When he holds business meetings at the house, his father will come in with a plate of sandwiches. There are portraits of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Marcus Garvey on the walls, and bookshelves illed FULL-COURT PRESS with black history and literature, most of it Jordan, belonging to his father. His mother’s art- clockwise from work—large multicolored Impressionistic top left: on Louse Point; with a paintings—hang on the wall. 1972 Chevrolet El Donna Jordan, an elegant woman in her Camino; at rest and play in 60s who wears an African print dress and East Hampton. her close-cropped hair dyed sunlower yel- Clockwise from low, is a classic stage mom. She casually calls top left: peacoat by Coach; clothing me “baby doll.” Her son’s career began at her by CALVIN KLEIN doctor’s oice when the receptionist suggest- 205W39NYC; coat, jacket, and T-shirt ed she get her 11-year-old into modeling. “I by Saint Laurent was just at the time thinking about college by Anthony Vaccarello, pants tuition and that sort of thing,” Donna Jordan by CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC; says. “Little did I know that it was going to be clothing by Louis job, after job, after job, after job.” Vuitton. Shoes by Common A sweetly introverted geek who obsessed Projects; socks over anime comic books, sci-i ilms, and the by Pantherella. New York Knicks, Jordan modeled for Kmart and Toys “R” Us before landing a bit role in the Cosby Show revival in 2000. Jordan’s main memory of Bill Cosby is the aging star asking him to practice brushing his hair for a scene. Cosby didn’t let him stop brushing for an entire afternoon, until Jordan’s scalp was raw and burning. Needless to say, it gave Jordan a dim view of acting. As Jordan summed up his attitude in an early interview: “Fuck that.” Jordan’s irst big role was as Wallace on HBO’s The Wire, a child gang member who is killed by an older friend after he witness- es a murder and becomes a liability to his crew, the Barksdale Organization. Jordan was 15 years old, doe-eyed, cornrows in his hair, with a wounded glower that could break unexpectedly into a room-altering smile. His mother wept when she watched the death scene. Jordan was hardly an actor, not even a school play to his name, but his unformed screen presence was exactly what writer-producer David Simon was after. Veteran actors like Andre Royo, who played the street junkie Bubbles, took Jordan under their wing, showing him, for instance, how to act like he was high on drugs. “He came to me, little young kid, but just eager to learn, with like, ‘Hey Dre, you mind giving me some pointers? You think you can help me out with this?’ And I was kind of laughing to myself like, ‘I hope he’s ready.’ ” The Wire was not an immediate hit, but Jordan’s ambitions

104 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 were ignited by the attention. Maybe he could be the next Will even hit theaters, however, two fateful events would change Smith. He took out his cornrows and declared that he was everything for Jordan: On the advice of his agent, he had taken a through being typecast. His irst ilm role, a year before The Wire, meeting at Starbucks with a hugely ambitious but untested new had been as a Chicago street urchin named Jamal in Hardball, director named Ryan Coogler, who had ideas for a gritty indie a feel-good comedy-drama about a group of hard-knocks black ilm called Fruitvale Station and a blue-sky project to revive the kids converted into a baseball team by a white coach, played Rocky franchise with a black leading man. And just as Fruitvale by Keanu Reeves. “With the braids out, I should have more op- emerged, in 2013, a self-styled vigilante named George Zimmer- tions,” Jordan said at the time. “I’m being thrown urban roles man was found innocent in the killing of Trayvon Martin, a black right now, but I don’t plan on doing these my whole life.” teenager in Florida, sparking the Black Lives Matter movement. Soon after he was typecast again, as Reggie, a troubled teen in the ABC soap opera All My Children, what he later called “a Fruitvale Station is about the last 24 hours in the life of Oscar fucking stereotypical black role.” But it did give him a four- Grant, a 22-year-old from Oakland who was senselessly shot year contract and more training as an actor, not to mention by a transit cop on a train platform on New Year’s Day in 2009. an income. Before Jordan ilmed the inal scene, at Fruitvale Station in the When Jordan’s role in All My Children wrapped, in 2006, he BART subway system in San Francisco, Coogler led the cast and was 19 and had decided to move to Los Angeles and pursue a crew in a group prayer while Jordan lay on the exact same spot career. A family friend, Sterling “Steelo” Brim, whom Jordan where Grant died. “The bullet mark was still there,” Jordan re- met on the set of Hardball, joined him, and the two scratched calls. “I was right on top of it, exactly where he was at.” for work. Jordan would spend the next few years trying to ind roles that suited his ambitions, but Hollywood at that point had precious little bandwidth for rising black superstars. “I remember when I irst came to L.A., and me and my mom, we went to all these agencies trying to get representation and they passed on me—WME passed on me, CAA passed on me, Gersh, all these guys fucking passed on me,” says Jordan. He says it gave him a “healthy chip” on his shoulder. (So did his FAST name, which was never going to be his alone.) Jordan was a rent FORWARD check away from packing it in when he ran into Andre Royo at a Jordan’s business endeavors include pool party in Los Angeles, hosted by The Wire director Anthony a production Hemingway. “He was stressed out,” recounts Royo, 50. “He was company and a marketing operation. like, ‘Yo, I’m not working enough, shit is crazy, I think I’m going to go back to New York.’ And he was really on some ‘boo-hoo’shit. Clothing by Hermès; socks And I was like, ‘Yo dog, are you kidding me right now? You in by Pantherella; sunglasses your early 20s and you’re around motherfuckers trying to feed by Ray-Ban. families who ain’t working. Snap out of it.’ ” Jordan’s career was going sideways when producer Peter Berg cast him as quarterback Vince Howard in NBC’s Friday Night Lights. Jordan spent two seasons as the hard-luck trouble- maker who overcomes his demons to help win the champion- ship, throwing a Hail Mary pass in the inal play. It was Jordan’s most complex and richly drawn role to date, and his cocked eyebrow, easy smile, and rangy sex appeal seemed to pop on the screen. Friday Night Lights quickly became his calling card, leading to a role as a benevolent teenager named Alex for two seasons of Parenthood, on NBC; as Steve in the teenage sci-i thriller Chronicle, directed by Josh Trank; and, crucially, a role in Red Tails, the George Lucas–produced historical account of the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, a squadron of African- American ighter pilots. Jordan was disappointed that his best scene was cut from Red Tails, and the movie was a commercial and critical lop, but Jordan stood out in a cast of top black actors, including Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard, and it led to ofers of roles in potential blockbuster franchises, including Fantastic Four. Jordan took the Fantastic Four role as the Human Torch—a controversial casting decision because the Human Torch was originally a white character (to quell fan uproar, Jor- “I enjoy life dan published a personal essay entitled, “Why I’m Torching the Color Line”). The movie, also directed by Josh Trank, seemed 160 miles per hour like Jordan’s ticket to the big time, but it was destined to lop badly, nearly damaging Jordan’s career. Before Fantastic Four at a time.”

106 VANITY FAIR Fruitvale was a powerful piece of political art, perfectly pitched six-movie story line with the tale of Adonis Creed, the illegitimate to its moment. Jordan’s Method acting became legend: He son of Apollo, Rocky’s onetime nemesis and later best friend, moved to Oakland one month before shooting to retrace Grant’s who died in Rocky IV at the hands of a Russian combatant played steps and spend time with Grant’s family and friends, keeping by Dolph Lundgren. It was Stallone’s wife, Jennifer, who inally detailed notebooks to help him fully realize his character and convinced her husband to do it. Preparing for Creed required Jor- immersing himself to the point where some people didn’t know dan to live like a monk, training six days a week to chisel his body where “Oscar Grant” ended and Jordan began. into that of a credible middleweight boxer. His abs became part When Coogler met Jordan, the two bonded instantly, as mil- of his newfound proile as an actor, as did a newly charged idea lennials who loved Jay-Z and the Brazilian indie ilm City of God, of black political consciousness. He dressed up like Malcolm X but also as young men from predominantly black cities, Oak- for a GQ fashion spread. land and Newark, situated across bodies of water from major Fruitvale and Creed forged the relationship between Coogler metropolises. “You get inspired, the possibilities, the dreams, and Jordan, and the two were now viewed as a package. With what opportunities are over there,” says Jordan. “It gives you Black Panther, Marvel Studios gave Coogler the irepower to shat- this hunger to get across the water, across the bridge, across the ter the preconceptions of what a “black” ilm could do—a $200 tunnel, to the other place.” million budget (by contrast, Fruitvale Station cost $900,000). Coogler, the son of a community organizer and a probation Coogler co-wrote the screenplay, including the inal scene in oicer, had spent a year and a half trying to persuade Sylvester which Jordan, as Killmonger, is felled by a sword and spends his Stallone to entrust him with the Rocky franchise and extend the dying moments—lips quivering, eyes welling with tears—gazing “If it was ever a time to get distracted or, like, drop the ball, this is not it.” out over the Afro-futuristic utopia of Wakanda, declaring, “It’s when a maître d’ at a restaurant makes him Watch Michael B. beautiful.” In a nod to black history that is also a powerful wait too long for a table, then sticks gum Jordan explain everything he does slice of cinematic melodrama, Killmonger asks King T’Challa under the table to avenge the perceived ra- in a day at VF.com. (Black Panther) to “bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors cial slight, and then gets drunk on tequila that jumped from the ships, because they knew death was bet- cocktails. “My home, growing up,” he said of his neighborhood ter than bondage.” in Newark, “is hood as fuck.” The ilm has grossed $1.3 billion worldwide. His mother, Donna, was none too pleased. “It was so crass,” Last spring, at the Met Gala in New York, Michael B. Jordan she says now. “A little embellished—actor’s license.” arrived in a ninja-style pin-striped suit with a black belt hanging “The hood was the hood,” she says, sighing. “Yes, when we got down like a panther tail, created by the irst-ever black men’s- up in the morning, there was possibly crack vials and condoms wear designer at Louis Vuitton, Virgil Abloh. Amid the red- on the street. The hood was around us and it was the hood, but carpet lashbulbs and avant-garde couture, the new faces of a our experience was diferent.” black renaissance found one another in the crowd and posed for Jordan says his parents didn’t witness everything he did—get- an impromptu group photograph, with Jordan standing among ting held up at gunpoint or seeing a crime scene, which was “nor- Janelle Monáe, Daniel Kaluuya, Tessa Thompson, Lena Waithe, mal” for Newark, he says—but he regrets his early braggadocio John Boyega, Cynthia Erivo, Chadwick Boseman, and Letitia and chalks it up to wounded pride. In truth, Jordan was mostly Wright. In a year when the top movie was Black Panther; the best shielded from the blunt end of Newark because his parents show on television, Atlanta, was about characters orbiting a worked for years to build their own version of Wakanda out of black hip-hop artist; and a real-life hip-hop artist, Kendrick La- the dregs of urban decay. mar, won the Pulitzer Prize, the picture felt like a gate-crashing Jordan’s parents thought deeply about the optimal strategy and a cultural watershed. Afterward, the group converged at for African-Americans to survive and prosper on a ield that was the Up&Down club, in downtown Manhattan, and marveled at heavily tilted against them. Jordan was born during the crack their moment. Jordan “looked at me and he was like, ‘We got epidemic of the late 1980s, when George H. W. Bush was cam- to keep going. We have to keep going,’ ” recounts Lena Waithe, paigning for president partly by inciting racist fears with the in- the creator of Showtime’s The Chi. “I said, ‘I don’t got no plans famous Willie Horton ad. Newark had one of the highest crime of stopping.’ ” rates in the country, but Jordan’s parents plugged their children After the gala, Jordan posted a picture of himself on Instagram into a close-knit Afro-centric community that was a version of standing next to Donald Glover, the creator and star of Atlanta, the aspirational Cosby world, one that had evolved from the with the caption “Synergy ... ” “Me and Donald, we got some black nationalism and self-empowerment politics of the 1960s. things brewing also,” Jordan tells me. “Tim- In real terms, it meant a loose network of black churches, black ing is right, you know?” schools, black political organizations, black-owned newspapers, MAKING Steven Caple Jr., the director of Jordan’s and black clubs. Jordan’s was the kind of insular and conservative WAVES Jordan at next ilm, Creed II, calls this moment of black upbringing that Ta-Nehisi Coates, in his 2009 proile of Michelle Louse Point. solidarity in Hollywood a “movement.” Obama for The Atlantic, called “a functioning, self-contained Af-

T-shirt by Rag & During the ilming last March, Jordan and rican American world.” “We helicoptered them,” says Donna of Bone; tuxedo Caple often talked about black historical ig- her three children. “They were not out of our grasp at all. We pants by Saint Laurent by ures whose stories might make a great mov- orchestrated everything.” Anthony Vaccarello. Throughout: hair ie or TV series, like Fred Hampton, the Black “They were always having sleepovers and having people come products by Panther who was murdered in his apartment over and cooking,” says her son. “My house was the house. You Vernon François; grooming products in 1969, or Mansa Musa, a Malian historical would get a great meal and play basketball outside or video by La Prairie. igure of the 14th century known to many games or watch a movie.” African-Americans but virtually unknown When Jordan was growing up, his father would regularly dis- to white people. Musa was reputedly one of pense nuggets of liberation philosophy and black history to his the richest men in the world. “When people look at black people children, citing canonical books on the African diaspora like The it’s hard for them to think beyond slavery,” says Caple. Destruction of Black Civilization, by Chancellor Williams; Stolen “We don’t have any mythology, black mythology, or folklore,” Legacy, by George G. M. James; or Ethiopia and the Missing Link Jordan explains to me as we cruise past billboards for Atlanta and in African History, by the Reverend Sterling Means. “Whenever HBO’s Ballers in West Hollywood. DJ Khaled’s “I’m the One” is I would go by the dining room, he’d always be reading,” says on the car stereo, and I notice Jordan’s iPhone alias is “Bruce Le- Michael B. Jordan. “My dad was very adamant about educating roy,” the black martial-arts hero of the 1985 ilm The Last Dragon. himself and giving us a sense of identity and to understand where “Creating our own mythology is very important because it helps we come from, and it’s not everything that’s taught in the history dream,” says Jordan. “You help people dream.” books, in the schoolbooks.” Jordan’s budding acting career was a source of pride in the While promoting Fantastic Four, Jordan came out of the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Newark, and, for his family, a box with a rough-hewn ghetto biography that could have been source of income. By the time Michael B. Jordan was acting in a backstory from The Wire. “I’m from north New Jersey, bro,” The Wire, his father had quit his job working nights as a supervi- he told GQ. “I come from nothing. I come from sleeping in the sor at John F. Kennedy Airport to start an independent cater- kitchen with my family with the oven open to keep us warm during business, beginning with lunches at Jordan’s junior high, a ing winter, you know?” tuition-based private school called Chad, founded by the Black With the GQ reporter tagging along, Jordan becomes incensed Youth Organization in the 1960s with an CONTINUED ON PAGE 147

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 109 The Y Squad The world’s most elite counterterrorism unit Now the YAMAM commandos of Israel have decided to sha

By Adam Ciralsky

LOCATION Tel Aviv, Israel

DATE December 2017

YAMAM rappellers simulate retaking a skyscraper from terrorists. has long kept its missions and tactics closely held secrets. re their strategies—and their hidden history

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 111 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were destroyed.

—Psalm 18:37 (motto of Israel’s clandestine counterterror squad) On a spring evening in late April, I trav- during a grenade blast). His shaved head Israel’s more vocal critics on the world eled to a fortiied compound in the Ayalon and hulking frame give him the vibe of a stage—often turn to them, sotto voce, for Valley between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Jewish Vin Diesel. At his side, he keeps an help with their most intractable security The location is not identiied on Waze, unmuzzled, unbelievably vicious Belgian problems. And last come the bragging the Israeli-built navigation tool, and so, as shepherd named Django. rights—perhaps the unit’s most mean- far as my app-addled cabdriver was con- Last fall, Israeli oicials agreed to pro- ingful rationale. cerned, it does not exist. Then again, the vide Vanity Fair unprecedented access YAMAM, it so happens, recently won same could be said for its inhabitants: YA- to some of YAMAM’s activities, facilities, a bitter, 40-year bureaucratic battle with MAM, a band of counterterror operatives and undercover commandos. When I Sayeret Matkal, a secretive special-forces whose work over the last four decades has asked N why his superiors had chosen to squad within the Israel Defense Forces been shrouded in secrecy. break with their predecessors’ decades of (I.D.F.). Sayeret Matkal was formerly the Upon arrival at the group’s headquar- silence, he gave an uncharacteristically ne plus ultra in this realm; indeed, Vanity ters, which has all the architectural sentimental response: “It’s important Fair, in an article published right after the warmth of a supermax, I made my way for operators’ families to hear about our 9/11 attacks, called the group “the most past a phalanx of Israeli border police in successes.” (Field “operators,” as they efective counterterrorism force in the dark-green battle-dress uniforms and are called, are exclusively male; women world.” It counts among its alumni po- into a blastproof holding pen where my sometimes serve in intelligence roles.) litical leaders, military generals, and key credentials were scanned, my electronic N does not discount less magnanimous igures in Israel’s security establishment. devices were locked away, and I received reasons for cooperating, however. And yet, when Prime Minister Benjamin a lecture from a counter-intelligence of- First, YAMAM has devised new meth- Netanyahu, a Sayeret Matkal veteran, icer who was nonplussed that I was be- odologies for responding to terrorist in- had to quietly designate one unit to be the ing granted entrée to the premises. “Do cidents and mass shootings, which it is national counterterror A-team, he chose not reveal our location,” he said. “Do not sharing with its counterparts across the YAMAM over his old contingent, which show our faces. And do not use our names.” Then he added, grimly, and without a hint of irony, “Try to forget LOCATION what you see.” Near Tel Aviv, Israel YAMAM is the world’s most elite—and busiest—force of its kind, and its expertise DATE is in high demand in an era when ISIS vet- March 1978 erans strike outside their remaining Mid- The aftermath dle East strongholds and self-radicalized of a bus assault by P.L.O. guerrillas, lone wolves emerge to attack Western which claimed the targets. “Today, after Barcelona,” says lives of 37 Israelis Gilad Erdan, who for the past three years and wounded 71. has been Israel’s minister for public security, “after Madrid, after Manchester, after San Bernardino—everyone needs a unit like YAMAM.” More and more, the world’s top intelligence and police chiefs are calling on YAMAM (a Hebrew acro- nym that means “special police unit”). During his irst month on the job, recalls Erdan, “I got requests from 10 countries to train together.” globe. (More on this shortly.) Second, specializes in long-distance reconnais- I made my way to the office of YA- Israel, as an occupying power, faces in- sance and complex overseas missions. MAM’s 44-year-old commander, whose ternational condemnation for its heavy- Netanyahu’s decision, supported by name is classiied. I am therefore obliged handed approach toward the Palestin- some of the prime minister’s fiercest to refer to him by an initial, “N,” as if he ians; as a result, some top oicials evi- foes, had all the sting of President Barack were a Bond character. N’s eyes are difer- dently felt it was time to reveal the fact Obama’s selection of the navy’s SEAL ent colors (the result of damage sustained that governments—including a few of Team Six (over the army’s Delta Force)

112 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 to conduct the 2011 raid on Osama bin ishable intelligence provided by Shin Bet. Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Paki- Avi Dichter agrees wholeheartedly. Af- For every stan. YAMAM is part of the national police ter serving in Sayeret Matkal, he joined force—not the military or the Mossad, the Shin Bet and in 2000 rose to become terrorist attack in which is Israel’s C.I.A., or the Shin Bet, its director. He now chairs the Commit- the country’s domestic-security service, tee on Defense and Foreign Afairs in the Israel that which is more akin to Britain’s M.I.5. Knesset, Israel’s parliament. For years, And yet, in recent months, the Israeli- he admitted, counterterrorism oicials makes the news, Palestinian conlict has blurred some of shared only a portion of their most sen- the lines between these agencies’ duties. sitive intelligence with covert operatives, there are 10 that YAMAM’s primary focus involves foiling out of fear of its being compromised. are prevented. terror plots, engaging militants during at- Now, Dichter says, YAMAM representa- tacks, combating crime syndicates, and tives sit in Shin Bet’s war room to ensure blunting border incursions. In contrast, they have the full picture. “It took us a the military, in addition to protecting long time to understand that you can’t Israel’s security, is often called upon to keep information from the unit you’re respond to West Bank demonstrations, asking to perform a mission, because using what human-rights activists often what they don’t know may undermine the consider excessive force. But as Hamas entire operation.” When I asked him how has continued to organize protests along he would describe the unit to outsiders, as well as New York City’s Emergency the fence that separates Israel and Gaza, he said, “YAMAM is a special-operations Service Unit, which falls under Miller. I.D.F. snipers have been killing Palestin- force that has the powers of the police, the “Terror organizations used to take hos- ians, who tend to be unarmed. What’s capabilities of the military, and the brains tages because they wanted to achieve a more, Hamas has sent weaponized kites of Shin Bet.” They are, in efect, the spy prisoner exchange; now they’re trying to and balloons into Israel, along with mor- agency’s soldiers. do something diferent,” N observed, re- tar and rocket barrages, prompting dev- The N.Y.P.D.’s Miller, for his part, membering a bygone era when terrorism astating I.D.F. air strikes. While members claimed U.S. law-enforcement agen- was a violent means of achieving more of the YAMAM have participated in these cies beneit from YAMAM’s successes. A concrete political ends. missions as well, they have largely played former journalist, who once interviewed The conventional wisdom for how to a secondary role. bin Laden, Miller maintained, “You can deal with fast-moving terrorist incidents Of and on for a year, I followed N and learn a lot from the YAMAM about tactics, has evolved over time, most notably in his team as they traveled, trained, and techniques, and procedures that, when hostage situations. Since the 1960s and exchanged tactics with their American, adapted, can work in any environment, 70s, irst responders have sought to es- French, and German counterparts on ev- including New York. It’s why we go to Is- tablish a physical boundary to “contain” erything from retaking passenger trains rael once or twice a year—not just to see an event, engage the perpetrators in to thwarting complex attacks from cad- what we’ve seen before but to see what dialogue, draw out negotiations while res of suicide bombers and gunmen ir- we’ve seen before that they’re doing formulating a rescue plan, then move in ing rocket-propelled grenades. YAMAM’s diferently. Because terrorism, like tech- with a full team. Similar principles were technology, including robots and Throw- nology—and sometimes because of tech- adapted for reacting to kidnappers, emo- bots (cameras housed in round casings nology—is constantly evolving. If you’re tionally disturbed individuals, and mass- that upright themselves upon landing), working on the techniques you developed casualty incidents. is dazzling to the uninitiated. But so are two years ago, you’re way out of date.” But over the last 20 years—a period the stats: YAMAM averages some 300 Kirstjen Nielsen, Trump’s secretary of that dovetails with N’s rise from recruit missions a year. According to N, his com- Homeland Security, concurs: “We have a to commander—he and his colleagues mandos have stopped at least 50 “ticking lot to learn from [Israel—YAMAM in par- have come to treat terror attacks the way time bombs” (suicide bombers en route ticular] in terms of how they use technol- doctors treat heart attacks and strokes. to their targets) and hundreds of attacks ogy as a force multiplier to combat an ar- There is a golden window in which to at earlier stages. ray of threats. Over the last 15 years, we intervene and throw all their energy and GE 112: GE 112: “I’ve been out with the YAMAM on op- at D.H.S. have partnered with them on resources at the problem. While units erations,” John Miller, the New York Po- almost every threat.” in the U.S. have tended to arrive on the

ALSKY. PA ALSKY. lice Department’s deputy commissioner scene, gauge the situation, secure a pe- of intelligence and counterterrorism, A NEW PARADIGM rimeter, and then call in specialists or told me in his oice, a few blocks from reinforcements, YAMAM goes in heavy, the World Trade Center. “There are a lot “I saw a few Hollywood movies about dispatching self-contained squadrons

TILL BY ADAM CIR TILL BY ADAM of outits that have a lot of knowledge fighting terrorism and terrorists,” N of breachers, snipers, rappellers, bomb and do a lot of training, but that’s difer- said. “But the reality is beyond anything techs, dog handlers, and hostage nego- ent from a lot of experience.” He pointed you can imagine.” Back in the States, I tiators. Metaphorically speaking, they out that for every terrorist attack in Israel trailed him and his entourage, who met don’t send an ambulance to stabilize a that makes the news, there are 10 that with the L.A. County Sherif’s Depart- patient for transport. They send a hospi- PHOTOGRAPH BY SHMUEL RACHMANI/A.P. IMAGES BY SHMUEL RACHMANI/A.P. PHOTOGRAPH PAGES 110–11: VIDEO S VIDEO 110–11: PAGES are prevented by YAMAM acting on per- ment’s Special Enforcement Bureau, tal to ensure survival on scene. Moreover,

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 113 law enforcement has struggled with facing multiple gunmen and explosions Nowadays, [this] since the Columbine case”—when in all directions. Taking it all in, I felt like responders waited too long to storm in. I had unwittingly been cast as an extra in some terrorists “We’ve got to get inside within 20 min- a Michael Bay movie. utes. It can’t be within the golden two As they briefed their European guests, aren’t hours—or it’s not golden.” the YAMAM team preached its gospel of Major O, the 37-year-old who com- never allowing the perfect to be the en- interested in mands YAMAM’s sniper team, explained emy of the good. “To be relevant and to that one of the unit’s signature skills is win this battle, sometimes you must go negotiations or getting into the assailant’s mind-set. with 50 percent or 70 percent knowledge even survival. “We try to learn every terrorist attack and intelligence,” N said. As he consid- everywhere in the world to ind out how ered what his counterparts faced at places we can do it better,” he noted. “Our en- such as Orlando’s Pulse nightclub or the emies are very professional, too, and in Bataclan concert hall, in Paris, N asserted the end they are learning. They try to be that in today’s scenarios, unlike those better than us.” in the 20th century, “we don’t have the To maintain its edge, YAMAM, after privilege of time. You must come inside analyzing far-lung incidents, fashions very fast because there are terrorists that its training to address possible future are killing hostages every minute.” they establish mobile units with clear attacks. In the time that I spent with the lines of authority, not an array of groups operators, they rappelled down a Tel Aviv THE SECOND DIRECTIE with competing objectives. These teams skyscraper and swooped into an office can rove and respond, and are not unduly dozens of loors below, testing alterna- The inside story of YAMAM’s genesis tethered to a central command base. tive ways that responders might have has not been told by its leaders, until now. “The active shooter changed every- confronted last year’s Las Vegas attack in In 1972, during the Summer Olympics thing,” John Miller elaborated. Nowadays, which a lone gunman on the 32nd loor of in Munich, members of the Palestinian the terrorist or mass murderer isn’t inter- the Mandalay Bay hotel ired more than group Black September kidnapped and ested in negotiations or even survival. “He a thousand rounds at concertgoers, kill- murdered 11 Israeli teammates. The is looking for maximum lethality and to ing 58. A YAMAM squad also spent hours cold-blooded attack—and Germany’s achieve martyrdom in many cases.” Be- on a dimly lit platform taking over a sta- botched response—prompted Israel’s cause of this, the response teams’ priori- tionary Israeli passenger train—along- prime minister Golda Meir to initiate ties have shifted. The primary objective, side members of France’s elite Groupe Operation Wrath of God, sending hit said Miller, echoing YAMAM’s strategy, “is d’Intervention de la Gendarmerie Na- squads to track down and kill the group’s to stop the killing. That means to use the tionale. (The French had come to Israel, organizers and others (later depicted in irst oicers on the scene whether they’re in part, to practice such maneuvers, evi- Steven Spielberg’s Munich). And though specialized or not. The other part is to stop dently mindful of 2015’s Thalys rail at- it may have escaped public attention, a the dying. How do you then set param- tack, which recently found its way to the secret second directive would go forth as eters inside as the people are chasing the big screen in Clint Eastwood’s The 15:17 well, which ordered the establishment of threat, going after the sound of gunire, to Paris). And at a telecommunications fa- a permanent strike force to deter or de- engaging the gunman? How do you get to cility north of Tel Aviv, Israeli operatives feat future attacks. those people who are wounded, who are simulated a nighttime mission with Ger- This mandate would not be realized still viable, who could survive? American many’s vaunted Grenzschutzgruppe 9, until two years later, after terrorists sneaked across the border from Leba- non, killed a family of three, and took

LOCATION over an elementary school in Ma’alot with 105 students and 10 teachers in- Dimona, Israel side—hoping to negotiate for the release DATE of their brethren held in Israeli prisons. March 1988 Sayeret Matkal raced to the scene and The so-called mounted a disastrous rescue attempt. Mothers’ Bus Twenty-one students perished. Ad- attack, in which three nuclear- dressing the Knesset, Meir exclaimed, research workers “The blood of our children, the martyrs were executed by P.L.O. terrorists. of Ma’alot, cries out to us, exhorting us to intensify our war against terrorism, to perfect our methods.” Following the attack, counterterrorism responsibilities—especially the delicate art of hostage rescue—shifted from

the I.D.F. to a new police unit, initially THE FROM POLARIS; RIGHT, FROM LEFT, PHOTOGRAPHS: IMAGES MINISTRY/GETTY ISRAELI DEFENCE

114 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 300 afair, for example, Sayeret Matkal LOCATION commandos stormed a bus to rescue Israeli-Egyptian hostages and claimed it had killed four border terrorists when, in fact, two had survived. DATE The pair were turned over to Shin Bet August 2011 operatives, who, a short distance away, Israeli defense murdered them in cold blood. The de- minister bacle and its aftermath, which disgraced Ehud Barak (gesturing) visits Shin Bet chief Avraham Shalom—who the scene of had ordered the on-site assassinations a deadly jihadist and then tried to cover it up—left an in- incursion. delible stain on Israel’s institutions and international credibility. In 1987, Alik Ron, a man with deep credentials and a devil-may-care attitude, took over YAMAM. He had served in Sayeret Matkal and participated in the legendary 1976 raid on Entebbe, in which an I.D.F. team stormed a Ugandan airport and successfully freed more than 100 hostages. “I was in our most elite units dubbed the “Fist Brigade” and, later, coming ashore near Haifa. Once in- and took part in the most celebrated YAMAM. Chronically underfunded, os- land, they encountered and murdered mission in our history,” said Ron, who tracized by the military, and deemed an an American named Gail Rubin, whose in retirement has become a gentleman unknown quantity by the intelligence ser- close relative happened to be Abraham farmer. “Only when I was put in charge of vices, the unit was a backwater. That is, Ribicof, a powerful U.S. senator. Next, YAMAM did I realize I was in the company until Assaf Hefetz was put in charge. He they lagged down a taxi, murdered its of the most professional unit in Israel.” was a well-regarded I.D.F. paratrooper occupants, then hijacked a bus. Travel- And yet when he first addressed his with important friends, among them fu- ing south along the picturesque coastal men to say how proud he was to lead ture prime minister Ehud Barak. Hefetz highway, they threw hand grenades at them—describing all the great things had supported the April 1973 operation passing cars and shot some of the bus they would accomplish together—they in which Barak—famously disguised as passengers. The attack was timed in broke out laughing. Apparently, the op- a woman—iniltrated Beirut and killed hopes of disrupting peace talks between eratives were fed up with being highly several Palestine Liberation Organiza- Israel’s prime minister Menachem Begin trained benchwarmers, always left on tion leaders as part of Israel’s ongoing and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. the sidelines. Ron persevered nonethe- retaliation for Munich. Hefetz profes- The rolling pandemonium came to less. And he is withering in his assess- sionalized YAMAM, persuading skilled a halt at a junction north of Tel Aviv. ment of his old unit (Sayeret Matkal) soldiers to join his new police commando “When I arrived, my unit was [still] an and its overseers. “Nobody, nobody, not unit—whose work was a secret to all but hour away,” Hefetz recalled. The bus the head of Shin Bet, not Mossad, not the a handful of Israelis. had stopped, but it was a charred wreck. prime minister, can give me an order [to In May, I visited Hefetz, aged 74, in “No one knows [exactly] what hap- kill terrorists after they have been cap- the seaside hamlet of Caesarea and pened. Call it the fog of war.” Hefetz tured]. He can get me an order, but I will found a man with the body of a 24-year- soon learned that some of the assailants do like this,” he said, lifting his middle old and the hearing of a 104-year-old. had escaped on foot and were moving inger. “I will not murder them. I will have Like many of his generation of Israe- toward the beach. He grabbed his gun already killed them in the bus.” lis, he speaks his mind without regard and gave chase, eventually killing two Ron soon got the chance to try things for how his words may land. “After 18 of them, capturing a third, and rescuing his way. In 1988, he learned that three months, I had recruited and trained some of the hostages. In the process, he terrorists had crossed in from Egypt and three platoons, and I knew that my unit took a bullet to his right shoulder and lost hijacked a bus full of working mothers was much better than the army,” he inhearing in one ear. The incident, known on their way to Dimona, the epicenter sisted. “But I was the only person in the as the Coastal Road Massacre, claimed of Israel’s top-secret nuclear-weapons country who thought so.” In due course, the lives of more than three dozen people. program. As Ron raced toward the Neg- he found an eager partner in the spymas- But Hefetz’s valor raised the question: ev Desert to link up with his team, he ters of Shin Bet, who agreed to let YA- given what YAMAM’s commander ac- saw CH-53 Sea Stallions on the horizon MAM try its hand at the treacherous work complished on his own, what could the heading in the same direction. Pounding of neutralizing suspected terrorists. unit as a whole do if properly harnessed? his ist on his dashboard and unleashing Still, it was Hefetz, personally, who irst The answer was a decade in coming, a stream of expletives, Ron recalled, he put YAMAM on the map. On the morn- during which time YAMAM was bigfooted screamed, “Sayeret Matkal … again?!” ing of March 11, 1978, armed guerrillas by Sayeret Matkal during its response to Ehud Barak was on one of those helicop- arrived on Zodiac boats from Lebanon, terrorist attacks. In the notorious Bus ters, a man who CONTINUED ON PAGE 152

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 115 Skin in the Forty years ago, the N.F.L. turned cheerleaders into sex objects.

116 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 FANTASY FOOTBALL The Dallas Cowboys led the way in selling sex on the sidelines— while paying cheerleaders next to nothing. “It was a business,” observed three veterans of the squad. “And we were the merchandise.”

Game

Now they’re ghting back By MICHELLE RUIZ

117 hey call each other “girls,” Over the past year, the N.F.L. has faced a even though they are grown rash of lawsuits and ugly allegations over women now, some of them its treatment of cheerleaders. Five former T grandmothers in their 60s. members of the Washington Redskins Few look it: most are lithe and fit from squad say the team lew them to Costa a lifetime of exercise. Early this morn- Rica in 2013, stripped them of their passing they convened for a variety of itness ports, and required them to pose topless classes, including a “twerkout workout,” before wealthy fans. In March, former a “hot heels dance class,” and “cheer cheerleader Bailey Davis sued the New Zumba,” followed by a panel on the Orleans Saints for iring her over an Insta- “Good, Bad, & Ugly” of cosmetics program photo she posted of herself in a lacy cedures. Now they are buzzing around a bodysuit. And in June, six former cheer- banquet hall set up in a club-seating deck leaders iled a federal sex-discrimination on the upper level of Nissan Stadium in suit against the Houston Texans, alleg- Nashville, home of the Tennessee Ti- ing they were paid less than the state’s tans. There are nearly 500 former N.F.L. minimum wage and relentlessly body- cheerleaders—Washington Redskinettes, shamed by the squad coach, who called Seattle Sea Gals, Chicago Honey Bears, them “jelly bellies” and “crack whores.” Bufalo Jills, and the queen supremes, the “I had no idea that once I became a Hous- Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. (“When ton Texan cheerleader, all of my dreams they walk in, you can just tell,” says one would slowly be shattered,” one of the alumna.) They have gathered for the bi- plaintifs, Morgan Wiederhold, said at a ennial National Football Cheerleaders news conference. Alumni Reunion, and the room is crack- The teams have all denied the al- ling with the bubbly brand of energy that legations, and the N.F.L. insists that it many of the girls call “sparkle,” which also “supports fair employment practices.” serves as an implicit dress code. There are The cheerleader alumni assembled at sparkles on dresses, sparkles on earrings, the reunion, meanwhile, aren’t eager to sparkles on stilettos. “It’s awesome to get discuss the league’s #MeToo moment. re-united with my cheer sisters, as we like “Since we’re being real and honest with to say,” gushes Jennifer Hathaway, a for- each other, the last couple of years, mer Atlanta Falconette whose eyes are there have been some controversies in dusted with sparkly shadow. the N.F.L.,” the evening’s co-host, Lisa The ex-cheerleaders have been drawn Guerrero, chief investigative correspon- here by their shared past—a collective dent for Inside Edition and a onetime nostalgia for their days on the sidelines, Rams cheerleader, acknowledges when their moment in the spotlight. But despite she takes the stage. “I know that some their giddiness at being re-united, they of these controversies have been painful, know there is no escaping the present. and some of them have been diicult for us to deal with as a unit. But what I like to say to people is that had it not been for the None of that is new. Such dismissals background I had in the N.F.L., there’s no contain a tacit admission of a deeper way that I could have been on television reality. The low pay, the body-shaming, or have the sisterhood that we all have. the draconian rules about appearance We’re here to celebrate.” and behavior that apply to cheerleaders Some women at the reunion say pri- but not to players—these are not the work vately that they experienced similar mis- of a few rogue coaches or lecherous own- treatment during their time in the N.F.L. ers. The N.F.L.’s current crisis, in fact, is But rather than sympathize with their the result of a series of carefully crafted modern-day “cheer sisters,” they seem marketing plans put into place by teams TV helped exploit intent on siding with their old teams. across the league in the 1970s to sell “None of this conversation about the pay, sex on the sidelines. One by one, front cheerleaders and the discrimination, and the treat- offices from Buffalo to San Diego gave ment—none of that is new to me,” says N.F.L. cheerleading an extreme make- with the Cathy Core, founder of the now defunct over designed to tap into the fantasies IMAGES PENNINGTON/GETTY TOM APH BY Chicago Honey Bears. “My feeling is that of male fans. The move took place at the “honey shot,” when you come into a group, you sign a very moment that pro football was trans- selling sex contract. You know what you’re getting forming itself into the world’s most lucra- into. Nothing that you’re gonna cry about tive sports-entertainment behemoth:

in between plays. is gonna make it any diferent.” All together, the N.F.L.’s 32 franchises PHOTOGR 116–17: PAGES

118 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 EXTREME MAKEOVER Cheerleaders started out as men—before the N.F.L. turned them into what a former Dallas cheerleader calls “sideline accessories.” Top left: Yale’s male “yell leaders” circa 1925. Top right: Baltimore Colts cheerleaders, the league’s first full-time squad, in 1960. Bottom left: Dallas cheerleaders in 1967, before their transformation. Bottom right: the Buffalo Jills in 1993, not long before they became the first and only squad to unionize.

are worth an estimated $80 billion, ac- Three sisters who joined the Cowboys considerably more weight. “The reputa- cording to Forbes. To woo TV viewers, squad after Kepley—Stephanie, Suzette, tion of having been a valiant ‘cheer-leader’ court sponsors, and boost their brands, and Sheri Scholz—put it even more suc- is one of the most valuable things a boy teams systematically set out to turn their cinctly in their 1991 tell-all memoir, Deep can take away from college,” The Nation

cheerleaders into sex objects—ones who in the Heart of Texas: Relections of Former wrote in 1911. Though male cheerleaders would serve as cheap labor in the hope Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. “It was a endured at some upper-crust schools that the opportunity would rocket them business,” the sisters observe, “and we (think George W. Bush at Yale), there to stardom in Hollywood or the media. were the merchandise.” was a Rosie-the-Riveter-ing of the sport “They own you,” says Debbie Kepley, a during the Second World War: as men

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED; SPORTS personal trainer in Los Angeles who per- In the beginning, cheerleaders were shipped off overseas, women stepped formed as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader neither modest women nor sexy wom- into their saddle shoes. during the boom years of 1976 to 1978. en. In fact, they weren’t women at all. As Cheerleading hit the big leagues in “Even though they wanted you to be a college football took off in the early 1954, when the Baltimore Colts cheer- representative of the Cowboys, you were 1900s, enthusiastic male students in the leaders became the irst full-time squad still just an accessory—a sideline acces- then all-male Ivy League organically in the N.F.L. Their look was more Jackie sory. It’s like being a Miss America—you spilled out of the stands and onto the than Marilyn—letter sweaters, bobby will do anything they say to be a part of all sidelines, becoming the irst “yell lead- socks, and homemade pom-poms. They of the glitz, the glamour, the cameras, the ers” and “rooter kings.” Perhaps not co- got dressed in the stadium’s boiler room, excitement and hope. That’s where they incidentally, when cheerleading was a recalls one Colts alumna at the reunion, PHOTOGRAPHS: TOP LEFT, BY GEORGE RINHART/CORBIS; TOP TOP RINHART/CORBIS; GEORGE BY LEFT, TOP PHOTOGRAPHS: NEIL LEIFER/ BY LEFT, BOTTOM AND RIGHT BOTTOM RIGHT, BY GEORGE ROSE; ALL FROM GETTY IMAGES ALL FROM ROSE; GEORGE BY RIGHT, BOTTOM take advantage of people.” predominantly male activity, it carried all huddled around a single mirror. In

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 119 what would become an N.F.L. tradition, Schramm, the Cowboys’ general man- tops, star-spangled vests, hot pants, and the founding Colts cheerleaders were ager, shared Cash’s lair for marketing. white go-go boots. “We had to tie the knot paid exactly nothing. Other teams soon “Schramm was known as the P. T. Bar- a certain way to give us the most cleav- followed suit, debuting cheerleaders of num of the N.F.L.,” says Dana Adam Sha- age,” recalls Kepley, who made the team their own, including the Dallas Cow- piro, director of Daughters of the Sexual in 1976. “Very few people had fake boobs Belles & Beaux, a group of coed high- Revolution: The Untold Story of the Dallas back then. They were just starting to hit school students who tumbled and made Cowboys Cheerleaders. “He was the one the market.” human pyramids. who had the initial vision for showgirls on Raised a scrappy latchkey kid by a Cheerleading retained its girl-next- the sidelines of sporting events. He real- single mom, Kepley was working as a door innocence until one fateful day ized there’s a lot of downtime in football. clerk at federal bankruptcy court when in November 1967, when a Dallas bur- It couldn’t just be guys on the ield run- she heard an ad on the radio for Dallas lesque performer named Bubbles Cash ning into each other. You had to turn it cheerleader tryouts. Women were asked sauntered through the stands at a Cow- into showbiz. And the cheerleaders were to come dressed in short-shorts and hal- boys game wearing a micro-miniskirt one of the ways that he turned it into the ters, and to free-dance to disco music and carrying cotton candy. Photos from greatest show on earth.” while the judges subjected their bodies to the game show the men around Cash go- A former executive of CBS Sports, unabashed assessments. “We were sup- ing nuts; local newspapers crowned her Schramm had already tailored the game posed to be wholesome but sexy,” Kepley the “belle of the football.” Cash, a can- to the TV era, helping to pioneer instant says, “like a Barbie doll.” ny crowd-pleaser, replay and create the Super Bowl, Amer- The new cheerleaders, in fact, were PINUP PROFITS blew kisses to her ica’s most valuable sports brand. Now, deliberately cast to fit a wide range of The Dallas squad in 1978. “We admirers. inspired by Cash, Schramm re-invented male fantasies. “Each girl’s ‘look’ was a became million- The unexpected the cheerleaders as sexy, glamorous, part of the big scheme,” the Scholz sis- dollar showgirls who made $15 sensation did not scantily clad showgirls, dressing them ters wrote in their memoir. “There was a game,” said one. go unnoticed. Tex in the now legendary royal-blue halter the long-haired blonde, the girl with the

120 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 ponytail, the pigtail girl, the tall brunette, halters, top hats, and gold lamé boots. the perky little brunette, the bouncy One cheerleader “Everyone is trying to out-Dallas Dal- blonde, the sultry redhead.” Guys in the says she was las,” an assistant Falcons manager said stadium would ixate on their preferred at the time. type. “Men would be yelling down, Shake cast to be In Chicago, Bears owner George “Papa it, Stephanie! Shake it!” recalls Stephanie Bear” Halas declared that he wanted to Scholz, who started out as a pageant “wholesome but have his own set of “dancing girls” on the queen in Lubbock before moving up to ield, to distract fans from a losing season. the Cowboys squad. sexy—like a The team tapped Cathy Core, who had The new image was engineered espe- left a convent to coach cheerleaders for a cially for TV. Andy Sidaris, the director of Barbie doll.” church middle school, as founder of the ABC’s Monday Night Football, patented Honey Bears. Halas, Core says, “knew the “honey shot”—the practice of cutting right from the beginning that he had to away from the game between plays and give the people something more for their beaming appreciative shots of the Dallas dollar.” According to Core, the team in- cheerleaders to millions of viewers across tentionally dressed the Honey Bears in the country. “I got the idea for honey a white one-piece leotard with a lace-up shots because I am a dirty old man,” front to accentuate “the type of body we Sidaris admitted from his control room wanted to see in that particular costume: in the 1976 documentary Seconds to Play. girls who could be a little more endowed “You gotta show some girls—and occa- his lens. “God, we got a gold mine here,” on the top.” sionally we’ll get a football play in there.” Shaw recalls thinking. “It was electrical.” Former cheerleaders say that while The N.F.L., meanwhile, looked on The poster was printed by Pro Arts, the teams dressed them like hookers, without objection. Schramm had per- the same company that distributed Faw- they were expected to comport them- sonally given Pete Rozelle, the league’s cett’s, and was sold nationwide among selves like virgins. To maintain the commissioner, his irst job in football, on the whoopee cushions and fake poop proper balance between sex and spar- the P.R. staf of the Los Angeles Rams. at Spencer Gifts, wallpapering the bed- kle—to protect, in efect, the particular “Rozelle courted and massaged the tele- rooms of teenage boys across America. brand of fantasy they were creating—the vision and Madison Avenue leaders,” Shaw received $14,000 for the shoot, Cowboys and other teams implemented Richard Crepeau, author of NFL Foot- and the Cowboys made at least $1.8 mil- a host of stringent rules. Most were pio- ball: A History of America’s New National lion from the poster. But when I ask Shaw neered by Suzanne Mitchell, a former Pastime, has observed. Like Schramm, if the cheerleaders shared in the revenue, P.R. executive whom Schramm put in Rozelle “knew that sex sells.” he bursts out laughing. “Oh no,” he says. charge of the D.C.C. Ostensibly meant With the league’s blessing, the Dal- “I paid them more than anybody with to “protect” the cheerleaders, the origi- las Cowboys Cheerleaders—known nice catering. They didn’t get anything.” nal rules laid the groundwork for the reverentially as the D.C.C.—exploded At their peak, the D.C.C. as a unit kind of rigid policing that has sparked into an all-out pop-culture sensation. were, by some calculations, nearly as the present-day backlash among many They were featured on playing cards, famous as Fawcett herself. But while they millennial cheerleaders. No chewing inspired a TV movie starring Jane Sey- were brand ambassadors and game-day gum. No wearing blue jeans. No appear- mour, made cameo appearances on The draws and razzle-dazzle performers fea- ing drunk in public. And absolutely no Love Boat and Family Feud, and circled tured on nationwide TV, they were paid love handles. the globe on U.S.O. tours at the express around $100 per season, before taxes— In a precursor to today’s “jiggle tests,” request of the Defense Department. And barely enough to cover gas to the stadium Mitchell set rigorous body standards be- thanks to another of Schramm’s market- and dry cleaning for their iconic uni- fore “body-shaming” was even a con- ing schemes, they appeared on a splashy, forms. As one former cheerleader told cept. She instituted regular weigh-ins. unequivocally sexy poster meant to rival filmmaker Dana Adam Shapiro, “We “You would stand there and they would Farrah Fawcett’s famed 1976 pinup. The became million-dollar showgirls who say, ‘O.K., I want you to turn around one /GETTY IMAGES Cowboys tapped Bob Shaw, a Dallas- made $15 a game.” inch at a time,’” Scholz recalls. “I am ive based freelance photographer, to stage foot ive. I weigh 105. And they still want- and shoot the poster. Shaw says it was The Dallas model of sexing up the ed me thinner.” Mitchell created lists of clear what Schramm was thinking: “We cheerleaders sparked what Sports Illus- what she considered problem areas and can get a million impressions out there. trated called “the Great Cheerleading circulated them to the entire squad. “I SPORTS ILLUSTRATED SPORTS Maybe we can make a dollar.” War of 1978,” as rival teams raced to was always on a list that said thighs,” re- For ambience, Shaw ired up a smoke match the Cowboys in displaying “bel- calls Dana Presley Killmer, who joined machine and rigged his studio with neon ly buttons, busts, and backsides.” The the team in 1980. Other lists singled out lights inspired by the lightsabers in Star Bengals dressed their squad in sarongs those who needed to slim their midsec- Wars. He positioned ive of the squad’s decorated with hand-painted tigers. The tions, those who needed to lose 5 pounds, cheerleaders in a V formation, with their Chargers replaced their old uniforms of and those who needed to drop 10—all feathery Fawcett hair and barely-there white leotards, pleated skirts, and ten- within days, or else risk being benched.

PHOTOGRAPH BY SHELLY KATZ/ BY SHELLY PHOTOGRAPH uniforms, making bedroom eyes into nis shoes with white briefs, blue satin “There were a lot of girls who got into

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 121 eating disorders,” Scholz says—or diet to Memphis to make an appearance at a game days. For the Honey Bears, it was pills and cocaine. Some lived on salads, huge indoor arena.” But that night, when as little as $10 per game. In San Diego, yogurt, and beef-bouillon cubes plopped they arrived, “there wasn’t anyone there “the girls were not paid a dime,” says in hot water, when they ate at all. To except eight or nine of his close bud- Rhonda Crossland, former director of shed last-minute water weight, Killmer dies rolling around in this huge building the Chargettes. While the team racked up encased her thighs in Saran Wrap, pulled that held about 10,000.” The man “was millions, the Chargettes held car washes on plastic dance pants, and rehearsed for loaded and just wanted to have his own and bake sales to pay for their uniforms hours. “We would go home and shower little private personal appearance.” At and travel to away games. and be four pounds lighter,” she says. one point, a fan began stalking Stepha- Lynita Shilling, who joined the Another of Mitchell’s rigid rules had a nie Scholz, waiting for her after games Chargettes in 1977 at age 20, overlooked lasting efect across the N.F.L.: a ban on and calling her at night. “I can deinitely the lack of pay because she was an aspir- interactions between cheerleaders and relate to the MeToo movement,” Scholz ing actress who hoped the squad would players. Enforcement of the prohibition, says. “I was horrified. I had to change launch her career. “Now I see that the however, was often skewed by gender. apartments and telephone numbers.” amount of time I put into it, the amount of “A lot of the guys were cheating on their Sometimes cheerleaders made extra dedication, the amount of volunteering wives with the cheerleaders,” Kepley says. money for such appearances—as much for public appearances—it was just totally But if they were caught by the team, the as $500 for an event. But in a trend that inappropriate and inequitable,” she says. cheerleader would usually take the fall. At continues to the present day, they were “Man, they were getting a sweet deal.” the Honey Bears, Core recalls, “we had to paid little to nothing for their work on Back then, however, there were no let one of the girls go because she was in N.F.L. cheerleaders iling lawsuits over a pretty serious relationship with one of pay. “I mean, what are you going to sue the guys.” But when it came to the player, for? Back wages?” Shilling says. “There the team did nothing. “Do you think I’m were no wages.” gonna bench him?” Jim Finks, the Bears’ general manager, scofed at Core. “He’s In fact, it didn’t take long before N.F.L. not gonna lose his job.” cheerleaders began to ight back against Dallas also pioneered the practice of the low pay and inequitable rules. Kep- boosting its bottom line by having the ley’s breaking point came in 1978, when cheerleaders make paid appearances at the Cowboys defeated the Broncos to events like car shows and golf outings. win Super Bowl XII. After the game, the But as millennial cheerleaders now al- Teams went after D.C.C. were rushed off the field at the lege, serving as the team’s de facto am- Louisiana Superdome and ushered onto bassadors alongside fans, V.I.P.’s, and cheerleaders a waiting plane, where they were forced sponsors didn’t always feel safe. Mitch- to sit for hours, without food or water. ell banned appearances where alcohol who posed in “I think it was because they didn’t want was served and sent along bodyguards, us back in Dallas celebrating, going to but cheerleaders still remember how Playboy. “It was nightclubs,” Kepley says. “You still can’t uneasy they felt at such events. As the an issue of convince me to this day that they didn’t Scholz sisters recount in their memoir, keep us on that plane on purpose.” To “One man lew a group of cheerleaders power,” says one. add insult to injury, Kepley and her fellow

122 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 FRISKY BUSINESS The cheerleaders themselves under- Marketing N.F.L. cheerleaders as sex stood what was at stake. “It’s an issue objects came at a steep of ownership and power,” says Shilling. price. From left: Suzanne Mitchell, the Dallas “Anything that takes away from their squad director who power and control is threatening to them. instituted rigorous body When we were featured in Playboy, it was standards that were widely imitated; the 1977 a bad relection on management.” poster that sparked a The key difference between Dallas craze; Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm, and Playboy was one of audience. The who led the move from Cowboys, who operate in the heart of sweaters to halter tops, with N.F.L. commissioner the Bible Belt, were careful to package Pete Rozelle in 1979; the cheerleaders to appeal to male fans, attorney Gloria Allred with former Houston without drawing the ire of their wives cheerleaders pushing for or ministers. “The Cowboys weren’t higher pay, outside N.F.L. dummies,” says Cohen, the Playboy edi- headquarters in June. tor. “Here they had big hair, big boobs, bouncy, smiley young women parading up and down the sidelines. They were well aware of what was necessary to get them the notoriety they were looking cheerleaders were not paid a cent for ap- “I wasn’t creeping around trying to ind for—to drive ticket holders, drive eyeballs pearing at the Super Bowl: their wages, it these girls.” According to the article that to TV, drive advertisers. They knew ex- turned out, only applied to home games. accompanied the photo spread, San Di- actly what was going on.” Sex might sell, “These guys get these $10,000 rings and ego was among the teams—including but when it came to the cheerleaders, the these big bonuses, and they couldn’t even New England, Baltimore, Philadelphia, message was clear: the only ones allowed give us our $14.12,” Kepley says, referring and Seattle—that “extended Playboy ev- to sell it were the N.F.L.’s owners. to what the cheerleaders made for each ery kind of courtesy.” Ironically, as the years passed, the home game, after taxes. “By that time a The Cowboys, who had originally N.F.L. shifted in Playboy’s direction. Over lot of us said, ‘This is shit.’ ” recast the cheerleaders as objects of the next three decades, the cheerleaders That night, sitting on the runway in sexual desire, lashed out when others found their uniforms getting skimpier New Orleans, a group of disgruntled tried to capitalize on their newly sexu- and skimpier—hot pants made hotter cheerleaders formed a rogue unit called alized image. Dallas spent an estimat- with V-shaped dips at the waist. Seduc- Texas Cowgirls Inc. Within weeks they ed $1 million suing the distributor of tive posters gave way to swimsuit calen- were suiting up in shiny blue unitards the porn film Debbie Does Dallas over dars and lingerie calendars. The pay, on and marketing themselves for public unauthorized use of what looked like a the other hand, remained as low as ever, appearances. They served as the open- D.C.C. uniform. The team also success- even as the league’s profits soared. In ing act in actor Gabe Kaplan’s Las Vegas fully sued Playboy photographer Arny 1995, one squad of cheerleaders decided show, and they re-created the official Freytag for making the poster featuring to do something about it. The Bufalo Jills Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders poster the topless Texas Cowgirls. The lawsuits became the irst and only squad to union- for Playboy—minus their tops. The shoot weren’t about protecting the cheerlead- ize, demanding better pay and equal featured Kepley opening a metallic jacket ers from unwanted exposure—they were treatment. “We were just tired of being to lash one of her breasts. Cheerleaders about protecting the team’s brand. As used and abused,” says Erin McCormack from other teams also took part. Shilling, Freytag recalls, “I had to sit there and Oliver, a co-captain who helped spear- the Chargette, posed topless, seductively listen to the Cowboys’ lawyer saying, head the unionization drive. “We were biting her lower lip. The motivation was ‘Our cheerleaders are schoolteachers, unique, intelligent, talented women, simple: “I was getting paid,” Shilling and they’re churchgoers, and how dare and we wanted to be respected for that.” says. “And I wasn’t getting paid for be- this guy sexualize our group of perfect, The Jills, who were paid nothing at the ing a cheerleader.” Shilling received more innocent young women?’ And I’m like, time but one ticket per home game and a than $1,500—as much as she would earn ‘Wait a minute—you can’t put ’em in parking pass, managed to negotiate a pay- in 10 seasons on the sidelines. The check these little skimpy outits and have no check of $25 per home game or personal helped pay for her wedding. problems with TV cameras being up appearance. But the victory proved short- The Playboy pictorial hit the league their skirts half the time on the football lived. The squad’s sponsor, Mighty Taco, like a bombshell. The Chargettes not only ield and blame me for it.’ That’s pretty dropped the Jills after they unionized. ired Shilling, they disbanded the entire hypocritical.” Or, as Playboy observed “Just being professional was a bridge too squad, even though the front oice had in a statement defending the disbanded far for them,” Oliver recalls. A local res- known about the shoot in advance and Chargettes, “the Chargers—and other taurant owner eventually agreed to step encouraged the cheerleaders to partici- teams—have wrapped these enthusi- in, on one condition: the Jills must drop pate. “I went straight through the front astic young ladies up like candy every their union ailiation. Without the pro- door,” recalls Jef Cohen, the photo editor weekend on national television. All we tection of collective bargaining, the Jills

PHOTOGRAPHS: FROM LEFT, BY MARK PERLSTEIN, FROM BOBSHAW.COM, BOBSHAW.COM, FROM PERLSTEIN, BY MARK LEFT, FROM PHOTOGRAPHS: ANGERER/GETTY IMAGES BY DREW IMAGES, IMAGES/GETTY DIAMOND FROM at Playboy who coordinated the pictorial. did is ask them to remove the wrapping.” once again found CONTINUED ON PAGE 153

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 123 SOLOMON’S DILEMMA GOLDMAN SACHS BECAME THE POSTER CHILD FOR WALL STREET GREED. CAN ITS NEW C.E.O. FIND A WAY TO SATISFY MAIN STREET’S NEEDS?

BY WILLIAM D. COHAN

124 VANITY FAIR ON THE MONEY David Solomon was caught off guard when Lloyd Blankfein told him he would be taking over as C.E.O. “I needed a moment to collect myself,” he says.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY LANDON NORDEMAN VANITY FAIR 125 After lunch on March 1, David Solomon was standing at his desk in his 41st-loor by the Trump administration, Washing- he recalled in a Goldman podcast. After- oice at Goldman Sachs, high above the ton continues to actively discourage Wall ward, in 1986, he moved to Drexel Burn- Hudson River, answering e-mails and Street risk-taking. It falls to Solomon, who ham Lambert, the investment bank made talking on his telephone headset. For stepped into the C.E.O. job on October 1, infamous by junk-bond pioneer Michael the previous 15 months, Solomon had to navigate Goldman through the intrica- Milken, where he received an education been locked in a competition with Har- cies of the new landscape—a task Blank- of a diferent kind. vey Schwartz, with whom he served as fein more or less abdicated, in hopes Meetings with Milken began at six A.M. co–chief operating oicer at Goldman, that the pendulum would swing back to in New York City—which was three A.M. for one of the most coveted positions on a more permissive era. in Los Angeles, where Milken lived. Solo- Wall Street. One of them would be picked By necessity, Solomon will be forced mon marveled at Milken’s energy. “As a to succeed Lloyd Blankfein, the bank’s to adopt a strategy that is much more 25-year-old, this was an entrepreneurial chairman and C.E.O., whenever he de- staid—and likely less profitable—than place where you were given an awful cided the time had come to step down. the one Blankfein forged. It’s a role he’s lot of rope,” Solomon says. “If you were Suddenly, Blankfein yelled to Solomon particularly suited for: having worked at a good and took the opportunities you were from his oice next door. “Can you come handful of Wall Street banks that no lon- given, you could excel incredibly quick- here?” the boss called. “I want to talk to ger exist, Solomon has seen irsthand that ly.” Drexel allowed him to interact with you about something.” past performance is no guarantee of fu- C.E.O.’s in ways he could not have done Solomon walked into Blankfein’s of- ture results. “He’s got no shortage of chal- at a more traditional irm. He sold com- fice, just as he had hundreds of times lenges, but it is an amazing franchise and mercial paper and then high-yield junk before. But this visit was diferent. “The the brand is great,” says Jonathan Gray, bonds, the inancial instruments favored board has made a decision,” Blankfein president of the Blackstone Group, who by companies with less than stellar credit told him, without preamble. “You’re go- has known Solomon for years. “If some- ratings. “It really got me ired up about ing to be my successor. I’m going to talk body asked, ‘Would I bet on Goldman inance,” Solomon said on the podcast. to Harvey about it in the next couple of Sachs under David Solomon’s leader- But throughout Solomon’s time at the days, but I just wanted to tell you that.” ship?’ Absolutely.” irm, Milken faced allegations of insider Solomon was labbergasted. He had no trading and racketeering. In 1990, after idea that Blankfein had decided to retire, Solomon is cut from a classic Goldman pleading guilty to lesser charges, he was let alone that the board had already met mold, in the sense that—like many of the sentenced to 10 years in prison and ined to approve him as C.E.O. “I thought I irm’s leaders before him—he’s an ambi- $600 million. Drexel, slapped with a ine was doing a good job, but I didn’t think tious middle-class striver. One of three of $650 million—the largest ever levied that he was leaving,” Solomon tells me. business-minded brothers, he grew up under the Depression-era securities “I needed a moment to collect myself.” north of New York City, in Westchester laws—iled for bankruptcy and went out It took Solomon nearly 24 hours be- County, where he attended Edgemont of business. fore he could think straight again. Even High School. His father owned a small Today, Solomon remains friendly with more disorienting was the fact that he printing business, and his mother sold Milken. When Solomon’s father was di- could not share the news with anyone hearing aids. In his high-school year- agnosed with prostate cancer, Milken outside the firm, including his family, book picture, Solomon is seated on a would call regularly to check in and see if for another nine days, when the bank large boulder, sporting a mop of dark he could help. What Solomon took away would announce the transfer of power. hair parted down the middle, Monkees- from his experience at Drexel wasn’t He spoke with Schwartz, who ofered his style. (Like Blankfein and Hank Paulson Milken’s penchant for risky deals, but his congratulations. “He was disappointed before him, Solomon now embraces his discipline. “His work ethic and the way that it wasn’t him,” Solomon recalls, “but baldness, which has become something he processed information and the way he he was very generous and humble.” of a Goldman signature.) His yearbook read and absorbed, it was extraordinary Widely seen as a steady hand who quotes foreshadow both his work ethic and it still is,” Solomon says. “You see helped re-invigorate the investment- (Emerson: “The success of a job well him today, you go to his oice, and there banking business at Goldman, Solomon done is to have done it”) and his self- are papers everywhere that he’s read and represents a sharp shift from Blankfein, reliance (Thoreau: “What a man thinks marked up. He’s got an incredible ability a risk manager known for placing big, of himself, that is what determines, or to digest information, and then synthe- calculated bets. In 2007, Blankfein net- rather indicates his fate”). size it and communicate around it.” ted the irm $4 billion by authorizing a After majoring in political science at In 1991, after a brief stint as a vice “big short” against the mortgage market, Hamilton College, Solomon was rejected president at Salomon Brothers, Solomon and in 2009, in the midst of the global i- by Goldman for a two-year analyst posi- moved to Bear Stearns as managing di- nancial meltdown, he led Goldman to its tion. So he headed to 1 Wall Street, where rector of the bankruptcy and high-yield- best year ever, raking in nearly $20 billion he spent a year in the training program bond group. He quickly rose through the in pre-tax proits. But those freewheeling at Irving Trust, now part of Bank of New ranks. In 1995, at age 33, Bear named days are over: In the post-crash regula- York Mellon. “You basically went to him co-head of investment banking. As a

tory environment, despite some rollbacks graduate school at the bank for a year,” boss, he was tough but respected. “Some VF.COM/CREDITS TO GO BY BIRGITTE; DETAILS, FOR GROOMING

126 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 people who didn’t meet his standards dis- liked him,” says a former Bear executive. “But he was the real deal.” Ironically, Solomon’s new position at Bear Stearns inadvertently paved his way to Goldman. In 1997, Bear and Gold- man were the lead underwriters for the Venetian casino and resort in Las Vegas, which was being developed by business magnate Sheldon Adelson. Solomon co- headed the Bear team, while Jon Winkel- ried, now the president of TPG Capital, led the Goldman team, along with Steven Mnuchin, currently serving as Treasury secretary. Winkelried quickly came to admire Solomon’s judgment, his command of the facts, and his willingness to be a team player. “He was very collaborative,” Winkelried says. In January 1999, after an elaborate closing dinner for the deal at a resort in Cancun, Solomon and Winkelried lew back together to New York on the same flight. “You should really come to Goldman Sachs,” Winkelried urged. Solomon, by then one of the top executives at Bear Stearns, demurred. “I really don’t think I would do that,” he said. But Winkelried persisted, repeatedly inviting Solomon to dinner and making the case for moving to Goldman. Winkelried even ofered Solomon a partnership—one of the few times Goldman had bestowed the coveted position upon an outsider. The wooing was extraordinary: it’s gen- erally more diicult to get a job at Gold- man than to gain admission to Harvard. But Solomon was still ambivalent. “I was really reluctant,” he recalls. “It was a big, big decision. It wasn’t like I was dying to work at Goldman.” Then one day, in the midst of the full- court press from Goldman, Solomon had what he calls a “bad interaction” with Jimmy Cayne, the longtime C.E.O. DAY IN THE LIFE of Bear Stearns. To grow the business, Solomon makes the rounds at Goldman’s headquarters in New York City, speaking Solomon wanted to hire a senior banker at a weekly market huddle and visiting the asset-management floor. from Merrill Lynch, but he needed Cayne to sign of on ofering the recruit enough Bear stock to match the unvested shares he would lose if he left Merrill. Cayne wouldn’t do it, and Solomon returned to Solomon is cut from a his oice, peeved. The phone rang. It was Winkelried. classic Goldman mold. Like “Are you coming to Goldman Sachs?” he asked yet again. Solomon agreed to many of the irm’s leaders meet the irm’s top brass, and he came before him, he’s an ambitious away impressed. He also consulted with Blankfein, whom he knew socially from middle-class striver. the Hamptons. Finally, after a dinner with

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 127 John Thornton, then the co-president of rejection. “If somebody came in and “monomaniacal” and uncomfortable Goldman, Solomon told his wife, “I’m didn’t roll up their sleeves, that could hap- with “surrendering control.” Many in- going to go to Goldman Sachs.” pen,” Winkelried says. “But David wasn’t side the irm came to see him as “a con- In September 1999, after discussing like that. David was a hard worker. He had trol freak.” He is said to believe that some the move for several weeks with Bear something to add, and he very quickly people at Goldman “conspired against” Stearns, Solomon joined Goldman. “It found himself at home.” his candidacy. (Schwartz declined to was their gain and our loss,” Warren Over the next 12 years, mentored comment, but a source familiar with Spector, a former co-president of Bear, by Winkelried, Solomon rose through his thinking called such characteriza- would recall years later. the ranks, irst as head of Goldman’s i- tions “simply not accurate.”) Whatever But Solomon’s ambivalence about nancing businesses, then as co-head of his state of mind, Schwartz decided he joining Goldman cost him, at least ini- investment banking, and inally as co– needed to know whether it was going tially. Had he joined the irm that May, chief operating officer alongside Har- to be him or Solomon who would suc- before its initial public ofering, he would vey Schwartz. The initial betting inside ceed Blankfein. He called the question have hit the inancial jackpot like the rest Goldman was that the C.E.O. job was with the board—only to discover that of Goldman’s partners, some of whom Schwartz’s to lose. (“It’s not like my ears he didn’t have either Blankfein’s or the were suddenly worth $300 million. “If were closed,” says Solomon. “I heard board’s support. “He did not handle the I had really understood the econom- that, too.”) Blankfein, according to one situation particularly well,” says a for- ics of the I.P.O.,” he says, “I probably former longtime executive at the irm, mer Goldman partner who is close to would have come sooner.” He sold his was impressed by Schwartz’s perfor- Schwartz. “If Lloyd had another four or Bear stock well before the irm went un- mance as chief inancial oicer. “Harvey ive years to go, it could have played out der in 2008, though, and his Goldman was crushing it,” the executive says. He quite diferently. Because Harvey is actu- stock is now worth around $47.5 million. handled everything well—earnings calls, ally much better externally than people Last year, before being named C.E.O., he regulators, investor relations, the board. give him credit for.” made $21 million in total compensation. “Lloyd felt like, ‘Well, look at this guy.’” With no way forward, Schwartz de- But over time, according to the ex- cided to leave Goldman. Solomon says Goldman being an insular culture, ecutive, the “stress of the situation” be- he wishes Schwartz had agreed to stay, there was always the chance of organ gan to weigh on Schwartz. He became but concedes he would have left the irm, too, had he been passed over for the top job. He declines to say whether he thinks he played the situation “smarter” than Schwartz. “My approach to it was very, Solomon made a shift very simple,” he says. “I was excited to be the co-president of Goldman Sachs. If away from Blankfein. “You can’t the irm thought that I’d be the best guy to out-Lloyd Lloyd,” says an run the irm, I’d be excited to have the opportunity to do it. If the irm didn’t think insider. “In time, Goldman will I was the best guy to run the irm, I’d go to something else. It wasn’t deining me.” just be a commercial bank.” Love it or hate it, Goldman Sachs has always displayed an uncanny knack for inding the right man at the right time to lead the irm. Sometimes the right man is a banker; sometimes the right man is a trader. The right man has never been a woman. First it was the indomitable investment banker Sidney Weinberg, who saved the firm after the stock-market crash in 1929. Then it was Gus Levy, who expanded Goldman’s banking franchise into trading—making a fortune for himself and his partners along the way. Then it was Robert Rubin (later a Treasury secretary), Steve Friedman (later a national economic adviser), Jon Corzine (later a governor and senator), and Hank Paul- son (who rescued the firm twice—first as a rainmaker, then as Treasury secretary during the inancial crash in 2008). NIGHT MOVES Solomon D.J.’s at the Electronic Music Awards. “It’s really humanized me,” Each of them found ways for Goldman to he says. “Young people talk to me in a way they didn’t before.” make more and more money, regardless

128 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 FROM GOTO PHOTOGRAPHY of theprevailing of more forourclients over time.” how we diversify andadd thefootprint durable,” hesays. “We’re thinkingabout “I want tomake Goldmanmore banking. from tocoming increase investment be on parwithwhat theirmforecasts the billion toGoldman’s annualrevenues— moves intocommercial bankingto add $2 Morgan such Stanley. expects Solomon JPMorgan Chase, Bank America, and of itsdeposit-rich adversaries of those like ority, interest ofering rates wellbeyond Goldman Sachs Bank apri- more USA of made It hasalso to$100billion. portfolio more thantripleditscorporate-loan founder). At Solomon’s ithas direction, loan business (namedafter thefirm’s onMarcus,big bet itsonlineconsumer- branches, Goldmanhasalready madea commercial bank.” go bythewayside, a be andwewill just Goldman’stime, allof riskprowess will andthat’s from that, as possible In smart. Lloyd.be He’s going tomove as far away Goldman executive. “He’s notgoing to Lloyd Lloyd,” says theformer longtime vid understands well that you can’t out- the oneagainst market. thehousing “Da- making high-stakes proprietary bets, like itsproits from of tradingbulk andfrom Blankfein era, whenGoldmanmadethe sive shiftaway the of from theearly part credit-card debt. Americans to help thempay their off rate clients andsmallloanstoaverage cashmanagementofering toitscorpo- increasingly intocommercial banking, he’s movingthestoriedinvestment bank unthinkable butdownright distasteful: havepredecessors would foundnotjust Goldmaninawayto reposition that his not going away.” isplanning Solomon So “It’srizon. evolving,” hesays, “butit’s regulatory much see relief ontheho- doesn’trules under Trump,Solomon banking of despite therecent loosening tions asbigcommercial banks.And subjected to thesame inancialregula- Brothers, Goldmanhasefectively been Lehman of following thebankruptcy window borrowing cess toitsshort-term bank-holding company itac- andgiving precedented step when theFederal Reserve took theun- Everforced since2008, toconfront. no Goldman leader before himhasbeen NOVEMBER But Solomon facesBut achallenge Solomon that Though itwon’t any opening bank be The move represents asubtle butdeci- 2018 of makingGoldmana of market conditions. each other.” foryou twotoget good will be toknow the crown prince Goldman of Sachs. It “And,him to Solomon. David, you are Arabia,” Saudi of shesaidinintroducing funds. “M.B.S., you are thecrown prince to do business withsovereign-wealth committee, toheaduptheirm’s eforts on thefirm’s management 33-member as apartner, onlyseven women oneof Powell hadjustreturned to Goldman extravaganza Arabia toSaudi last year. who hadorganized President Trump’s adviser former deputynational-security withDina Powell,the princeisknown, the tomeet M.B.S., omon wenttoRiyadh as Arabia. InMay, Saudi crown princeof Sol- people.”with these ures, “and buildmy ownrelationships to have tomake aninvestment,” heig- Sweden. He went “I’m to China. going Heclients. wentto He wenttoLondon. theirm’sroad of tomeet some biggest ing namedC.E.O., wastohitthe infact, theirst didafterbe- thingsof Solomon clients onmergers andacquisitions. One andadvisingunderwriting securities abandoning itstraditional strengths: banking doesn’t mean that Goldman is mon acknowledges. “Wehit. got knocked around abit,” Solo- on theworld forthebetter.” change hiscountry, which has animpact trying to accomplish, andhe’s tryingto He’s very, very engaged inwhat he’s He’s passionate what about he’s doing. says.Solomon “He’s energy. got alotof together. “He’s extremely impressive,” Mohammed the binSalmanAlSaud, fossil fuels. Thedayfossil fuels. wemet before in his ofits dependence ontheproduction investment powerhouse” andtoreduce Arabiaplan toturnSaudi intoa“global the princeexecutes Vision onhis2030 very be valuable could business as sory around theworld, anditspremier advi- capital, itsnetwork relationships of man’s sterling reputation aserious took inding newways tomake money. Gold- cious greed, thepreoccupation with Wall Street: therapa- theself-interest, many Americans about inddistasteful man came everything to symbolize that theglobalinancialcrisis,Gold- math of pivot toward Intheafter- Main Street. Solomon andM.B.S.Solomon had40minutes visitwas High onhislistforapersonal Solomon toldSolomon M.B.S. that Goldman’s But thenew emphasisoncommercial There’s irony acertain inGoldman’s story that they articulate,” hee-mailed ministers are “The very inthe compelling they intended to meet goals. the2030 minist ing withtopSaudi wasinJeddah Solomon oice, forameet- the originalfor Billboard (“Better dance than mix chart. Tomorrow).” It debuted at No. onthe 39 Mac’swood “Don’t (Thinking About Stop released hisirst track, aremix Fleet- of has played with Liquid Todd. InJune, he act forthelegendary Paul Oakenfold, and anopening He hasbeen name DJ D-Sol. D.J.’s inManhattan dance clubs underthe music. Athouse he least once amonth, “I like accomplishing things.” at avery, very highlevel,” says. Solomon I get Itrytodoit interested insomething, one conference call after another. “When weekends, wearing taking hisheadset, Centralthe eastsideof Park West onthe walk downtheuninterruptedsidewalkon at six withhistrainer. He’s known to been He hikes. He’s inthegymevery morning North Carolina coast.) He scuba-dives. camponthe wings boot at akite-suring He golfs. (He earnedhis He kite-surfs. ie. He cycles. He spins.He runs.He skis. ple. For he’s starters, anadrenaline junk- interests andinvest intheirfamilies.” tunities tolive other theirlifeandpursue aplace have whereto be people oppor- workwhere hard. people But it’s got also aplace to“be Goldman continue must hesays,tract andthebrightest, thebest balance between work andplay. To at- insisting that employees enjoyabetter is clearly passionforSolomon: apersonal told afriend.“It’s allwindowdressing.” that,” recently member oneformerboard “Don’t at Goldman. people believe any of really cares diversifying about themixof namics at theirmdoubt that Solomon memo. But who understand some thedy- Blankfein wrote inaMarch andSolomon still significant progress made,” to be and ethnic andracial diversity, there is cent years onwomen’s representation we have“While made progress inre- colortoGoldman. of women andpeople C.E.O., says, Solomon istoattract more Another ofhis hard.”to be got toexecute, andtheexecution’s going on thecompany’s private “But jet. you’ve Blankfein afterward, asheheadedhome Solomon’s passionis best-known In this area, Solomon hasledbyexam- Solomon In thisarea, that aboss being of There isoneaspect CONTINUED ON PAGE 146 CONTINUED VANITY FAIR major priorities as ers to hear how ers tohearhow 129 Dress and shoes by Schiaparelli Haute Couture.

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NOVEMBER 2018 131 Clothing by Chanel Haute Couture.

132 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 “The artistry in couture is a beautiful form of escapism.”

Dress by Valentino Haute Couture. Throughout: hair products by Bumble and Bumble; makeup and nail enamel by Chanel.

he discovery of Marvel (Guardians of the “I remember being so Australian actress Galaxy Vol. 2), and playing anxious. At one point, I went Elizabeth Debicki villain for Guy Ritchie up to Steve and grabbed T was one of those (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.). him. ‘Put your hands on my mythical big breaks of Next month, she stars in Steve heart.’ And he goes, ‘That’s Hollywood: In 2011, after McQueen’s Widows, a crowd- nothing.’ ” Debicki says Baz Luhrmann had cast pleasing heist ilm with the director “is only after truth. his kaleidoscopic $105 million dark twists of inequality and Once he has the performance, interpretation of The Great corruption, penned by you know it’s safe.” Gatsby with bankables— McQueen and Gillian Flynn. McQueen admires her in Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Debicki plays Alice, a doll- return. “She threw everything Mulligan—he went looking like Polish-American woman right on the loor and amazed for an unknown to play stunted by her abusive me,” he says. “I think she Jordan Baker and spotted marriage. The role was not found herself. It’s strange to promise in his countrywoman. easy—Alice has only ever say that, but she was so At the time, she recalls, known danger. enjoying this really hard task.” “I had no money, I couldn’t “It’s so subtle. The Debicki credits her fearlessness pay my rent.” But she got casualness of the violence is to a grade-A mentor and the callback and hopped a so afecting,” says Debicki. onetime onstage co-star: Cate light to L.A. The rest was, as Her character embraces a new Blanchett. “She taught me they say, boats beating on. kind of danger as one of a performance has to be messy Since then, Debicki has been four unlikely women (played and scrappy before it can take seducing le Carré heroes in by Viola Davis, Michelle light,” says Debicki. “There is mini-series (The Night Manager), Rodriguez, and Cynthia Erivo, no better acting class.” traveling the cosmos with all of whom “smashed it,” —BRITT HENNEMUTH says Debicki) who must inish the job after their husbands’ robbery goes awry.

VANITY FAIR 133 134 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 The Sultan of Bling He lived the life of a Saudi prince, and investors all over the world fell for it. But the truth turned out to be even more incredible than the lie By MARK SEAL Illustrations by R. KIKUO JOHNSON

MIAMI VICE Prince Khalid knew how to use displays of wealth to land a deal. “My name is Khalid,” he tells me, and I want to believe him. After all, he has traveled promised a wealth of opportunity, in return for very little. In the world as royalty—the son of the king of Saudi Arabia, no less. the end, though, I decided to decline. Because Khalid wasn’t Leading international investors know him as His Royal Highness writing me from his yacht, or his penthouse on Fisher Island, Khalid bin al-Saud. He moved in an entourage of Rolls-Royces or his father’s palace in Dubai, but from a cell at the Federal and Ferraris, his every whim tended to by uniformed housekeep- Detention Center in Miami, where he awaits trial on charges ers and armed bodyguards. A suave British-born C.E.O. handled of fraud, traveling on a fake passport, impersonating a foreign his business afairs, and a well-connected international banker oicial, and identity theft. marketed his investment deals to a select few, leaving him to live His true identity, which was revealed after his arrest at J.F.K. a life of astonishing excess. airport last November, isn’t Prince Khalid of Saudi Arabia, but Ever since he was a boy, he had been pitted against his royal Anthony Enrique Gignac, a Colombian orphan adopted by an brothers in an expensive game—to see who could “outdo the American couple and transported to Michigan when he was other one” in spending, he liked to say. Khalid was surely win- six years old. Embarking on a life of crime and deception that ning. He was in negotiations to purchase 30 percent of the spanned 30 years, he became an “epic con artist” for whom “no famed Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach for $440 million, scheme is out of reach,” according to a U.S. attorney. His most and he was selling early access to what promised to be the big- recent scam involved allegedly duping 26 international investors gest I.P.O. in history: the initial public ofering of Aramco, the out of $8 million, while simultaneously attempting to con Mi- Saudi oil giant. Until last June, when the Saudi government ami billionaire Jefrey Sofer, the ex-husband of supermodel Elle shelved the plan, the I.P.O. was expected to be worth more than Macpherson, into taking him on as a partner in the Fontainebleau $2 trillion. hotel. Gignac initially pleaded guilty to both schemes—only to Khalid could regularly be overheard talking on his phone reverse himself at a hearing in July, where his attorney success- with the likes of Bill Gates and Presidents Barack Obama and fully argued for a trial by jury. Bill Clinton. “I’m sick and tired of Trump calling me and invit- “Mr. Gignac is very upset about the way this investigation was ing me to the White House!” he often complained. He kept in handled,” his attorney told the judge. Suddenly, without permis- touch with his father, the Saudi king, on FaceTime, and, if you sion to address the court, Gignac leapt up in his drab prison garb were lucky, he would let you listen in. But the prince’s favorite and unleashed a string of accusations about perceived injustices companion was Foxy, his beloved Chihuahua, whom he draped against him. “I have also been a victim,” he later wrote me. But in diamonds and designer dog clothes and toted around in a watching him in court that day, I recalled what someone who $2,690 Louis Vuitton dog carrier. He stufed other Louis Vuit- knew him in Miami had said. ton bags with stacks of $100 bills, tossing the money from his “You mean the fake prince of Fisher Island?” the man told jewel-encrusted ingers, one sporting a nine-carat diamond, to me. “To play the role he played so well for so long, he had to be- those who tended to his needs—lashes of benevolence from lieve the lie. He actually believes he is Khalid, the prince of Saudi an academic genius whose LinkedIn page lists his law studies Arabia. I was sucked into absolute mayhem. He dangled such a at Harvard, his master’s in business administration from the carrot. Even though you knew he was full of shit, the carrot was University of Southern California, and his top marks at Institut so big, and there was a 2.2 percent chance that there was some Le Rosey, the elite Swiss boarding school attended by Rockefel- truth in his asinine lies, that you kept going. He was so talented, lers and Rothschilds. and pulled of so much shit, I don’t even know where to begin.” He lived in a penthouse on Fisher Island, the super-wealthy enclave that sprawls across 216 acres south of Miami. But It began in Bogotá, where the future prince was born he spent much of his life on his yacht and private jet, which José Enrique Moreno in 1970. Parents unknown, he was one he chronicled religiously on his Instagram account, Prince- of Colombia’s 13,000 “throw-away” children, many of whom dubai_07. There were pictures of Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, became foot soldiers in the country’s brutal drug war. “They the fabulously wealthy grandson of the irst Saudi king, whose have no name and no nationality,” wrote one of Gignac’s attor- major stakes in U.S. companies alone include Citigroup and neys, Karen J. Davis Roberts, in a 2007 sentencing memoran- Twitter. (“Uncle,” Khalid posted beside one photo.) “My new dum. Some kids worked as drug runners, sniing glue to numb yacht,” he said in Instagram videos from his travels, “my plane,” themselves to the cold and hunger. Many who tried to sell drugs and “my Ferrari.” There were endless posts of pieces of jewelry on their own wound up murdered by the cartels. Those who sur- from his vast collection. “Birthday gifts from the fam,” he wrote vived “were treated like rodents,” wrote the attorney. “When alongside twin diamond watches draped over $10,000 bundles most children at the tender age of ive were going to kindergar- of cash. His star-struck followers couldn’t get enough. “Ohhh, ten, snuggling in their warm beds at night after being fed a full lawdddd!” groaned one. meal, Tony was in the streets of Bogotá foraging for food, stealing I had spent weeks tracing Khalid’s incredible trail before his if necessary, and just looking for a dry, safe, warm place to rest e-mail arrived. “As you might know, my story is not what it looks his ive-year-old head and somewhere to take care of his three- like,” he wrote. “There is so much to tell and so much that needs year-old brother. What Tony learned in his irst few years of life to come to the light.” was survival at any cost—survival of the ittest.” He would tell his story exclusively to me, he promised, if I Gignac added his own vivid details to the story. “I was raped left out certain parts. Like so many of his ofers, it was one that when I was ive years old and sold on the streets to have sex with

136 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 men to feed my brother,” he once testiied under oath. “You do Things got worse when Tony’s parents divorced, and his not know the pain that I’ve gone through.” brother went to live with their father. “The one person who After two years on the streets, deliverance arrived on June meant anything to me, my brother, who I took under my wings, 13, 1977, in the form of Jim Gignac and Nancy Fitzgerald. A was taken from me,” Gignac later testiied. He sufered a mental middle-class couple from Plymouth, Michigan, they came to breakdown, and spent time in two psychiatric hospitals and a Bogotá to pick up Jose and his brother through an adoption ar- halfway house as a ward of the state. “But he ran away at age ranged by a local orphanage. Whisked away to their new home in 17,” his attorney wrote. “He was alone on the streets, and felt Michigan, the boys would “stuf their cheeks with food at dinner, that his mother had abandoned him.” looking like two little chipmunks because they weren’t sure they would get another meal,” the attorney wrote. Determined to avoid repeating the life of a street kid, Renamed Anthony, Tony was a fast study. By second grade, Tony set out to remake his entire identity. Convincing an Arab he could speak English as well as his American-born classmates. family in Ypsilanti, Michigan, that he was a prince, he warned But his early years in Bogotá had left their mark. As a street kid, them that his father’s secret police would pay them a visit if they he struggled to survive, while the rich lived in huge houses with didn’t take him in. Around the same time he was living with walls and security guards. “He yearned for the good life and the them, he had one of his irst run-ins with the law: at age 17, he limelight,” says someone who knew him when he irst arrived in was caught masquerading as “Prince Adnan Khashoggi,” the no- America. “He wanted to be someone important.” torious Saudi arms dealer, who was then the world’s richest man. From early on, Tony’s desire for status had a way of blossom- Two months later Gignac turned up in Los Angeles, where ing into lies. His mother was so rich, he told his irst-grade class- he was convicted of using a credit card with the name “Omar mates, that she owned the historic Grand Hotel on Mackinac Khashoggi” to bilk a limousine company out of $8,650. “He was Island. His biological father, he said in second grade, was the attracted to Hollywood because of all the glamour and wealth,” actor Dom DeLuise. “Tony was involved in convincing anyone recalls Lisa Whitehead, who became his mother’s partner after in school that he had money, that he had power,” the attorney the divorce. “That’s where he said he met a prince—a real prince.” wrote. “Because if he had the combination of power and money, Whether or not the prince was real, the story provided Gignac then he would never be alone.” with the perfect pose for what would become a series of elaborate One day, when Tony was in sixth grade, his mother received a cons. “I had a sexual relationship with certain members of the call. “Your Mercedes is ready,” the caller told her. Tony, it turned Saudi royal family since I was 17,” he testiied at a 2007 sentenc- out, had duped a car dealership into believing that he was a Saudi ing hearing. “This is one of the most powerful families in the prince whose dad was going to buy him a Mercedes. An eager world. They are secretive. There is no information about these salesman picked him up at a shopping mall and gave him some people on the Internet.” Because homosexuality is a crime in test rides. When neither payment nor prince arrived to pick up Saudi Arabia, Gignac seemed to suggest, the prince was forced the car, a sherif’s deputy was dispatched to the Gignac home to support him for the rest of his life—or face the consequences. to ind out what was going on. “You are killed, executed, pushed of a high mountain,” he told Tony’s parents tried to get him help. “He started therapy at the court, “which is what they do to homosexuals.” 12,” says Lisa Whitehead, a clinical therapist who knew Tony The Saudis have denied any connection to Gignac. “He was when he was young. “They sent him to a camp, and he would tell not a member of the Royal Family nor associated in any way everybody that he had great wealth and importance.” with the Saudi Royal Family,” an assistant to the U.S. ambassa- dor to Saudi Arabia told federal oicials in 2003. But to Gignac’s family, it all seemed real. “When he got arrested, he would have the prince’s credit card,” says Whitehead. “Somebody always paid the bills. Maybe they wanted to keep him quiet? We actually worried for his safety.” The person who seemed to fall for the story most deeply was Gignac himself. As a street kid from Colombia growing up in a The prince’s lily-white town in Michigan, it had been tough to it in. His voice was feminine, he wore his hair in a bowl cut, and he struggled favorite with his weight. “He was just a short, fat, talking machine,” says one of his former attorneys. Now, with a kiss from a supposed companion was prince, the boy who felt like a frog was instantly transformed into a prince himself. Foxy, his beloved Gignac, claiming to have legally changed his name to that of a real Saudi prince, Khalid bin al-Saud, started of with small- time grifting. “Prince of Fraud,” the Los Angeles Times dubbed him Chihuahua, in 1991, when he “stifed the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel for $3,488 in room and food charges during a four-day binge in July. whom he draped He racked up $7,500 in limousine bills burning up the freeways from Torrance to Malibu on excursions that lasted until dawn. in diamonds and He talked Rodeo Drive shopkeepers out of a set of Louis Vuit- ton luggage and a rare coin collection, only to leave the hotel in designer clothes. handcufs despite repeated promises that his father, the prince,

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 137 Convincing another couple, Gilbert and Irene Goetz, that he had “reasons to fear for his life,” he duped them into paying his $20,912.20 resort tab—a scam that, 25 years later, still seems to sting. “I don’t want to talk to you!” Gil- bert Goetz tells me when I call, before slamming down the phone. In July 1993, Prince Khalid checked into the Walt Disney World Grand Floridian Beach Resort in Orlando, where he ran up more than $14,000 in fraudulent credit-card charges. He pleaded guilty, was given probation, and once again vanished. A month later, he turned up at the Grand Bay Hotel, in Coconut Grove, where, on December 30, after a credit-card shopping spree, he invited two men up to his suite to party. These were no princes. They beat and robbed him, according to The PRINCE OF LIES Posing as Saudi royalty, Gignac would go on shopping Miami Herald, and the police were sprees for Rolexes and diamond bracelets. called. Again, Gignac disappeared, this time to Chicago, where he was would make good on his debts.” Employees of the famed Wilshire inally arrested and extradited to Florida for swindling the Grand Boulevard hotel addressed him as “Your Highness.” He was 21. Bay out of $27,000 and the local Saks Fifth Avenue of $51,175. A year later, after serving a brief stint in jail, the freshly Charged with fraud and grand theft, he was sentenced to 616 days. crowned prince moved into the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco. Using an American Express card under the name of “Khalid Being locked up, however, did nothing to deter Gignac’s bin al-Saud,” he bilked the hotel out of an extended stay. After creative impulses. Before his trial even started, while he was sit- serving 53 days in jail, he led the city, failing to report to his pro- ting in jail, he began contacting lawyers as Khalid bin al-Saud. bation oicer. Flying to the idyllic Halekulani Hotel in Honolulu One of those who rose to the bait was Oscar Rodríguez, a Miami for the Christmas holidays, he conned an unsuspecting couple attorney. “He said he was a member of the Saudi family, and they into writing him a check for $8,500—“for a share in an oil ield in were going to get him bail, and his father was going to pay for my Saudi Arabia which didn’t exist,” according to court documents. services,” Rodríguez recalls. Sensing a business opportunity, the attorney enlisted two bail bondsmen, Tom O’Connell and Fran- cisco Marty, to post a $46,000 bond to spring the prince from jail. “Oscar was just mesmerized,” recalls O’Connell. “He thought he was going to be the attorney for the whole kingdom.” “Bullshit,” says Rodríguez. “But he did say when the Saudis got in trouble, I could be the lawyer to take care of them.” Two of O’Connell’s bondsmen picked up the prince from jail “I’m Prince and drove him back to their oice, where they waited for the money from his family. But the hours passed, and the funds never Khalid bin arrived. “Listen, Prince, the money’s not coming,” Rodríguez told him. “We gotta put you back in jail.” al-Saud!” he shouted. But on the way back to the detention center, the prince came up with another idea. “There’s an American Express oice,” he “I’ve been kidnapped! told the bondsmen. “Can you stop there?” He entered the oice in tears, claiming he’d been mugged, his credit cards stolen. He said his father, the king, would be “most If there are any upset,” The Miami Herald later reported. American Express agreed to issue a replacement card if he of my loyal subjects could correctly answer a security question: “What were your last two purchases?” Gignac, miraculously, was able to verify here, please call the the last two purchases on the card belonging to the real Prince Khalid—one in California, one in France. “Fearful of ofend- embassy and CNN!” ing Gignac if he truly was actually a prince, American Express

138 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 issued him a Platinum card the next day,” the Herald reported. The card had a $200 million line of credit. Gignac immediately booked two limos and embarked on a shopping spree, his bondsmen in tow. Heading to a jeweler on Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, he bought two Rolex watches, along with a bracelet covered in em- eralds and diamonds. The bill came to $22,120. Next, accompanied by O’Connell’s bondsmen, Gignac flew home to Michigan. “He bought out the entire first-class cabin of a Delta flight,” O’Connell recalls. “Because a prince can’t sit on a plane with anyone else.” Gignac visited a university, where he promised to donate $1 million in exchange for a scholarship for a friend. Afterwards he turned around and headed back to Miami. “He lew up and back in one day,” O’Connell says. “We thought, He is the prince!” Then a call came from the Ameri- can Express fraud department. “They told us, ‘He’s not the prince! He’s committing credit-card fraud right now!’ ” says O’Connell. “We called Oscar and said, ‘He’s not the prince! And he’s gonna boogie!’ ” Rodríquez was stunned. “He’s on a plane to New York with my wife and my daughter!” he replied. Rodríguez’s wife was taking their daughter to school in New York City. SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT The prince had upgraded them to irst Jailed for wire fraud, Gignac set his cell class, and booked an entire loor of the on fire, hoping to make his escape. Four Seasons Hotel. Rodríguez immediately phoned his wife and said, “Make sure he stays in the room!” of my loyal subjects here, please call the embassy and CNN!” The lawyer, accompanied by O’Connell and Marty, jumped After O’Connell showed the police his paperwork, the cops on the next light to New York. There, they headed to the Four dispersed. Rather than risk another incident, the bondsmen Seasons, where they entered Gignac’s suite and ordered him rented a car for the 24-hour drive to Miami. As an added pre- to surrender. caution, they threw Gignac in the trunk of the car. “We rested “I’m calling the embassy!” the prince protested. “I’m not go- along the way and took him out of the trunk,” O’Connell says. ing back to Miami!” “That is when he told us he wasn’t a prince. He gave us his real “You’re right, you’re not going to Miami,” O’Connell replied. name, where he was born, everything.” “You’re going out the fucking window.” Picking up Gignac, he Gignac even revealed how he had managed to answer the threw him across the room. The prince hit the wall and land- security question at American Express. “He told us that the two ed in a heap. “He came down and said, ‘I’ll go to Miami,’ ” Rolexes he bought after we bailed him out went to his two inside O’Connell recalls. people at American Express, who gave him the answers to the But the prince didn’t give up. At La Guardia, while O’Connell question,” O’Connell says. “We drove him back to jail in Miami was booking three seats to Miami, Gignac spotted three airport and got our bond back.” police oicers. “I’m Prince Khalid bin al-Saud!” he shouted. “I’ve been kidnapped!” Pointing at O’Connell he screamed, Back in jail, Gignac kept right on going. One day in the “He has a gun!” summer of 1994, oicials at Syracuse University were contacted “The cops came out of the woodwork, and I have a shotgun by Prince Khalid bin al-Saud of Saudi Arabia. His Royal High- against my head because they think I’ve kidnapped a prince,” ness stated his intention to donate $45 million to the university. O’Connell recalls. The prince was still yelling: “If there are any His only stipulation was that the university kindly wire a portion

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 139 client, it demanded that Alwaleed “execute all titles” to eight “I feel like a properties that “Prince Khalid” claimed had been promised to him, including an apartment in Trump Tower and $34 million in Palm Beach real estate. damn fool for The attorney stares at the letter. “I feel like a damn fool for ever listening to this guy!” he says. “I had Khalid Derangement listening to this Syndrome. I cross-examine liars for a living, and I could not trip him up. It was outrageous on its face. But so is everything about guy,” says an the Saudi family. He wasn’t dealing with fringe people—he was dealing with Alwaleed!” attorney who fell for Did you ever hear back from Alwaleed? I ask. “Of course not,” he says.

the scam. “I had Released in the early 2000s, Gignac returned to his mother’s home in Michigan. “We took him to dinner at the only Khalid Derangement restaurant we had here in Eaton Rapids, full of rednecks and their families, and he comes in wearing a white fur coat and driving a Syndrome.” white Cadillac,” recalls Lisa Whitehead. (Gignac’s mother died in 2008.) “He had acrylic nails and all this gold around his neck and silk shirts, very lamboyant and feminine—an everybody- look-at-me-type guy.” One night, the family went to see Catch Me If You Can, the 2002 ilm starring Leonardo DiCaprio as master con artist Frank of the taxes for the donation—$16,000—to his account in East Abagnale. The prince was not impressed. “He said, ‘I’m so much Lansing, Michigan. “Syracuse did in fact wire this money,” wrote better than that guy,’ ” recalls Whitehead. an assistant U.S. attorney. Gignac hired Whitehead’s 17-year-old daughter, Jessica, as The bank account, it turned out, had been opened by Gig- his “personal assistant.” Everywhere they went, people went nac’s younger brother, with whom he had recently been reunited. out of their way to help the prince. A car-rental agency gave him Both men were convicted, and the prince was sentenced to 46 two Cadillacs without asking for a credit card. He dined without months for wire fraud. An additional 37 months were added to checks; shopped without bills—all thanks to what Gignac called his sentence when he lit his cell on ire and covered the loor his royal “boo,” implying that a Saudi prince was picking up the with shampoo, hoping to trip up the guards and make his escape. tab. “He said he was a kept man,” Jessica says, “and was well In 1996, again from his jail cell, Gignac enlisted another at- taken care of.” torney in Miami—this time to help him get what he claimed he At one point, after Gignac skipped out on a local hotel, he was owed by his “uncle,” the powerful Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. asked Jessica to go to his room to pick up his belongings. She When I call the lawyer, who asked not to be identiied, he emits a found cash hidden under the mattress, jewelry wrapped in tow- groaning response that I would become accustomed to hearing els, and several Western Union transfers for around $10,000 upon mention of Gignac’s name. each. They came, she says, from Saudi Arabia. “Oh, God,” he moans. “I seem to be alicted by him. He is After a stop in Atlanta, where he scammed a local doctor out a serious embarrassment to me. He could convince you that he of $5,000 while saying he was in town to buy the Atlanta Falcons, was a green toad instead of a human being.” Gignac’s run seemed to come to an end. Back in Troy, Michigan, To verify his identity, Gignac told the attorney to call Santa on January 3, 2003, he was arrested in his white Cadillac outside Monica College. According to what appears to be a college tran- a shopping mall for impersonating a diplomat. He had charged script, Khalid bin al-Saud attended the college in 1992, earning $11,300 at Saks Fifth Avenue to what he claimed was his “fam- a 4.0 G.P.A. in human biology and macro-economics. (The col- ily account,” which actually belonged to the real Saudi princess lege, citing privacy rules, declines to discuss student records.) “A Fadwa al-Saud. He also charged $17,691 to the account of the campus policeman told me people would bring him to school in real Prince Khalid at Neiman Marcus, where he threatened em- a limousine and pick him up,” recalls the lawyer. ployees for not showing proper respect to a royal. One day, the prince asked the lawyer to drive to the Miami “You cannot do this!” Gignac said as police handcufed him airport and pick up a famous attorney who was arriving that af- in the parking lot. “You must call the embassy!” ternoon to discuss his case: none other than Johnnie Cochran, by The State Department dispatched Ed Seitz, a celebrated agent then renowned for his defense of O. J. Simpson. Cochran and his with the Diplomatic Security Services, to interview the prince in partner, Carl Douglas, headed straight to the jail to meet with the jail. In his statement, Gignac said that he “had been the lover” prince. “They debriefed Khalid for two hours,” says the lawyer. of a Saudi prince and “another member of the Saudi family,” and “Everything was consistent. He didn’t miss a beat.” had received “hush money” not to disclose the afairs. He insisted Cochran was impressed, but did not take the prince’s case. that he had been oicially adopted by Prince Alwaleed, issued a “There were real questions about authenticity,” Douglas recalls. “Saudi Diplomatic Passport” by the Saudi Embassy, and given a But the Miami attorney, who received his law degree from Yale, $480 million trust fund to live of while he negotiated a “lump- was undeterred. I show him a notarized letter he wrote to Prince sum settlement” with the royal family. He also claimed that the Alwaleed dated February 4, 1997. Signed by his imprisoned Saudis had used him as a “mule” to traic money to terrorists.

140 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 A federal agent searched State De- partment databases and found “no record of the SUBJECT.” And while there is a “true Khalid Al Saud,” the agent added, he has no connection to Gignac, who assumed the name “to defraud the Royal Family of Saudi Arabia.” The real Prince Khalid faxed a notarized letter to Neiman Marcus, stating “upon oath” that he did not know Gignac and had not authorized him to charge to his account. While he was in jail awaiting trial, Gignac tried again. Mailing a letter to Citibank, he demanded that $3.9 million from a real prince’s trust fund be wired to him. On October 12, 2006, he pleaded guilty to attempted bank fraud and impersonating a foreign diplomat. He was sentenced to 77 months in federal prison. By the time he was released, in December 2011, Gignac was ready “YOU CAN’T DO THIS!” to up his game. Violating the terms Arrested for impersonating a diplomat, Gignac of his probation, he headed to Flor- continued to run his cons from prison. ida, long a paradise for outlaws and deadbeats. With his ambition growing, he wasn’t content with can’t distinguish between a Hispanic and an Arab—especially merely bilking luxury hotels—he attempted to buy them. Clad if they’re blinded by plenty of bling. And like many con men in Louis Vuitton, draped in diamonds, and boasting of a Beverly before him, Gignac understood the nearly universal appeal of Hills address, he went to the legendary Cheeca Lodge & Spa in royalty: even the rich and powerful, it seems, can’t resist a crown. the Florida Keys and ofered $200 million for the 27-acre resort. “If you’re trolling for big ish, the idea that standing behind you But the hotel’s director of security didn’t buy his act, and Gignac is the royal family of Saudi Arabia, people with access to billions soon found himself back in a Michigan court. and billions of dollars—that resonates,” says a Miami business- This time, though, prosecutors had new evidence against him: man who watched the prince in action. “It gives you credibility. the F.B.I. had seized a big black binder containing all of Gignac’s It all adds up.” “documents”—hundreds of notarized letters and faxes and legal But to take his con to the next level, Gignac needed something correspondence and requests for wire transfers that served as he lacked: access to the super-rich. He sought someone with con- proof of his long, if one-sided, interactions with the Saudi royals. nections and class—a front man who could open doors to those The binder was his secret weapon—a cache of oicial-looking with the real money. He found him in Carl Marden Williamson, paperwork, punctuated with impressive seals and stamps, that a 51-year-old British asset manager who was working out of his he could draw on over and over to create the appearance of le- home in a small town in North Carolina. gitimacy. “When someone who is not familiar with this defen- Born in the suburbs of London to a working-class family, Wil- dant looks at the documents,” a prosecutor said in a 2012 court liamson arrived in America in his 20s and married a North Caro- hearing, “it appears as if things are, you know, sort of in order. lina girl he’d met while in the British Royal Navy. Handsome and It is sort of a con that he plays on the courts, on the system, on charming, Williamson ofered Gignac a veneer of legitimacy: he agents, on everyone.” The documents—many lagged “attorney/ had no police record, experience in law and inance, a British client privilege”—were merely the work of a “defendant who accent that sounded positively royal, and a vast network of in- is a conidence man, and has been throughout his entire life.” ternational connections. “Carl had a Rolodex that was probably In the end, Gignac was sentenced to another year in prison. thousands of people,” says his wife, Denise. After the hearing, he asked the court to return his black binder Like Gignac, Williamson specialized in impressing people to him. with the names and titles of his far-lung contacts. Some were legit. “He claimed that he knew everybody under the sun,” re- Gignac had not only mastered the art of the con, he had calls Dalal bint Saud bin Abdulaziz, a real Saudi princess who given it his own unique spin. In a stroke of genius, he combined spoke with Williamson several times by phone. “Last I heard he the classic tricks of old-school grifters—stealing a famous name, was with somebody who was portraying himself to be a prince.” striking an elaborate pose—with the look-at-me obsessions of But others were bogus. “He was a master global networker,” says the social-media age. “Look at my Instagram to see whom I a former colleague. “His line of bullshit would change depending have been involved with,” he wrote me from jail, as if to say: on the person he was talking to. If you didn’t have a connec- How could it be a lie if I’m posting it? He turned his ethnicity into tion, he would be like, ‘Yeah, I know the guy. Let me go ahead an asset, capitalizing on the fact that many white Americans and call them.’ It was frickin’ amazing.” CONTINUED ON PAGE 150

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 141 Matthew Weiner has written a lot of iconic television scenes. But a speciic one has come to my mind frequently in the last year, while the media roiled with tales of women standing up to the powerful men they worked for. It’s from Season Four of Mad Men, when young superstar-in-training Peggy Ol- son confronts Don Draper in his oice, angry that he’s accepted an award for an idea that she believes was hers. “It’s your job: I give you money, you give me ideas!” he says. “And you never say thank you!” a wounded Peggy replies. “That’s what the money is for!” he shouts. “I’ve been both of those people,” Weiner tells me, sitting in his production oice, nestled in an Art Deco landmark in Hol- lywood. Dressed in a pale-blue seersucker shirt and khakis, the 53-year-old show-runner is putting the inishing touches on his new anthology series for Amazon, The Romanofs, which pre- mieres this month. Made for around $50 million, it features a cavalcade of high-end actors (Isabelle Huppert, Diane Lane, Griin Dunne, Aaron Eckhart, Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks and John Slattery) and was ilmed in eight countries. It’s the kind of television show that only the highest level of show- runner gets to do, and it should be the victory lap of Weiner’s career, following the massive cultural success of Mad Men. Weiner is eager to talk to me about the inspiration and process behind his new show. But in arranging this interview, I made

Matthew Weiner was one of peak TV’s most decorated diicult men. As he readies his lavish follow-up to Mad Men, he’s confronting everything about that legacy By Joy Press MAD MAN IN 142 VANITY FAIR PHOTOGRAPH BY PHILIP MONTGOMERY SERIES ORDER Matthew Weiner, photographed in an editing bay in his Hollywood offices.

THE MIRROR NOVEMBER 2018 143 clear I’d have to ask about an accusation of misconduct that no memory of it, doubtless one of many demeaning utterances. surfaced last November from Kater Gordon. A former Weiner Casual thoughtlessness is just one of the perks of male privilege. assistant and later a staf writer on Mad Men, who won an Emmy It’s the kind of subterranean, warped exchange that the cre- in 2009 for co-writing the Season Two episode “Meditations in ator of Mad Men might appreciate. “The show was about my an Emergency” with Weiner, Gordon alleges that, while the two interest, to the exclusion of plot sometimes, in what it is like were working late one night on that series, Weiner declared that to be powerless,” Weiner says now, seated at a big white table she owed it to him to let him see her naked. in the empty Romanofs writers’ room. “Part of it was me say- As Weiner sits before me, I realize he is palpably nervous, his ing, ‘Look how much everything’s changed … ’ Part of me was conversation a tangle of sentence fragments and digressions. saying, ‘It just got worse, actually, since then.’ That’s why this Until last November, Weiner seemed to have an enviable ca- is such a big deal; that’s why it’s so strange to ind myself being reer. Obsessively embraced by pop-culture cognoscenti for its accused of being on the other side of it.” chic portrait of the fraudulence and rot beneath the 60s, Mad The “other side” he’s talking about is Gordon’s accusation. Men had already ascended to the top of the TV canon by the In the account she gave a reporter for the Information last No- end of its irst season on AMC. It was the irst show he ever cre- vember, Gordon says that, after Weiner told her she owed it to ated, following two seasons as a writer on The Sopranos. Yet as him to let him see her naked, she tried to brush the comment an inexperienced show-runner, he says, he was often ighting of because it seemed like a “lose-lose.” She continued to work with Mad Men’s studio and network, “trying to convince them on the series for another season, after which she was not in- that the show was a success, either inancially or with an audi- vited back (along with other writers, according to Weiner). She ence.” While it looked to the world like he was a master of the has since left the TV industry. prestige-television universe, he says he was trying to hide his Weiner says he has not spoken to Gordon since she first panic from his writing staf. made the allegation. “I really don’t remember saying that,” he It wasn’t just the glamour of Mad Men people responded to, says. “I’m not hedging to say it’s not impossible that I said that, though. It was the gender warfare. Workplace power scules but I really don’t remember saying it.” I realize as he’s saying were live wires crackling through its ictional Sterling Coo- this that I had expected Weiner, a consummate storyteller, to per Draper Pryce, where men loudly assess women’s bodies present me with a more coherent narrative. I call him several in the corridors and secretaries cry in the bathrooms. Peggy days later and ask him to clarify this sentence. If it’s not impos- rises within the agency only because Don realizes she can sible that he said it, under what circumstances might he have help him harness female consumers’ desires. Mad Men often uttered this? Weiner questions the words I’ve quoted back to functioned as a Brueghel-esque horrorscape of dashing male him. “I know this seems weird, but I can’t imagine that I used dominance and wily female compromise, a stylized dissection the word ‘hedging,’ ” he insists. I double-check; he did. of patriarchal malaise. “I can’t see a scenario where I would say that,” he continues, returning to Gordon’s allegation. “What I can see is, it was 10 At one point while talking to Weiner, I lash back to my own years ago and I don’t remember saying it. When someone says irst workplace encounter: an assignment meeting at a music you said something, like the experience we just had right now— publication. I was just 19, a wannabe freelance rock critic brim- I don’t remember saying that.” ming with chutzpah and ideas. As I left the oice, an assignment He continues more deinitively, “I never felt that way and I thrillingly in hand, I heard the male editor comment to his col- never acted that way towards Kater.” league, “Nice tits!” I think about how much that stray com- In a recent e-mail, Gordon told me, “That was not an iso- ment undermined my conidence and shaped my behavior for lated incident, but it was the most afecting.” She has created years—how I was never sure if I was hired for my work or my Modern Alliance, a nonproit dedicated to ighting sexual ha- body; how it made me want to it in as one of the guys. I have rassment. “Bullies with unchecked power create environments never forgotten that comment, but I’m certain that editor has of fear,” Gordon wrote. Shortly after Gordon originally spoke out, Marti Noxon—a consulting producer on Mad Men who has gone on to show-run Sharp Objects and UnREAL—tweeted that Weiner “is devilishly clever and witty, but he is also, in the words of one of his colleagues, an ‘emotional terrorist’ who will badger, seduce and even tantrum in an attempt to get his needs met.” He created, Noxon said, “the kind of atmosphere where a comment like ‘you owe it to me to show me your naked body’ may—or may not—be a joke. And it may—or may not—lead to a demotion or even the end of a career.” Noxon inished with an unequivocal kicker: “I believe Kater Gordon.” Weiner says that he was taken aback by Noxon’s tweetstorm. “I wish that I had He recalls her helpfully advising him back in the day to make use of the more inexperienced members of his writing staff been more sensitive and rather than just rewriting everything and fuming in frustration. “You can’t keep acting like ‘Nobody’s helping me,’ ” he remem-

less defensive.” bers her saying. “And that’s where it comes from, is because you 142–43: GROOMING BY SONIA LEE; FOR PAGES VF.COM/CREDITS TO GO DETAILS,

144 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY SARAH SHATZ/AMAZON STUDIOS the show, or you wouldn’t have gotten here, butIdon’t thinkyou can write “Iwould struggled tomanage them. careers ledgling asNoxon writers, of andthen, out, pointed that hadafemalemajor sometimes feel like you’re aloneinit.” Weiner maintainedawriters’ room to hire them. As to hire them. around aticking asareason tossed long been timebomb male genius. For women inHollywood, the“diicult” label has troubledand furyof dudes. There isnoequivalent myth fe- of shows revolve moviesandTV worshipped around theangst thecreativeof many ourmost Not process. butso of onlythat, ing a“diicult isanintrinsicpart man” boss oratempestuous genius hasonlyfedthat tendency, theideathat bolstering be- imbalances inareal those of one. some imaginary workplace and,ontheotherhand,perpetuate inan structures power nuancedaccountsof hand, producing and contradictory. capable can be of, Someone ontheone me of something me of you have any power.” thatamined inmy just you ownbehavior—is don’t that know jokes, witheverything itgoes what about Ibelieve Ihave exit,”all of hesays. “It language, withsexist goes with itgoes hesays.boss, you “What don’t realize …Ithinkthisgoes with Peggys dynamicfreighted withtension. tohisDon—a authored withWeiner inthepress asreal-life were described as far asIknow, never my took oneof ideas.” Weiner says he say timesaday. 300 notomeabout “would vid Chase Andhe, met several writers later whowould work on creator Diane Englishthat never madeittoair(butonwhich he when hegot hisdream gigon Girl ladder sitcom ontheTV withtheshort-liveda foot 1995 herbrandwho disdained funny of feminism. insulate herfrom thewhimsof recently claimed,Thomason even huge ratings did not success NOVEMBER Our culture’s long-running romance withthemyth male of Several expressions licker across hisface, which reminds Noxon’s tweets forced Weiner torethink hisbehavior asa Weiner years spent asanunemployed getting writerbefore and then The Romanoffs. Weiner’s new series, in an episode of John Slattery Amanda Peetand HISTORIES PERSONAL ’” herecalls. Women whowon 2018 Living in Captivity, Designing WomenDesigning Mad Men Mad conveyed well: so are people strange The Sopranos, a misogynist networka misogynist president acomedyby creator Linda Bloodworth- ity; he regularly boosted the heregularly the ity; boosted tell people, ‘Youtell people, canwrite awards co- forscripts Weiner says, Da- Mad Men Mad Murphy Brown ). Even Party Party not

play”—something echoed inanother former play”—something “If David indsyour Achilles’ at warorat heel,hewillgo forit, and exploitingcolleagu Weiner inon at eerily good zooming assomeone description of other people unhappiness oriftheyevenother people perceive itthat way.” It makes mesadtocause person. eral Iamthat kind of sense. wronged somebody, yeah, Iwould like to apologize. Inagen- that worked withmesometimes,” Weiner admits.“IfIhave sive, andmore able to putmyself intheplace thepeople of used to inviteused frustrated about it, andIwillshowyou that it, about itwasDavid.” ite issues, andtheygot mewhereissues, Iwas.” think you’re diferent?” gonna just be Weiner asks.“Ihadanger life andhave Are itopen? you justgonna walk through? You Don Drapers. isitlike “What your toleanagainst adoor entire resenting theeasycharm theworld’sthe series andbrillianceof pranos advantage thefact of that you canmake feelbad.” people reallybe withthesituation careful you’ve created andnottake concerns,toldme, professional “asof amanager you have to shit,” aformer are getting that vulnerable anddiggingintotheiremotional “Ifyou’re the gig. of part be going to have who inaroom people whereboundaries, The world ofthe was areally toughboss.” things feltlike“Those separate formelast fall. experiences I what unrelated Iwaslike asaboss, totheallegation,” hesays. what itwastalkingabout itwaslike of towork there “Some and I askhimtotalkmore hisapproach about tomakingamends. Yomthe weekbefore Kippur, theJewish day and atonement, of sary. tohimonthephoneseveral WhenIspeak days later, itis if theirmemories ifneces- squared withhis,andto apologize examine things andreach former outto colleagues some to see “I wish that I had been more“I wishthat andlessdefen- sensitive Ihadbeen The swiftly moving stream of publicopinion hascreatedThe swiftlymovingstream of He to points Weiner says that theevents thelast year of madehimre- Sopranos director TimVan Patten oncetold episode credited tohim:“Tellepisode mewhat you liked Mad Men Mad Mad Men Mad TV writers’ permeable TV isaplace room of sharing intimate can secrets withtheboss es’ vulnerabilities. Mad Men Mad character Pete Campbell, who spends writer, who asked for anonymity out writers theirfavor- to thinkof VANITY FAIR Vanity Fair Mad Men of Chase, Chase, of writer’s So- 145 Matthew WeinerMatthew Men’ stars Kathryn Hahn Ferguson andJay ( R. Maria andAndréleagues Jacquemetton, and theepisode’sof writers, longtimeWeiner col- city, port itdrawsRussian onreal experiences Line.” inadesolate set episode Apowerful the Endof mixesfor“The working onsound Minds conference theformer inStockholm, whilehewasattending theBrilliantmonth, thethumbsdown 10to1.)outpace The same tener raved onYouTube, where thethumbsup David Solomon century.acclaimed the21st series of even from theguy who created themost oneof matter what.” thecrew,of theybring something diferent no have thesamecinematographer, buttherest Youdictate diferent. that be itwould might Blake McCormick of says, places sort “those in different countries, executive producer an ethical shot quagmire. Andwithepisodes grant caretaker, amarriedcouple caught in who develops withherimmi- adeepbond characters—a racistcompromised aristocrat Romanovs.” Theshowispacked withmorally who believe related themselves tobe tothe incontemporarythis thread people society of when heirst described So in thepastandhowafectsfuture.” ways fascinated been with thisidea tragedy of tors where whenGordon out. spoke shooting rated ontheseries, which hadjustfinished sake who thethousands people collabo- of of ontheshowratherfocus thanonhimforthe controversy, thepallof escape can that people Weiner clearly that hopes lic, regardless theirwork. thequality of of lies, won’t necessarilyget apassfrom thepub- harassers sexual cused orgarden-variety bul- behavior. whether theyare men, Powerful ac- an evolving context for considering workplace spoke of a collection of talesthat “all acollectionof of spoke carried her andhusband, André, she says, he CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 PAGE 12 FROM CONTINUED 146 Weiner says itwasn’t aneasyshow tosell, Weiner moni- of shows full me intoaroom Maria Jacquemetton says Weiner has“al- s Stan Rizzo). Rizzo). s Stan VANITY FAIR Romanoffs editor Chris Gay is The Romanofs The Romanofs sure!” onelis- Black Black Mad Mad can can to to and asmall,weathered brass that bell oneof hemadeforthenewseries framed rules listof signed amidsexual-harassment allegations. hadre- but bythetimeitwasinished,Price president RoyPrice green-lighted theseries, multiple genres. Former Studios Amazon conveyingterms of that encompass itwould Mirror says gestures. writingcertain hehasahabit I of Weinerrepeated because indiferent episodes, subtle through lines,“lik where,” shesays. “There’snitum. Romanovdescendants every- adini- She canimagineextendingtheseries can we onthe next installment?” get started I’min. ahuge such fan of says, wasn’t “That really onmy radar coming totheharassment allegation,the showdue she compelling.” Asked ifs which andevent, wefoundreallybloodline disparate are people allsourced from that same that inthema talked Andwe about certainly the episodes. Weiner “did thematically talkabout howtolink weekly rather thaninabingeable blob. traditionwith Amazon bydropping episodes allowinghimtobreak hisvision, supporting Weinersion at Amazon. credits Salke with hermis- of inclusivityand hasstressed aspart while she was president NBCEntertainment of an initiative totrain more femaledirectors His replacement, Jennifer Salke, hadlaunched portant to himduring the portant up. looking answer at thebiggest moment,” Weiner says, prod himfor anexample. look upfor an “They over shesays at Amazon, byphone, sheand pretty much finished bythetimeSalke took of getting behind this idea of … this group of getting …thisgroupof of thisideaof behind a situation that Iknewalotabout.” ivory tower,” managers modern needtobe “aloof intheir tobe anddisconnected, used his nightlife:whereas executives corporate drawsSolomon amanagement lesson from thishappened.”not before fashion, Intypical proach meandtalkto meinaway that theydid me intheirm,” hemarvels. “Young ap- people themselves.introduce “It’s really humanized says, Goldman employees come upto himand upside. Every plays timeSolomon at aclub, he He’s charming.” not your grandmother’s banker. He’s funny. it,” about sport very Colessays. good “He’s ees around alake before dinner. “He was a to D.J. theA-list that ontheboat took attend- Hearst executive Joanna Colespersuaded him Although on shooting While theshow isananthology, there willbe Salke says Weiner isalready “When asking, Weiner shows metwo objects that were im- The side gig has come with an unexpected The sidegighascomewithanunexpected was a useful comparison, at leastin comparison, wasauseful rketing of of rketing he considered dropping he considered dropping Mad Men, e physical behavior” the show—just kind kind show—just the The Romanofs Romanofs andit’s not shoot: a a shoot: was was other story. real Themuddiness of life isan- inart. fully even inasingleday.”moment, life. That story shifts andchanges withevery isn’t oneset story that you can tell about your already broken hispretension rule. helaughsKieślowski, andsays that hehas Virginia Woolf,zac, andilmmaker Krzysztof Havingsion. mentionedHonoré just deBal- banishing coincidence, and avoiding preten- ing stories (each isself-contained), episode his writers gave resolv- include Therules him. we control ourownnarratives? scopic novel,scopic Slattery, kaleido- inspired byWoolf’s waspartly shewrote starringAmandasode Peet andJohn Weiner, says “Expectation,” the theshowwith serves of asexecutive producer The question And—a weconsidergeniuses? those leeway,much ifany, are weprepared togive How including: up untold questions opening workplace aswellwithcreatives themselves, asareckoningment isserving withthecreative cal andemotionalmineield.Thecurrent mo- ifwe’reeverything, anethi- honest—into being TV,the history movies,andliterature of — art, through theilter #MeToo.artists of It renders Men Mad are you totheguyfrom andwhat happened Ferguson, Weiner says. “Jay waslike, ‘Who that wewere getting todothis.” intuitive space. To have gratitude forthefact I wanted to do was have inareally everybody ringitatI would thetable read,” hesays. “What and do ascript, wewould ringitbefore would agentle “We trillthroughit sends theroom. Hedental meditation. as shakes itandpauses feel more centered; he’s doing transcen- started over the 28 yearsover the28 wewere together.” reason I’m shegave here isthesupport me says. “It’s the of notlostonme that abigpart riage ended,butweremain close friends,” he daughters. “We feelsadthat ourmar- both todothings withtheirtwogrowncontinue Hilton Worldwide. andhisex-wife Solomon Chris Nassetta, thepresident andC.E.O. of dealt within hislife,” says hisclose friend ago. “It’s thehardest things oneof been he’s wife, Mary, ayear about lefthimsuddenly hismarriage. therecentabout endof His leaders.”better It makes andtherefore more us posed. human, alittlebitvulnerable tobe andex-“willing This sort of multi-valence works beauti- of This sort The bell is part of Weiner’s of ispart The bell recent desire to Over thelast year, we’ve toreassess begun was bythebell bemused The onlyperson Semi Chellas, whoworkedSemi on Solomon feels vulnerableSolomon particularly Another of Solomon’sAnother of passionsis expensive

Romanofs ?’ ” Mrs. Dalloway Mrs. itself ponders—how much do do much ponders—how itself NOVEMBER . It suggests “there Romanofs Mad Men Mad 2018 and and epi-

PHOTOGRAPHS: LEFT, BY LANDON NORDEMAN; RIGHT, BY CASS BIRD wine, which he has kept in an extensive cel- and then fenced them on the Internet. of relationships to the irm. But nobody ever lar in the family home in East Hampton. In After agreeing to pay the Solomons back, woke up and said, ‘Hey, I need an investment 2016, in one of his most coveted purchases, Meyer led the country. Last January, as he banker. I think I’ll call Bear Stearns.’ One of he bought seven bottles of Pinot Noir from was returning to the United States, he was ar- the great things here is that people do wake Domaine de la Romanée-Conti—considered rested at the Los Angeles airport. Released on up and say, ‘Hey, why don’t I call Goldman one of the best and most expensive wines in a $1 million bond—secured by $200,000 in Sachs?’ That gives us a responsibility to always the world—for $133,650. cash and his mother’s home—Meyer has been put extraordinary people in front of them.” But the Domaine never made it to his wine trying to negotiate a settlement with prosecu- What comes through most clearly, as Solo- cellar. One day a friend alerted Solomon tors in New York. Solomon, meanwhile, is do- mon assumes command of Goldman, is his that it looked like the pricey bottles he had ing just ine. His insurance covered the loss, overriding sense of stewardship. The com- purchased were showing up for sale online. and he still owns a home in the Bahamas, a pany will celebrate its 150th anniversary next Solomon confronted his family’s personal as- New York apartment in SoHo that he is reno- year—a legacy its new C.E.O. is determined sistant, Nicolas De-Meyer, who was supposed vating, and a tract of land in the Hudson Val- to extend, even if the irm must remake itself to take delivery of wine shipments. De-Meyer, ley. Last year he sold his jaw-dropping 83-acre to survive, as it has done so many times in it turned out, was really Nickolas Meyer, a estate in Aspen for $36 million. the past. “You look at the history of any com- Vassar graduate from Findlay, Ohio. For two Inevitably, though, Solomon’s greatest pas- pany, Goldman Sachs included, and it’s not years, according to a court indictment, Meyer sion is for Goldman Sachs. Having worked for a straight line,” Solomon says. “Wall Street had stolen “hundreds of bottles” of wine from three investment banks that no longer exist, happens to be a place with a long history of Solomon worth “more than $1.2 million.” he knows how precarious a place Wall Street volatility. Like any organization, we have to Using the alias “Mark Miller,” the name of a can be. He also knows how exceptional Gold- continue to evolve if we want to be around well-known Hudson Valley vintner who died man is compared to its competitors. “I was a for another 150 years. You’ve got to have a in 2008, Meyer allegedly had the bottles de- big producer at Bear Stearns,” he says. “I built good strategy, and good people, and a good livered to himself instead of to the Solomons, a lot of relationships there and brought a lot culture—and probably a little bit of luck.”

Michael B. Jordan arcade, Jordan’s father and namesake, Mi- Bakari was what his family called him. The Jor- chael A. Jordan, a taciturn man in a slate- dan family traces its lineage to a slave named gray Nehru shirt, has recently returned from Blackman, who married a Cherokee named Zambia, where he was involved in building Josephine (her portrait hangs in Jordan’s Aunt a water system for farmers, the continua- Janet’s house, in Los Angeles). tion of his years-long interest in Africa. The When Jordan was an infant, his parents senior Jordan, who goes by Tony, grew up in moved to New Jersey to live with Donna’s poverty-stricken South Central Los Angeles, formidable mother, Geneva Davis, who lived one of six kids raised by a single mother, Do- near a good school district in middle-class lores Jordan. His family paid regular visits Montclair. “It’s the lineage,” says Donna. to the US Organization, an educational and “Family is everything. You protect your fam- activist group started by Maulana Karenga ily, you make sure that everyone is taken care CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10 emphasis on Af- and Hakim Jamal that used the term “Us” to of, you know? That structure was passed down rocentrism and black pride. Donna worked mean blacks in the United States, which they from my grandmother and grandfather. To- as a kind of social worker at Chad, helping sometimes referred to as “United Slaves.” It gether, they were unbelievable. Very politi- poor families navigate the system, and Jordan was Karenga who invented Kwanzaa as an cal, always working for politics, working in and his two siblings, Khalid and Jamila, also African-American holiday; Jordan’s family the community, making sure everyone had attended. (His parents remain on the board celebrated it throughout his childhood. what they needed.” (Her grandparents built of directors.) In 1974, the elder Jordan joined the Marines a successful business in Venice, California, Jordan’s mother grew up in Newark in the and simultaneously became more deeply in the 1940s.) 60s and 70s, studying painting at Newark Arts committed to the Pan-African movement, In Newark, the Jordan family eventually High, the first performing-arts public high which has historically called for a degree of befriended Cory Booker, the city’s mayor, school in America, whose alumni include Sarah racial separatism, overlapping at times with now a senator from New Jersey. “My dad Vaughan, Wayne Shorter, and Savion Glover the causes of the Black Panthers and rooted in used to cater for him,” said Jordan. “Me and (and, later, Michael B. Jordan, who attended a philosophy irst formulated by Marcus Gar- Cory Booker, Ras Baraka, the current mayor, for two years). As a teenager, she painted her vey. Garvey believed that racial parity would everybody, the Baraka family, they’re all really bedroom walls in the colors of the Pan-African only be achieved if the African-American good friends with my family.” lag—red, black, and green—in sympathy with world developed its own saints and heroes Michael B. Jordan’s friends all characterize the Committee for a Uniied Newark, a black- and martyrs, and he encouraged black self- Jordan’s father as “militant,” but they mean nationalist group founded by poet Amiri Bara- empowerment through business ownership. his child-rearing style as much as his politics. ka. “We would go by and we would see the guys Donna had moved to California to live When his children misbehaved, he made them in the berets and the army fatigues as we were with a cousin and pursue her art when she pick out their own tree branch from the yard going home from school,” she says. met Tony, in 1982, while he was working at to get switched. After Jordan got his driver’s At Arts High, her interests ran to ballet and his cousin’s barbecue joint in Compton. They license and bought a BMW 330Ci with his theater—she loved the soundtrack to West Side bonded in part over black politics and mar- acting money, he began hanging out in aban- Story—but she was also part of a student walk- ried in 1984. When Michael was born, in Santa doned parking lots to race cars with illegal out in Newark in 1970 in protest over the kill- Ana, California, in 1987, his parents gave him crews made up of black and Latino teenagers ings at Kent State. the middle name Bakari, Swahili for “noble who were into “drifting,” high-speed sliding. When I meet him at the West Hollywood promise,” and until he became an actor, His parents didn’t know about it, but when

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 147 in a lot of diferent areas for me that’s gonna set deals with Nike, Piaget watches, and, of course, Michael B. Jordan up my next 5 to 10. That’s why I’m so locked in Acura. It also laid the groundwork for a success- right now, because if it was ever a time to get ful ilm franchise. Says Sun, “You need your Jordan blew out his transmission one night, distracted or, like, drop the ball, this is not it.” franchise because in order for him to achieve he called his father for help, resulting in a con- In a ilm industry upended by Netlix and all the things that he had the ambition to do, frontation. “I was scared shitless,” he says. “I HBO, Jordan wants to leverage his fame into we had to make him a star, a bona-ide star.” knew I was gonna get it.” a commercial enterprise that gives him own- Sun and Jordan hope the one-two punch At this point, Jordan was still acting as Reg- ership of his own success and the power to of Black Panther and Creed II, coming out in gie in All My Children. break ground for black actors, directors, and the same year, will solidify Jordan’s stardom. “For a split-second, it was like, ‘I’m grown. I producers in Hollywood. With 7.3 million In- But timing is critical. Creed II was fast-tracked work. I make my own money. I can do this, you stagram followers and nearly a million Twitter to take advantage of the momentum of Black know? You guys can’t tell me I gotta be in at such followers, Jordan is quickly building a brand Panther, shot in the course of a month last and such, or whatever it is,’ and I got checked. I that includes new endorsement deals, a fast- spring, edited over the summer, and, at the got checked. I remember the irst time you think growing production company, and a new time of this writing, still being readied for the- you could challenge your father and then you marketing operation that will curate and tar- aters for November—an “insane” schedule, realize he’s a grown-ass man and you’re 120 get TV shows and movies to the same young, says Jordan, who showed up in Philadelphia a pounds soaking wet with a pocket full of nickels. multicultural audiences who locked to Black month early to train and try building his body “We got closer because of it. And, yeah, so Panther. Jordan’s budding company is mod- even bigger than before (“I have to it the story I think that was another moment of just be- eled on those of his sports heroes, especially line”). The original idea for Creed was based ing young and smelling yourself, and ‘O.K., the Lakers’ LeBron James, whose multi-media on Coogler’s relationship to his late father, I’m grown.’ I wasn’t grown. I didn’t know ev- marketing-and-branding operation and TV with whom he bonded over the Rocky movies. erything. I didn’t know shit. Every disciplin- production company is worth nearly a billion Co-star Tessa Thompson says Coogler didn’t ary ass-whooping that I got, every time I got dollars. “Whenever I see [James], it’s love, conceive of Creed as a franchise, but Michael reprimanded, everything, it all pays of. It all always trying to represent our generation, B. Jordan saw the potential instantly. Jordan makes sense. I loved him for it.” represent our culture, like, ‘Why not us?’ ” says Coogler didn’t direct Creed II because the says Jordan. “Things don’t have to be the way schedule for Black Panther made it untenable. Michael B. Jordan views himself and his they’ve always been done. I just happen to do (Sly Stallone was initially slated to direct the peers as the generational heirs to Will Smith more than just act.” sequel, but Coogler instead recommended and Denzel Washington. Jordan talks a lot with the Jay-Z and Caple, a former classmate at University of “They broke down those barriers for us,” LeBron teams and closely studies their opera- Southern California ilm school.) Jordan says. “Now it’s time for us to take what tions. His chief ally and architect in building Hovering over Creed II is a fear that cynical they did and take it to the next level.” his own company is Phillip Sun, a 36-year-old studio heads will start to think of Black Panther In a New York Times dinner-table inter- agent at William Morris Endeavor, who has as a one-of that can’t translate to other ilms view with Denzel Washington and Michael B. assembled the most important roster of black starring black actors. Jordan, the older actor, coiled and skeptical, talent in a generation, including Lena Waithe, Sun has explicitly told his clients—includ- evinced a subtle paternalistic attitude toward Donald Glover, Idris Elba, John Boyega, and ing Jordan—that the success of Black Panther the younger actor. When Jordan opined on Letitia Wright. “Michael’s always had the am- will not necessarily smooth the path to more the importance of international-box-office bition of being a brand from the get-go,” says and better roles. “By no means is this over. It’s receipts and said he wanted the director of Sun, who recruited Jordan away from United not even getting that much easier,” Sun says. HBO’s Fahrenheit 451, in which Jordan plays a Talent after the success of Fruitvale Station. “It’s just more of a conversation now.” villainous cop, to take his opinions seriously, Born to parents who emigrated from Tai- And so Creed II is an important test case for Washington had to laugh: “Getting your big- wan, Sun grew up speaking Mandarin, gradu- Jordan—to disprove, once again, the old studio boy voice.” ated from William & Mary with a degree in cliché that black stars don’t sell overseas. “Nico- “There were no black superheroes when I international relations, and was working as an las Cage made so much money overseas,” says was growing up,” notes Washington. on-set assistant to Parker Posey when Steven Jordan. “If you don’t perform domestically, and Jordan’s best movies have all been directed Spielberg recommended he try becoming an you can still make money internationally, you by Ryan Coogler, who used Jordan’s physical agent. At 23, Sun became the youngest agent will always be around. That’s why Creed, Creed screen presence—his well-built body, his at the company after William Morris merged II, is so important nowadays, this time around, huge smile, the slow-burn vulnerability—to with Endeavor, in 2009. He was advised early because it is more international.” maximal efect. Whether Jordan can achieve on to specialize and decided to focus on non- Meanwhile, Jordan is quickly building on a wider range and depth under diferent di- white actors, tutored by a pioneering black the momentum of Black Panther, ramping up rection—or whether he has reached the lim- agent named Charles D. King, who’d repre- his production company as an engine for mov- its of his craft—remains to be seen. But he is sented Terrence Howard and André 3000. ies and TV shows that will deine his brand. attempting to convert his success into some- King left in 2015 to create his own production They’ll star not just himself but also talent he thing that won’t require him to be as brilliant company devoted to actors of color, called personally recruits, especially black artists. “I on-screen as Denzel Washington: he’s turning MACRO, which recently produced the Boots want to create projects for Brad Pitt, but at the himself into a business. Riley comedy Sorry to Bother You. That left same time I want to be able to create a movie Jordan reportedly made only $2 million on Sun to build his own roster at WME. “With for Will Smith, or Denzel, or Lupita, or Tessa,” Black Panther, though he says he gets residuals the tutelage from Charles, and also just being says Jordan. “It’s gonna be eclectic. It’s gonna on the back end as part of the inancial structure a minority here, it was always important for be animation. It’s gonna be non-scripted. It’s of Marvel superhero movies. But he admits he me to ight for talent of color because, in some gonna be digital. It’s gonna be ilm, television. was a “rookie” when he signed up for Panther strange way, I was ighting for myself, giving It’s gonna be video games.” and didn’t yet command the money he can get myself a voice,” he says. Conversely, that means avoiding becoming now. “Moving forward it’s a totally diferent The irst Creed movie gave Jordan a kind of an actor associated exclusively with politically story,” he says. “This is the deining moment instant sports proile, leading to endorsement charged black roles like Oscar Grant. After

148 VANITY FAIR NOVEMBER 2018 ON THE COVERS

Bob Iger wears clothing by Tom Ford. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wears a suit by Dara Khosrowshahi wears clothing by Hair products by Oribe. Grooming CALVIN KLEIN 205W39NYC; blouse by Derek Lam Giorgio Armani; tie by Canali. Hair products by products by Dior Homme. Grooming by Wardrobe Collection; earrings by Tiffany & Co. Oribe. Grooming products by Dior Homme. Frankie Payne. Styled by Andreas Kokkino. Hair products by R+Co. Makeup by RMS Beauty. Hair Grooming by Frankie Payne. Styled by Andreas Photographed exclusively for by Esther Langham. Makeup by Angie Parker. Kokkino. Photographed exclusively V.F. by Sebastian Kim in Burbank. Styled by Samira Nasr. Photographed exclusively for V.F. by Sebastian Kim in San Francisco. for V.F. by Cass Bird in the Bronx. For details, go to VF.com/credits.

Fruitvale, Jordan started making clear he was Dion, for Netlix, about a black boy with super- Meanwhile, Jordan is prepping a remake of interested in “white male” roles, by which he powers (co-produced with Charles D. King’s one of his favorite movies, the classic heist pic- meant roles with universal appeal. “Michael MACRO), and making a feature ilm called Just ture The Thomas Crown Afair, which originally didn’t want to be deined just by ‘Let’s send Mercy, about a passionate young lawyer repre- starred Steve McQueen, in 1968, and later Michael all the race-related projects,’ ” says senting death-row inmates, co-starring Jamie Pierce Brosnan, in a 1999 remake. Produc- Sun, “which is how the industry reacts to Foxx and Brie Larson. He’s also producing a ing and directing black-centric projects while [something like that]. We understand that Mi- coming-of-age TV series for Oprah’s OWN starring in roles that have traditionally gone to chael will get the African-American roles. I’ll network, currently titled David Makes Man, white actors is part of the design. ind them, the industry will ind me, we’ll just written by playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, This fall, Jordan will assemble a new mar- be presented those. It’s about seeing ourselves who co-wrote and produced the celebrated keting company with two childhood friends, as a color-blind talent, which he should be.” indie ilm Moonlight; and a historical epic about including Sterling Brim, a former music man- With all these considerations about his an all-black regiment during World War II ager who co-hosts the MTV program Ridicu- brand and the arc of his career, often in con- called The Liberators—an idea Jordan’s father lousness. Phillip Sun describes it as a “cultural lict, picking roles has become more compli- tipped him to. Then there’s Jordan’s next mov- marketing-and-consulting group” that can de- cated. Sun says they analyze a role from ev- ie with Ryan Coogler, Wrong Answer, about a liver young audiences of color to movie houses ery possible angle before making a decision. notorious standardized-testing scandal in and TV screens through curated social media (Jordan turned down the chance to produce Georgia, with a script by Ta-Nehisi Coates. and music soundtracks. “We feel like we have and star in Monsters and Men, for instance, Jordan is even preparing for his directorial a pretty sound perspective and opinion on how which is about the killing of a black man by debut with a ilm adaptation of the best-selling to market certain things, especially to our cul- the police.) Jordan’s personal interests remain young-adult novel The Stars Beneath Our Feet, ture,” says Jordan. the same as when he was 15—science iction about a young black boy who inds hope as an The first customer for the start-up was and comic books—but also, he says, ilms fea- obsessive Lego builder after his brother is Creed II. Sterling Brim curated the hip-hop turing strong women and black history. Last killed by a gang. soundtrack, which included Nas and Lil spring, after Frances McDormand called for Jordan worries about how he will get Wayne. Jordan plans on making a marketing more diversity on Hollywood sets during her Coogler and Coates and others to it into his contract with his company part of any ilm deal stirring Oscar speech, Jordan announced he’d jam-packed schedule. But the collectivism of he cuts with a studio, whether it be Warner use inclusion riders on all of his productions, the company is part of Jordan’s vision of black Bros. or Netlix. The idea is for Jordan to col- a contractual commitment to employing ra- progress as a business plan. lect a revenue stream from every part of the cially and gender-diverse ilm crews. In Sep- “Unity is so important,” Jordan says. “You production—his studio salary, the production, tember, Jordan convinced Warner Bros. to in- can just pick up the phone and get in contact the endorsements, the marketing, the prod- stitute inclusion riders across the entire studio. with somebody and have an idea, no ego: uct placements, the video games, the apps. Jordan has a lot on his plate. He is producing ‘What’s up? You guys wanna work together? Eventually he wants to own all of his own and starring in a sci-i TV series called Raising Let’s do something together.’ ” content and be the C.E.O. of what amounts

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 149 to bed.” utes, from thetimehewoke upuntilhewent like he was talkingto theguy every 20min- which excitedCarl,” says “It Denise. seemed nitely, great early thepromise of on, wealth, wasdei- “There $600 millioninhisaccount. whichbank statement, indicated that hehad says Gignac Denise. his showed Williamson by thisguy who claimed prince,” aSaudi to be Fake Sultan Brim andseveral whitewomeninbikinis.The parazzi ridinginamotorboat withpalSterling inItaly,Coast, where hewascaptured bypa- dan recently wentonavacation totheAmali Jor- whatabout ablack doing. be manshould who have very andpassionate speciic ideas hastomanage hisblack healso from, fan base, white mediatounderstand where he’s coming always thesamething.” trying to say, itdoesn’t always It’s connect. not from theoutside, andwhat theythinkyou’re nalists andwriters whoare tryingtoobserve say. whenyou Andsometimes dealwithjour- what exactlywhat I’mknow Imean, tryingto my things, intentionswhenIsay they certain just understand what itis,what itfeels like, color, black menorwhatever, they because languageis anunspoken of people between When Iask himabout this,Jordan says: “There misunderstood andoccasionally burned. buthe’s whitereporters, by plentyof felt also He’s him. toproile reporter interviewed been sentatives that B. Jordan, heexpresses concern tohisrepre- ly I Before status thatthe mogul hewantstobe.” is astepforMichael andtheteamtobecoming to ownwhatever contentthat hecreates. That long-term plan isforthat umbrella company things wewanttodo,andthenultimately the anumbrellabe company to the inance allof “Our mogul. lywood next step,” says “will Sun, makinghimadefactoto amini-studio, Hol- Michael B.Jordan for bullshit matched “Hefor bullshit wascalled hisown. talent met amanwhose Williamson in 2015, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 141 PAGE 141 FROM CONTINUED 150 While Jordan triestoget thepredominantly VANITY FAIR to Los Angeles tomeetto Los Michael Vanity Fair is sending awhite issending Then oneday, be open onlyto aselect andprivileged open be few: ment company for theprince, onethat would salary, agreed upaninvest- toset Williamson weight of not wanting to fuck up,you notwantingtofuck weight of know that you people It’slot of care about. anatural that canchangeis inaposition thelives a of and theguy thatbeing hastheopportunities Boulevard,Sunset andtheracing isover. “It’s lot,” hesays. We’re parked under atree near roles that “Ithinkabout andpossibilities. a whole teamhe’s propping upwithjobsand friends, fellowactors the andproducers, to make hisparents, hiscommunityproud, butalso succeed, dan thepressure—to about blackstandard IaskJor- men. forsuccessful cultural misunderstandings, andthedouble sphere, expectations, social-media box-oice littered withleering paparazzi, anobsessive path byhisagent described isanarrow one, chael B. Jordan to notscrew thisup.Thecareer Smith. Will he addsthat advicefrom herecently sought that really me,”body helped he says, though there’slearning howtodealwiththisshit, no- put downgay rumors aswell.“Navigating and his explanation.) onyourof boy, aight?” (Not everyone bought chocolate:including “Y’all are buggin’, teeing in Italy andthat heliked alllavors “milk,” of that there simplyweren’t many black women ablackreaders theShadeRoom, gossip site, of to trytalkingdownthecontroversy, arguing to his ancestors.” Jordan onInstagram jumped gested they“throw [Jordan] with intheocean standup routines. Onecritic onTwitter sug- Pryor, who regularly explored thesubject in forblacksue celebrities dating back toRichard Jordan prefers white al photos re-ignited individuals withinvestment At opportunities. inconnecting high-net-worth who specializes the princetoaninvestment banker inLondon and Rolls-Royce oneBay. Andheintroduced lomatic plates license for theprince’s Ferrari and hisfamily for20years. He purchased dip- lies. He vouched that hehadknown theprince People Ourregion.” of who isloyal andhonest understands the asa“great Williamson and introduced man matical errors. bypraising It opened Allah, whichannouncement, was riddled withgram- apparentlyRoyal wrote Highnesshimself the were nothingbutmailing addresses.)both His the Silver Tower believes (Denise inDubai. onParkheadquarters Avenue inNew York and on July 26, its logo 2015, adistinctive crown, its company onLinkedIn announceditsopening The Marden International L.L.C. Williamson Even thoughhehadnocontract andno There pressure isahighdegree of onMi- Two years ago, Jordan Instagram used to Williamson also began to also backWilliamson upGignac’s ong-simmering rumor that ong-simmering rumorthat women, a contentious is- acontentious women, machine isrunning,’ you know what I’m say- ‘All The thethingismovingonitsown. right, it’s like Igotta get to aplace where I’m like, ple around mearen’t either, comfortable, and always …” thinkingabout orI’m much, why alittlebittoo Ioverthink what I’m that’s andnotwanting—and saying, son inDubai andon Fisher and London Island.son Vrankenthe deal-making, met withWilliam- whoobserved sitions. According tosomeone mergersyer asamasterof known andacqui- “Frits” Vranken, arespected Dutch taxlaw- businesspeople.”even mostsuccessful crime that have would most people— fooled calls“afraud very complexandprofessional inwhite-collar mere griftingtowhat anexpert in twocountries, Gignac hadgraduated from pany. By investment enlistingtheaidof bankers I.P.O.pending oilcom- forAramco, theSaudi the of pre-ofering on a“friendsandfamily” al. Inreturn, theythoughtwere getting in companies to Marden Internation- Williamson $7,957,252wiring atotalof through various shell prince. investors Before 26 long, were eagerly bigscam.” big, “It wasabig, who issuing theprince’s company for fraud. votion bylendinghim$150,000. the prince’s she demonstrated request, herde- well.” says, breaking into asmile. “He’s done pretty crazy,” shesays. “He’s real crazy.” his mother, isalready Donna, worried: “He’s was right—Jordan isfinding hisvoice. And that andsmiles.Inaway, Washington Denzel hour at atime,” hesays. He likes of thesound milesper “Ienjoylife160 frightening speeds. stretches onopen often highway, of usuallyat spaceinrecentaged months, toindpersonal sincehe intensely and so entourage. Jordan says hehasworked hard so les, three blocks from afriend inhis thehomeof Ange- indowntownLos and intoapenthouse he’shouse lived inwithhisparents fortwoyears whatever, things.” andpersonal this,that, life, theirlove theirpersonal much of up so life, It’sthings justhappen. notlike Theygive that. they sacriicedtoget ther legacies, theydon’tthese ever what talkabout don’t really you people with get. These see bit more, andthat’s thesacriicethat people tolive Icankinda my start its own, life alittle toroll on Onceitstarts get momentum. some untilI and Igotta keep thisboulder pushing in awhile, butIgotta get themachine running, ing? Icancheck inonmaintenanceevery once “I’m thepeo- yet notcomfortable because tocollecthis thoughts. He pauses One of theinvestorsOne of wasGodefridus The banker majordoors for opened the This fall, Jordan the isinallymovingoutof “I was fooled,” says theinvestment banker, “I thinkyou canlet himgo now,” hisfather NOVEMBER was 15, he’swas 15, onlyman- e. People think these e. People thinkthese 2018

ILLUSTRATION BY R. KIKUO JOHNSON Williamson produced statements showing The money never came. But the long con in grand style at the Fontainebleau with Carl that the prince had $2 billion in the bank, and had begun. Gignac enlisted Perla Lichi, a pres- Williamson, his British investment banker, his said he owned $600 million in property, in- tigious interior designer who has worked on entourage of bodyguards, and Foxy. He drove cluding the palatial new Four Seasons Hotel at Middle Eastern palaces, to decorate his new a 2016 Ferrari California whose license plates the Surf Club in Miami. Vranken lent Gignac home. He was accompanied everywhere by bore the word DIPLOMAT and an insignia as- a total of $4.9 million—“to earn the prince’s an entourage of handsome bodyguards—low- sociated with U.S. diplomatic plates. With a trust,” according to the observer—and the level security guys hired from shopping malls Visa card bearing the prince’s name, he paid money was later “rolled over” into the Aramco and outitted in suits, fake diplomatic badges, for rooms and incidentals, both for himself I.P.O. Vranken was also required to show that and guns. And he played the rich-prince cliché and for his associates. Soon he was telling he “held the prince in high esteem” by pre- to the hilt. “Every single building you’d drive everyone that he was doing a deal with his senting him with Rolex watches and other by he’d say, ‘Oh, my father owns that,’ ” says a “good friend” Jeffrey Soffer. “The con was extravagant gifts. friend of the prince. “He’d just spend, spend, happening from the moment they met,” says In September 2017, Vranken traveled to spend, dumping out cash from Louis Vuitton a source close to the situation. New York to meet the prince. At the meeting, dufel bags and tipping hundred-dollar bills The negotiations stretched into August, he was introduced as the “Swiss C.E.O.” of to everyone: building managers, employees, when the prince invited Sofer and his busi- Marden Williamson International. The prince handymen. He acted like he wanted privacy, ness associates to Fisher Island. They were told Vranken he was partnering with Bill Gates but he wanted everybody talking about him. I given a tour of his garage, illed with Rolls- and Michael Bloomberg to build a new Four live in a city of bullshit, but this guy’s bullshit Royces and Ferraris. In his penthouse, with Seasons in Manhattan. During one meeting, was through the roof.” the name SULTAN on the doorbell, they were “His Highness” took what seemed to be copi- Gignac seemed to be re-enacting the pat- shown an “ornate box,” according to court ous notes, which turned out to be as phony as tern that had started as a child: the more alone documents, which contained a letter “pur- the I.P.O. “Scribbles,” says someone who saw he felt, the more his lies increased. Unable to portedly from the Bank of Dubai, guarantee- them. “Like a little kid’s.” come up with the money to buy the colossal ing the availability of $600 million.” “Frits is a successful businessman who was condos he crowed about, he rented a three- But before he agreed to invest in the Fon- swindled by Gignac’s complex, convoluted, bedroom penthouse on Fisher Island for tainebleau, the prince demanded that Sofer and sinister fraud,” says his attorney Michael around $15,000 a month, and filled it with show his respect through material oferings. Hantman. “Frits provided full cooperation to store-bought furniture. His phony entourage “He indicated that one of the customs of the U.S. Attorney’s Oice, which hopefully will did nothing to ease the pain he felt. Lichi, his his country was the exchange of very lavish lead to Gignac’s conviction. We hope he will designer, shows me the lurry of texts he sent gifts during the negotiation process,” says never again cheat so many good people.” her. “I feel so alone at times, Perla,” reads one. the source. So Soffer presented him with a It isn’t diicult to track what the prince did “It hurts.” Cartier bracelet worth $50,000, followed by with the money provided by Vranken and his In his isolation, Gignac set his sights on expensive artwork. All told, he gave the prince other investors. “Gettin that chicken,” Gignac one of the biggest marks of his career: Jefrey a total of $150,000 in gifts. posted on his Instagram account, beside a Sofer, the dashing prince of Miami, whose Gignac tried to play the short con to rack up briefcase packed with bundles of cash. family’s real-estate dynasty is worth an esti- as many gifts as he could. “You know the long mated $4.2 billion. “There’s a larger-than-life con isn’t going to ly, unless he comes up with a The Aramco I.P.O. wasn’t the only game quality” to Sofer, read a proile in Ocean Drive couple hundred million,” says the source. “So that Gignac was running. In early 2017, after magazine. “Maybe it’s because Forbes esti- it was: How long can I string this guy along he inished the terms of his parole in Michigan, mates his net worth at $1 billion, or because until he igures it out?” he headed back to Miami. As is customary for he turned the Fontainebleau Miami Beach To continue the discussions, Soffer flew royalty, he was preceded by his emissary, Wil- into one of the hottest hotels in the world. the prince to Aspen on his private jet. On the liamson, who told real-estate agents that His Or maybe it’s because he looks like John F. light, the prince worked his Gucci-encased Royal Highness, Prince Khalid, was interested Kennedy Jr. and he’s married to supermodel iPhone, posting a split-second video of Sof- in moving to Fisher Island, one of America’s Elle Macpherson. Whatever the reason, the fer on Instagram. In Aspen, he stayed at the wealthiest and most exclusive communities, 47-year-old Sofer, although soft-spoken, ex- St. Regis hotel and visited Sofer’s sprawling an oasis whose residents have included Oprah udes power.” home, once owned by the real Prince Bandar Winfrey, Boris Becker, and Julia Roberts. “He Soffer already possessed what the fake of Saudi Arabia and currently on the market said the prince, the son of the king of Saudi prince only pretended to have: a mega- for $29.5 million. But Sofer’s team was start- Arabia, had just undergone gastric-bypass yacht, a fleet of private jets, and three pala- ing to have doubts about the prince, spurred surgery and wanted to be on Fisher for some tial residences. But the Fontainebleau, the by some inancial red lags that had come up privacy,” recalls one local. crown jewel of his empire, had struggled during their background checks. The slimmed-down prince arrived for a with debt for years. So on March 24, 2017, Then, over dinner one night with the Sofer tour of the island, cradling his beloved Foxy, when a call came from a London-based in- family at one of Aspen’s hottest restaurants, and looked at high-rise condos going for $20 vestment banker who said she represented the prince made a fatal mistake. For his ap- million and up. “I’ve been in the biz 25 years, Prince Khalid bin al-Saud, Sofer wanted to petizer, he ordered prosciutto. but he was Top 10 over-the-top, lamboyant, believe. The prince, the banker said, wanted If the prince had actually read the Koran, all the bells and whistles,” says Don Pingaro, to buy a sizable percentage of the Fontaine- he would surely have known one of its verses a local real-estate agent. “He had the royal bleau—and overpay by what some say was most familiar to the faithful: “Forbidden to name, the seal, the bodyguards, the jewelry, as much as $140 million. “Jeff thought he you are: dead meat, blood, the lesh of swine, the entourage, the business manager. He was found a sucker to buy in for a crazy valua- and that on which hath been invoked the name looking for the best of the best.” tion,” says one insider. “But he ended up the of other than Allah.” The prince quickly found his dream condo. one being swindled.” (Sofer did not respond The Sofers immediately knew something “This is my palace!” Looking the owner in the to requests for comment.) was wrong: What kind of Muslim eats pork? The eye, he vowed, “I will have $21 million trans- In May, the prince, who told Sofer that he Fontainebleau’s security team began investi- ferred to you by morning.” was “a direct line to the throne,” roared up gating the prince, discovering “key information

NOVEMBER 2018 VANITY FAIR 151 Israeli Special Forces cording to thesource. TheState Department isn’tthat thisperson what heclaims tobe,” ac- Fake Sultan they had a scalpel at their disposal instead of instead of at theirdisposal they hadascalpel thatnized when itcame to counterterrorism tical I.D.F. generals—took notice andrecog- skep- apparatus—including national-security himthatagents hewasunderarrest, advised federal hisfalseAfter hepresented passport, his arrival at J.F.K. onNovember 19. airport “Traded inmy Ferrari,” hejokes. prince rides acamelalongthebeach inDubai. to Hong Inonevideo,the Kong andLondon. showed lavish dinners inParis andexcursions tohisdesigner,videos hesent Perla Lichi, else’s The someone Gignac used passport. the princeleftcountry byHurricane thwarted Irma. be on theprince’s FisherIsland onlyto penthouse, was notiied,andfederal agents planned araid team had somehow managed toarriveteam hadsomehow expressed astonishment at how Ronandhis ter withYAMAM years 30 ago, Barak, now76, Sayeretof Matkal. Recallinghisirst encoun- thearmedforces,commander of andhead minister,cialdom—prime minister, defense every inIsraeli position hold virtually offi- operation,” Tzur recalled. proudly Israel’s “Nosailant. hostages were killed during the stormed thebusandshotremaining as- the attackers while otherYAMAM members around 10:30, theteam’s shot snipers twoof [the attackers] hadkilled three hostages.” At the morning,” hesaid. “Before we arrived, agility. “We were in calledtotheieldat 7:30 theunit’s it showcased and judgment, speed, ers’ because Bus incidentwasaturning point YAMAM’s Moth- commander, theso-called jor at later thetimeandwould take over as welettaking over themdoit.” thebus.So brought everything which wasneededfor them,” Barak recalled. “It endedupthey “We asked themwhat theybrought with Sayeretof Matkal’s helicopters, raring to go. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 115 152 What theprincewasn’t able torecord was lastIn October of year, and Williamson According toDavid Tzur, whowasama- VANITY FAIR on a business trip. on abusinesstrip. would go onto ahead

of byShinBet thatof alarge-scale attack was mally declared itscaliphate. YAMAM, tipped Mubarak—and three years before ISISfor- the Arab Egypt’s of Springouster Hosni Sinai Desert.” ers istheterror attack ontheborder inthe the [one] more Iremember thanalltheoth- ists andsuicide bombers,” Nadmitted. “But many times under ire, [facing] many terror- ity. “I’ve operations of indozens and been maximum carnage withmaximum visibil- new face: extremists intent oninflicting Lately, YAA irreplaceable.”are kindof one hasabetter unit,” Barak observed. “They blunter instruments.“Idon’t believe that any- says Williamson. Denise came downstairs having tohold hisarmsup,” the unlocked gunsraised. doors, “My son when eightfederal agents stormedthrough histwinboys,lina home, alongwithoneof wasinthekitchen Caro- hisNorth liamson of Wil- 14. onDecember A.M. Christmas, at 6:30 They camefor himfree.set will attempt to convince ajuryto onceagain scheduled to go ontrial inMiami, where he interested inhearing.” you information national-security be would headded,“Ihave noresult, that produced When princepose. Gignac pleaded,stillinfull licopters, butitmissed.” Twogunmenwere missileshot at ourhe- asurface-to-air oneof and abusdriver, and, N tant detonated asuicid arrived onemili- onthescene. Inthe skirmish, broughtalso cameras to ilmtheirhandiwork. even] had handcufstokidnappeople.” They grenades, explosiveweapons, charges, [and training abroad. They were proficient with know from intelligence that theyreceived us,” death “We squad. the12-man Nsaidof theywere adiferent challengenai Desert, for jihadiststhat camefrom theSi- ISIS-Salai of andslaughtered. was ambushed group “This family four, of traveling thesame highway, ired at abus,injuring passengers inside. A night before getting word that shots hadbeen team byhelicopter. Theywaited through the border, dispatched onesquadron andasniper imminent somewhere along Israel’s southern hundreds of thousands of dollars. of thousands hundreds of cashanditemshewascarryingworth seizing time, wasired at twiceashisYAMAM team It was August six months after 2011, The agents interrogated for Williamson “I’m adiplomat withdiplomatic status!” N, whowasasquadron commander at the THE ROAD TOSINAI Carl Williamson just before before just Carl Williamson has gotten used toterror’s hasgotten used InJanuary, Gignac is e vest, killing himself killinghimself e vest, recalled, “a terrorist wife, “Idon’t wantanything I’m toeat. going I.P.O. scheme. inthe asaco-conspirator indict Williamson had already collected enough evidence to wasconnedbytheprince.he, But too, thefeds know,” insisted. Williamson Shebelieves that theprincewasafake.he hadknown “Ididn’t asked herhusband Denise if they inallyleft, six hours andsearched When hishomeoice. are preparing ourselves.” never didbefore. Andfor thisscenario we bigger, extraordinary something that they ways worse, try anddosomething something on thefuture: “We theenemy know willal- lessonthepastthan that histeamisfocused member. But at to hestopped stress onepoint vice madehimYAMAM’s longest-serving 24years hisfriend,whose ser- the lossof of priate forthissecretive, high-tech cadre.) was otherworldlyscene graphic images were projected inmidair. The rangeshooting where theirloved ones’ holo- commandos were taken insideadarkened and trading stories.Family slain of members the YAMAM having compound, refreshments inthecourtyard of members hadstood squad (The previous asthesundescended, evening, rolereminiscing about hisoutsize intheunit. Pascal’stheir son grave, embracing themand day, timewithAvrahami’s Nspent parents at Onthislife andcommerce grindtoahalt. membrance Day, holiday asomber when nation’s fallen warriors. It was Israel’s Re- Herzl, theinalresting many place the of of into thedesert. by anenemy sniper, whosimply melted back 49-year-old father three, of killed hadbeen armor covering hischest. Thesniper, a body round hitAvrahamimm. above theceramic scrambled forcover, andinthefrenzy a7.62- theborder.side of Four YAMAM operators time later, shots rang ministerBarak.ing thendefense Ashort YAMAM includ- hissuperiors, sniper—briefed control, andPascal Avrahami—a legendary under tobe seemed thescene midafternoon at vehicle, apassenger killingthedriver. By aim in anexchange took ire whileasecond of crossing thehighway.spotted Onewaskilled recognize. itover,Looking shesaw anameshedidn’t the agents showedherthesearch warrant. saying that hewassorry. days later. He leftbe to hanghimself. He diedfrom hisinjuries two P.M.,around 7:30 andtried hestrunguparope you andI’ll see to bed, inthemorning.” Then, That night, at dinner,That night, toldhis Williamson On thisRemembrance Day, Nmourned I joinedNthispastApril at Mount isAnthony Gignac?”“Who sheasked. At duringtheraid, recalls, onepoint Denise hind a short suicide note, suicidenote, hind ashort out from theEgyptian NOVEMBER but somehow appro- but somehow 2018

LEFT: VIDEO STILL BY ADAM CIRALSKY. RIGHT: PHOTOGRAPH BY TOM PENNINGTON/GETTY IMAGES cheerleaders next to nothing isn’t just a way its 13th season, manufactures drama from N.F.L. Cheerleaders to keep costs down; it’s an essential part of body-shaming young hopefuls trying out for the N.F.L.’s brand. The cheerleaders don’t do the D.C.C. Candidates with 20 percent body it for the money. They do it because they love fat—well within the normal range for a healthy the team. They are where they belong, on the woman—are pressured to lose weight. In one sidelines, ready and willing at every moment episode, a team-hired “body-image expert” to support the warriors who are battling for pinches the belly of a slender woman with lat supremacy on the ield. abs. “You don’t want to put that body into that That’s why, 40 years after the N.F.L. de- little tiny uniform,” he tells her. cided to market cheerleaders as sex objects, it The N.F.L.’s approach to cheerleading is continues to police the personal appearance out of sync with the future of cheerleading of squad members. Bailey Davis, the Saints itself. Competitive cheerleading—a demand- cheerleader who was ired for posting an Insta- ing sport that requires the athleticism and CONTINUED FROM PAGE 123 themselves at the gram photo in a lacy bodysuit, says she was told skill of professional gymnastics—has soared mercy of the owners. “We were back at square it was “trashy and inappropriate. Meanwhile in popularity over the past decade. Today there one,” says Oliver, who left the squad in 1999. I’m posing for the team’s swimsuit calendar, are 1.25 million competitive cheerleaders in the In 2014, the Jills made news again when and they’re making money of of it.” On the United States, with competitions broadcast they became one of the irst N.F.L. squads to other end of the spectrum, Kristan Ann Ware, a on ESPN to 100 million homes in 32 coun- sue for back pay. The Oakland Raiderettes, cheerleader with the Miami Dolphins, clashed tries. “As someone who has been part of the who also sued, reached a settlement award- with the team for being too chaste. In a lawsuit cheerleading community my whole life and is ing them $1.25 million in back pay, or approxi- against both the Dolphins and the N.F.L., Ware immersed in advancing the sport, the recent mately $6,000 per cheerleader. But like the alleges that team management ordered her to wave of allegations from N.F.L. cheerleaders Chargettes before them, the Jills discovered stop discussing the fact that she is a virgin who has been upsetting,” says Nicole Lauchaire, that speaking up carried a heavy price: rather is waiting until marriage to have sex because of a spokesperson for the Universal Cheerlead- than settle, Buffalo simply disbanded the her Christian faith. “We’re just trying to help ers Association, the sport’s top organization. squad. Four years later, the case is still inch- you develop into a real woman,” Ware says she “However, in many cases, what these women ing its way through the courts. was told. (The Dolphins say they “do not dis- are doing is not what we consider modern-day criminate” on the basis of gender or religion.) cheerleading; they’re entertainers.” It’s impossible to determine how much mon- Cheerleading alumni from the old days The former cheerleaders gathered at the ey the N.F.L. makes of its cheerleading squads. note that the outits and routines have become reunion in Nashville don’t dispute that char- The sale of swimsuit calendars, posters, and more risqué than ever. “To me, they dance like acterization. Many got into cheerleading be- other cheerleading merchandise represents a bunch of strippers,” says Kepley, the former cause they enjoyed the way it made them feel a relatively tiny source of revenue for most Cowboys cheerleader. “They’re twerking on about themselves. They did it, they say, for the teams, according to Ray Katz, who worked as TV. It feels like lighting dynamite: When’s it same reason women rush sororities—for the the N.F.L.’s director of marketing for 15 years. gonna explode?” gossip sessions and the post-breakup shoul- The chief money-making potential is corporate The N.F.L., for its part, is exploring ways to ders to cry on amid the clouds of hair spray in sponsorships for cheerleading squads—deals turn back the clock. Over the summer, repre- the locker room. What they remember most that can draw as much as $500,000 for a blue- sentatives of the 26 teams that have cheerlead- isn’t the way they were harassed or exploited chip organization like the Dallas Cowboys. ing squads were summoned to a closed-door or shamed. It’s the sense of sisterhood they Given the league’s outsize wealth, Katz says, meeting with N.F.L. brass to discuss the recent felt. “When people ask me if I would do it it’s a “terrible business practice” to be paying rash of lawsuits and allegations. In a reversal of again, I always say, ‘Absolutely,’ ” says Killmer, cheerleaders as little as $25 for a two-hour ap- what teams set out to do with cheerleaders in the Cowboys cheerleader who was ordered to pearance. He says the league should provide the 1970s, the league discussed making their lose weight in her thighs. “It was one of the cheerleaders with a fair wage for game-day per- image “less saucy and more family-friendly,” best experiences of my life.” formances, and create a clear revenue-sharing according to a source familiar with the meeting. Even Davis, who was fired by the Saints, plan for personal appearances. Some teams are traveling even further back in speaks fondly of the way her Saintsations sis- In a sense, the true value of the cheerlead- time: this fall, the Rams and the Saints debuted ters would huddle together and support each ers is woven into the very fabric of the N.F.L. the irst male cheerleaders in N.F.L. history. other through all the abuse and the discrimina- The league proits from selling a retrograde But teams continue to profit from mar- tion and the lousy pay. “This is horrible. I’m not notion of masculinity—big, strong men, un- keting their cheerleaders as sex objects. A coming back next year,” she recalls grousing afraid to take a hit, surrounded by enthusias- reality show on CMT called Dallas Cow- with her squad-mates. “And then we kept com- tic, scantily clad women. In this model, paying boys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, now in ing back—for each other.”

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