November 22, 2025

CULT FOLLOWING

OneTaste, a wellness start-up beloved of Gwyneth Paltrow, promised to revolutionize people’s sex lives. Instead, it became a coercive cult, the disturbing extent to which is only now coming to light …

SUE UNTO OTHERS …

What do the BBC and Miss Pennsylvania have in common? They—and countless others—have been sued for defamation by Trump. We measure his exorbitant claims against their modest outcomes …

THE BEARER OF BAD NUZZI

Olivia Nuzzi’s R.F.K. Jr. sexts were just the tip of a very large iceberg. Stuart Heritage unpacks the scandal that has taken the media world by storm—alleged affairs, a scorned ex, and all …

PRISON PRINCESS

While the Epstein files wreak havoc on Washington, Ghislaine Maxwell, convicted sex trafficker and special friend of Jeffrey Epstein, is living out her days in a cushy low-security prison in Texas …

RED, WHITE, AND FONDUE

The country-singer girlfriend of F.B.I. director Kash Patel swears she’s a down-home girl, but she was educated alongside the children of billionaires and dictators at an elite Swiss boarding school …

THE BELLES OF LE BAL

For 25 years, Paris’s Bal des Débutantes has been photographer Jonathan Becker’s Thanksgiving. Ahead of this year’s event, we look back at a quarter-century of the world’s bright young things …

NO RESERVATIONS

Gordon Ramsay, the British chef and TV host, shares his secrets to the good life—and the problem with having size-15 feet (yes, really) …

BUT, WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Our indispensable guide to last-minute gift-giving … the painter William Nicholson is England’s newest re-discovered gem … this month’s best mysteries … and Russell Brand, Larry Summers, and Prince Andrew battle it out in this week’s Attention-Whore Index Poll!

Issue No. 332

The View from Here Trump’s war on the media has generated a lot of sound and fury, not to mention a handful of well-publicized settlements—but few actual victories in court

By Matt Kapp

Read On

“Always Be a Yes” How the wellness cult OneTaste turned consciousness-raising into alleged sex slavery

By Ellen Huet

Read On

The Polite Panic of the Last-Minute Gift These simple offerings don’t say, “I ran out of time”—they say, “I have judgment”

By Jennifer Noyes

Read On

“I like sitting here because no one asks about my life goals.”

Ghislaine Unchained Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator—currently serving 20 years for child sex trafficking—is living the high life in jail, complete with puppy visits, snacks and refreshments, and a warden she treats as “her personal secretary”

By Victoria Bekiempis

Read On

Gifts for the Traveler

Shopping for people who have adopted Group One as an identity? AIR SUPPLY has holiday presents that feel like an automatic bump to the front of the cabin

Shop

Photo: Everett Collection (Berto in La Chinoise)

All the Nuzzi That’s Fit to Print The R.F.K. Jr. sexting scandal is just scratching the surface of former political reporter turned glitzy magazine editor Olivia Nuzzi’s astounding web of personal entanglements

By Stuart Heritage

Read On

Marcos Fecchino’s Favorite Things

For the Buenos Aires–born creative director, nothing says “the holidays” like firewood, the smell of barbecue, and a Speedo

Shop

Photo: H. Armstrong Roberts/Classicstock/Alamy (swan dive)

Take Me Home, Canton Roads Alexis Wilkins—the country-singer girlfriend of F.B.I. director Kash Patel—may warble about pickup trucks and patriotism, but she grew up in an elite Swiss boarding school for billionaires, dictators … and Tucker Carlson

By Joseph Bullmore

Read On

The Weekly Waffle

A positively addictive word game to go with your morning coffee

Who Was This Week’s Biggest Attention Whore? Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to put down the knives, Russell Brand wants to save our souls, and much more!

By George Kalogerakis

Read On

read The Ten Year Affair When two parents meet in a chance encounter at a baby group, it seems they’ve found their perfect match—save for the fact…

listen Gap Playlists Striking the right tone—and tune—at a family holiday gathering is hard. But thanks to the Gap (yes, the store), there are plenty…

pair Wine Simple Those who have frittered away a long afternoon drinking Chablis at Le Bernardin (O.K., there’s some eating, too) know exactly how…

spread Tiptree Start your day off like a queen—Mary, Queen of Scots, to be precise. Legend has it that in 1561, as the doomed monarch sailed…

cater Sophie’s Table Private chef Sophie Dalah—sister to Nathan Dalah, of the fast-casual restaurant chain ThisBowl—got her culinary start tossing leafy greens…

sip Derneburger There’s nothing like a glass of schnapps—an unsweetened, strong spirit akin to a fruit brandy—to warm up a cold winter’s evening…

read The Ten Year Affair When two parents meet in a chance encounter at a baby group, it seems they’ve found their perfect match—save for the fact…

listen Gap Playlists Striking the right tone—and tune—at a family holiday gathering is hard. But thanks to the Gap (yes, the store), there are plenty…

pair Wine Simple Those who have frittered away a long afternoon drinking Chablis at Le Bernardin (O.K., there’s some eating, too) know exactly how…

spread Tiptree Start your day off like a queen—Mary, Queen of Scots, to be precise. Legend has it that in 1561, as the doomed monarch sailed…

cater Sophie’s Table Private chef Sophie Dalah—sister to Nathan Dalah, of the fast-casual restaurant chain ThisBowl—got her culinary start tossing leafy greens…

sip Derneburger There’s nothing like a glass of schnapps—an unsweetened, strong spirit akin to a fruit brandy—to warm up a cold winter’s evening…

“The Met Gala for Teenagers” As le Bal des Débutantes returns to Paris, its longtime correspondent reflects on a quarter-century of photographing its brightest young stars

text and photographs by

Jonathan Becker

18

The debs of le Bal 2024. Back row, Poppy Halard, Cornelia Manou, H.R.H. Princess Eugénia de Bourbon, Marilian Vamvakidis, Sienna Gallienne, Isabel Quirot de Poligny, Angel Zhang; middle row, Ella Yam, Countess Alienor Loppin de Montmort, Madelyn Netto, Oona Finch, Lucia Ponti, Rysa Panday, Sofia Yadigaroglu; front row, Mina Muniz Tschape, Peyton Spaht, Olivia Meijer.

Poppy Halard with her cavalier, the French aristocrat Gabriel de Kergorlay.

Oona Finch hugging her father, the British businessman Charles Finch.

Peyton Spaht, the San Francisco deb, in a haute couture Dolce & Gabbana gown.

Angel Zhang and her father, the filmmaker Zhang Yimou, sharing a waltz in the ceremonial ballroom.

Isabel Quirot de Poligny and Count Nicolas de Poligny.

Marina Rust, David Netto, and Miranda Brooks.

The table setting at the Shangri-La dinner.

Apple Martin and her escort, Count Leo Henckel von Donnersmarck.

Blythe Danner, Gwyneth Paltrow, Apple Martin, and Moses Martin.

The fireplace mantel at the Shangri-La, originally built in 1896 as Roland Bonaparte’s private palace.

The cavaliers taking their bow as the waltz begins.

H.R.H. Princess Eugénia de Borbon with Holden Spaht.

Prince Alexis Obolensky dancing with Mina Muniz Tschape, the 2024 Brazilian deb.

The debutantes and their fathers taking the floor at the Shangri-La.

Read On

Nancy with Feather Hat (The Artist’s Daughter), by William Nicholson, 1910.

William Nicholson had a terrible Great War. At 53, he was too old to be conscripted. But he lost his wife, Mabel, to the influenza pandemic in July 1918. And three months later, his son Tony died in action, only 37 days before the fighting ended. So it’s no surprise that Nicholson’s 1918 painting Armistice Night, invoking one of the wildest celebrations in British history, is rendered in deep blacks and a sickly sepia. READ ON

Read On

Deadly Pleasures to Read and Watch This month in mysteries: a detective novel that foresaw Trump’s spat with his neighbor up north, and a scintillating new season of The Diplomat

By Lisa Henricksson

Read On

Gordon Ramsay

The British chef and TV host answers 17 of life’s most pressing questions

Read On

Was Founded By

Graydon Carter and Alessandra Stanley

And Is Edited By

Julia Vitale

Creative Director

Angela Panichi

Chief Technology Officer

John Tornow

Deputy Editors

Ashley Baker Ash Carter Elena Clavarino George Pendle

Books Editor

Jim Kelly

Arts Intel Report Editor

Laura Jacobs

Photo Director

Ann Schneider

Art Director

Paloma Huerre

Copy Editor

Adam Nadler

Research & Legal Editor

Matt Kapp

Production Editor

H. Scott Jolley

Junior Editors

Carolina de Armas Jeanne Malle Paulina Prosnitz

Deputy Photo Director

Emine Sevim

Deputy Art Director

Zoé Gillette

Columnists

Dana Brown Cazzie David Lisa Henricksson
Walter Isaacson Pico Iyer Rachel Johnson
John Lahr Jonathan Margolis Linda Wells
James Wolcott

Writers at Large

Lili Anolik Johanna Berkman Joseph Bullmore Spike Carter Vassi Chamberlain William D. Cohan Rich Cohen Matthew Gurewitsch Victoria Herman Michael Hainey Stuart Heritage George Kalogerakis Sam Kashner James Kirchick Alexander Lobrano Alexandra Marshall Daphne Merkin Sam Wasson

Contributing Artists

Monica Ahanonu Barry Blitt André Carrilho Pip Carter Paul Davis David Downton Andrea Ferolla Josh Gosfield Cathy Graham Eric Hanson Angelica Hicks Hilary Knight Danielle Kosann Michael Lindsay-Hogg Ross MacDonald Joe McKendry James McMullan Donald Robertson Charles Dare Scheips Grant Shaffer Ed Sorel Ralph Steadman

Contributing Photographers

Jonathan Becker Justin Bishop Alex Board James Emmerman Marcos Fecchino Daniel Paik Art Streiber Sharon Suh Justin Weiner

Architectural Consultant

Basil Walter

Head of Audience Development

Rachel LeSage

Audience Growth Manager

Merritt Johnson

Cartoon Editor

Bob Mankoff

Music Supervisor

Randall Poster

Technology

Brooks Oakley Justin Rubaloff

General Manager, Commerce & Brand Partnerships

Anjali Lewis

Business Development Director

Catherine Scott

European Sales Director

Selim Mataraci

Financial & Business Operations

Marc Leyer

Account Manager

Dillon Freeman

Chief Strategy Adviser

Adam Mendelsohn

AIR SUPPLY

Editor, Commerce, and Chief Merchandiser

Jennifer Noyes

Shop Editor

Jessica Iredale

E-Commerce Manager

Isaac Metlitsky

In Memoriam

Peter Bogdanovich Milton Esterow Duncan Hannah Jane Larkworthy Douglas McGrath Richard David Story André Leon Talley David Yaffe

The View from Here Trump’s war on the media has generated a lot of sound and fury, not to mention a handful of well-publicized settlements—but few actual victories in court

“Always Be a Yes” How the wellness cult OneTaste turned consciousness-raising into alleged sex slavery

The Polite Panic of the Last-Minute Gift These simple offerings don’t say, “I ran out of time”—they say, “I have judgment”

Ghislaine Unchained Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator—currently serving 20 years for child sex trafficking—is living the high life in jail, complete with puppy visits, snacks and refreshments, and a warden she treats as “her personal secretary”

Shopping for people who have adopted Group One as an identity? AIR SUPPLY has holiday presents that feel like an automatic bump to the front of the cabin

All the Nuzzi That’s Fit to Print The R.F.K. Jr. sexting scandal is just scratching the surface of former political reporter turned glitzy magazine editor Olivia Nuzzi’s astounding web of personal entanglements

For the Buenos Aires–born creative director, nothing says “the holidays” like firewood, the smell of barbecue, and a Speedo

Take Me Home, Canton Roads Alexis Wilkins—the country-singer girlfriend of F.B.I. director Kash Patel—may warble about pickup trucks and patriotism, but she grew up in an elite Swiss boarding school for billionaires, dictators … and Tucker Carlson

The Weekly Waffle

A positively addictive word game to go with your morning coffee

Who Was This Week’s Biggest Attention Whore? Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to put down the knives, Russell Brand wants to save our souls, and much more!

“The Met Gala for Teenagers” As le Bal des Débutantes returns to Paris, its longtime correspondent reflects on a quarter-century of photographing its brightest young stars

Deadly Pleasures to Read and Watch This month in mysteries: a detective novel that foresaw Trump’s spat with his neighbor up north, and a scintillating new season of The Diplomat

The British chef and TV host answers 17 of life’s most pressing questions

Was Founded By

And Is Edited By

Creative Director

Chief Technology Officer

Deputy Editors

Books Editor

Arts Intel Report Editor

Photo Director

Art Director

Copy Editor

Research & Legal Editor

Production Editor

Junior Editors

Deputy Photo Director

Deputy Art Director

Columnists

Writers at Large

Contributing Artists

Contributing Photographers

Architectural Consultant

Social Media Manager

Head of Audience Development

Audience Growth Manager

Cartoon Editor

Music Supervisor

Technology

General Manager, Commerce & Brand Partnerships

Business Development Director

European Sales Director

Financial & Business Operations

Account Manager

Chief Strategy Adviser

Editor, Commerce, and Chief Merchandiser

Shop Editor

E-Commerce Manager

In Memoriam