Vanity Fair or unfair? You decide. The popular Conde Nast monthly just laid off 15 top staffers all with tenure after decades of loyal service.
Gone are publicity director Beth Kseniak, top celebrity cover booker and editor Jane Sarkin, and top editor Chris Garrett, among others.
This signals a major change by new editor Radhika Jones, who took over from Graydon Carter after 25 years, last December. In addition to downsizing and moving more toward digital, Jones also obviously wants her own people.
That’s always a shame, because the existing staff made a huge hit of Vanity Fair. They knew what they were doing. All the laid off employees will do just fine but it with great sadness that we say adieu to friends.
Some problems that will be discussed in post-layoff Monday morning quarterbacking: the calamity of the Hollywood Issue cover, on newsstands now. James Franco was digitally brushed from the cover after accusations of sexual misconduct. In the brushing, Oprah Winfrey scored a third hand, and Reese Witherspoon got an extra leg. But I doubt any of that led to these layoffs. It’s just the changing of the guard.
