press release
By Priyanka Mantha
Photo: Chantal Anderson
On November 11 and 12, 2023, New York Magazine’s Vulture held its tenth annual Vulture Festival in Los Angeles, a pop-culture spectacle where Vulture comes to life right before your very eyes.
Curated by the editorial team, this year’s festival included everything from an acting class from Henry Winkler to a talk about art with Sharon Stone and New York Magazine’s Pulitzer Prize–winning art critic Jerry Saltz, the musical stylings of MUNA and Meg Stalter, holiday songs with Matt Rogers, an hour-long hangout with Patrick Stewart, superlatives with Weird Al, honoring Billy Porter with Vulture’s Honorary Degree, a slumber party with Josie Totah, a big long talk with Cord Jefferson, a peek behind Hrishikesh Hirway’s Song Exploder, and more. The full list of stars features:
Billy Porter, Henry Winkler, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Patrick Stewart, MUNA, Meg Stalter, Matt Rogers, Sharon Stone, Cord Jefferson, Mike Schur, Josie Totah, D’Arcy Carden, Rachel Bloom, Paul Feig, Tim Heidecker, Adam Pally, Chelsea Peretti, John Early, Kaitlin Olson, Casey Wilson, Jerry Saltz, Robin Thede, Amber Tamblyn, TJ Mack, Brian Jordan Alvarez, Allison Crutchfield, Andrea Jin, Beth Stelling, Brian Bahe, Brit Marling, Chris Farren, Curtis Cook, DJ Viva, Fenne Lily, Gabrielle Bellot, Gianni Carter, Greta Titelman, Hrishikesh Hirway, Jamie Loftus, Jasmine Solano, Jeremy Levick, Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee), Kirsten Vangsness, Marika Sawyer, Nafissa Thompson-Spires, Paul Briganti, Paul Simms, R.O. Kwon, Rachel Kaly, Rajat Suresh, Sam Johnson, Sarah Naftalis, Tim Hollingsworth, Whitmer Thomas, Zach Zucker, and Zal Batmanglij.
You can see highlights via Vulture’s coverage of the festival here, and portraits from Vulture’s photo studio here. Additional highlights below:
Sharon Stone joined New York Magazine’s Pulitzer Prize–winning critic Jerry Saltz in conversation and shared how she began her painting journey. Vulture’s coverage notes:
In an attempt to distract Stone during the root canal, her dentist talked all about her work in prisons. Doing dentistry? No, teaching forgiveness. Stone said, “‘That’s incredible,’ I said. ‘Can you do that for me?’” From her dentist, Stone learned how to forgive herself, especially for her missteps as a mother. “And that’s how I ended up painting,” she said.
Photo: Getty Images for VOX Media
Read more via Vulture: How a Seizure at the Dentist’s Led Sharon Stone to Painting
Henry Winkler conducted his trademark Vulture Festival acting class and shared that he wouldn’t have been able to tackle his Barry role if it weren’t for therapy. “I could not have done Barry, I could not have done Gene Cousineau with that texture, I believe, without opening myself in that particular therapy,” Winkler said.
Winkler’s event was visited by special guest Sharon Stone, who joined the festival on its second day to observe the acting class. Winkler, who had just watched Casino on a plane, stated, “Oh, you broke my heart. Oh, my God. Your journey in that movie, your ability in that movie. The pain in that movie was so dynamic, this little screen on that seat in front of me filled with germs, you jumped out of it into my body. Holy mackerel, congratulations.”
Photo: Getty Images
Read more via Vulture: Henry Winkler Says Therapy Is to Thank for His Barry Performance
During Weird Al Superlatives Live!, Weird Al signaled a new song is on the way, stating, “In fact, I’ll make a commitment. Will put out at least one new single next year.”
Photo: Getty Images for VOX Media
Read more via Vulture: Weird Al Promises New Music Is Coming
Billy Porter received Vulture’s Honorary Degree, and in a wide-ranging interview discussed his experiences with racism and hom*ophobia in the entertainment industry and “the systems of oppression that consistently, consistently mute and dismiss our contribution to the world.”
Porter discussed being typecast because of his sexuality in Grease and how it took being cast in Angels in America to change that, as well as how working with Ryan Murphy in Pose allowed him to bring himself to a role. He stated, “He was on my vision board … I knew that he would be a person that would understand me. He would be a person that wouldn’t be afraid of me. ‘He’s too flamboyant’ is all I would ever hear. He’s too much, too this, too that, too this, too that. It’s like, well, somebody has to be! You know Ryan was one of the first people in the film and television space to go, ‘No, all of you. All of that.’”
Photo: Getty Images for Vox Media
Read more via Vulture: Billy Porter’s Never-Ending Performance
Photos for media use can be found linked here.
Caption: New York Magazine’s Vulture Festival 2023
Credit: Getty Images
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