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Like the rest of us, I followed the news last summer of the July 4 flood that devastated Texas’s Hill Country with a pit in my stomach and a lump in my throat. The notion that one horrific natural disaster could sweep away 27 kids at a summer camp—the Christian all-girls Camp Mystic—seemed unfathomable. What I didn’t fully appreciate at the time, though, was how many other people lost their lives in that same catastrophe, how the media had not given their stories the same amount of attention, and how their deaths could have been prevented if just a few more precautions had been taken before the storm hit. Until I started working with Karen Valby on a one-year-anniversary piece about the flood, I also had no idea that the flood’s survivors, in many cases, were the ones who sifted through the wreckage themselves to find their loved ones’ remains. I hope you’ll read Karen’s gripping account of the flood and everything after; it’s a tough sit, but a necessary one.

Elsewhere today, Rita Omokha talks to the man on a mission to make Red Lobster cool; Charles Melton swings by Little Gold Men; and Colman Domingo, Emily Blunt, and Josh O’Connor question Steven Spielberg.

HILLARY BUSIS,
SENIOR EDITOR

Hell and High Water

BY KAREN VALBY

“I don’t know that I’ll ever swim in the South Fork of the Guadalupe again, and it runs through my soul,” says Christine Chenoweth. “The river that killed Jane was the same river that baptized her.”

Culture Watch

BUSINESS

This 37-year-old CEO Is On a Mission to Make Red Lobster Cool. Yes, You Read That Right.

BY RITA OMOKHA

As the youngest ever CEO of the beloved seafood chain, Damola Adamolekun has gone on a press tour straight out of a celebrity playbook and taken to the internet to directly communicate with customers like a fandom. But following the restaurant’s bankruptcy in 2024, can he pull off a comeback?

LITTLE GOLD MEN

Charles Melton Might Play a Himbo, but He’s All Heart

BY REBECCA FORD

The star of Beef season 2 talks Korean cinema, life as a new dad, and the best form of revenge.

Video

The Cast of Disclosure Day Grills Steven Spielberg

BY CLARA MOLOT

Steven Spielberg, Colman Domingo, Emily Blunt, and Josh O’Connor—that should be enough reason to watch our latest video with the cast of Disclosure Day. The famed director gets pressed by his starry leads and discloses on extra-terrestrial visits, almost directing Rain Man, and getting kicked off set by Alfred Hitchcock.

Whether or not Kamala Harris will run again for president is one of the big questions of this moment, as VF’s Aidan McLaughlin has reported. Today, Ta-Nehisi Coates takes on other aspects of that question for Vanity Fair: Did her inaction on Gaza in 2024 contribute to her loss? And, if the American presidency is an inherently violent office, what does it mean for any Black woman to hold it? His column is extraordinary in its depth of thought, and its care, and is a must-read as the country looks for future leadership from all quarters.

Meanwhile, Aidan has a new report from Washington this week on the bread-and-circuses spectacle of Trump’s UFC weekend. Read on for more scenes from the debasement of our capital city...

CLAIRE HOWORTH,
DEPUTY EDITOR

The Next Black President

BY TA-NEHISI COATES

Kamala Harris’s quest for the White House was rooted in a political tradition of nonviolence pioneered by Black women. In the wake of Gaza, the broad promise of that tradition proved too much for her to bear. As the question of another run looms, Ta-Nehisi Coates reckons with the implicit violence of the American presidency—and the conditions under which a Black woman might ever hold that office.

Culture Watch

POLITICS

Trump’s Bloody Birthday Spectacle

BY AIDAN MCLAUGHLIN

The wild weekend in Washington began with MMA fighters menacing one another on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and ended with the Trump clan stalking the octagon. It was an imperial scene in the shadow of the executive mansion, a showcase of American excess to celebrate the president’s birthday.

POLITICS

Jane Fonda Counters Trump’s Birthday Bash With NYC Protest Concert

BY KENNEAL PATTERSON

The Academy Award winner spoke exclusively to VF before taking the stage at her celebration of the First Amendment—an event featuring A-listers like Bette Midler, Robert De Niro, and Julia Roberts.

CULTURE

Spike Lee’s Ultimate Knicks Block Party

BY CHRIS SMITH

The city’s official ticker tape parade is on Thursday, but the team’s most die-hard celebrity fan made good on his promise to oversee dancing in the streets of Fort Greene.

From the Magazine

Daddy Issues

BY CLARA MOLOT

There’s trouble behind the scenes of Alex Cooper’s Unwell media empire.

Over 40 sources, including current and former Unwell employees, have spoken to Vanity Fair about Cooper’s company, and the man calling the shots at the Gen Z media empire, her husband, Matt Kaplan.