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Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Issues

The decision to release VF’s annual star-packed Hollywood issue three months early—before Thanksgiving!—did little to quiet speculation about Roger Lynch & Co’s strategy to grapple with Condé’s rough ’24, an ongoing China problem, and expected layoffs.

In many ways, VF’s Hollywood Issue is the sort of cultural chew toy that delights and reviles Condé Nast staffers and veterans, alike, but isn’t really all that economically significant. These days, Condé C.E.O. Roger Lynch has more pressing issues.
In many ways, VF’s Hollywood Issue is the sort of cultural chew toy that delights and reviles Condé Nast staffers and veterans, alike, but isn’t really all that economically significant. These days, Condé C.E.O. Roger Lynch has more pressing issues. Photo: Omar Vega/Getty Images
Lauren Sherman
November 18, 2024

Last week, Vanity Fair released its 2025 Hollywood Issue—the multi-gatefold, photo portfolio–heavy ensemble masterminded by Graydon Carter three decades ago, and traditionally set for publication in February or March—a surprisingly preemptive three months early, in late 2024. The timing of all this struck many in the fashion and entertainment business as entirely bizarre and a little suspect. The Gordon von Steiner gatefold was a marked improvement over many covers during Radhika Jones’ six-year editorship, but the commentary inside the Condé group chats was all about the timing. Why, many wondered, did Jones move the Hollywood issue up a whole quarter?