Vanity Fair’s new editorial director, Mark Guiducci, is putting his stamp on the Condé Nast title a little over a month after he took the new gig.
In a memo to staff Tuesday, Guiducci said Vanity Fair will be re-centering its coverage around entertainment, celebrities and culture, along with “money, politics and style.” As part of that, the publication will be scaling back certain areas of coverage, including “news aggregation, reviews and trade coverage,” Guiducci wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by Variety.
More from Variety
Vanity Fair Taps Vogue’s Mark Guiducci as New Editor
Vanity Fair Editor Radhika Jones to Step Down: ‘I Have Always Had a Horror of Staying Too Long at the Party’
The New Yorker Union Votes to Authorize Strike Ahead of Magazine’s Annual Festival; Condé Nast ‘Disappointed to See This Tactic’
The move will include shutting down vertical sections of the VF website. That will include phasing out The Hive, which has focused on business, politics and technology. The pub launched The Hive in 2016 as its first mobile-focused site.
“We will no longer think of something as a ‘Hive post’ or a ‘HWD post,’” Guiducci wrote, referring to Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Daily vertical. “We will treat each story as a Vanity Fair story.”
Vanity Fair is hiring 13 new staffers under Guiducci’s leadership, including three new correspondents who will focus on Hollywood, Washington and style.
At the same time, several VF staffers have been let go including chief critic Richard Lawson and Hollywood correspondents David Canfield and Anthony Breznican, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Guiducci started as Vanity Fair’s global editorial director on June 30 after previously serving as creative editorial director at sister publication Vogue. Guiducci, 37, took over for Radhika Jones, who earlier this spring stepped down as the top editor at Vanity Fair.
Read the memo:
Hello everyone.
Over the past six weeks, we have talked a lot about focusing on the intersections between Vanity Fair’s core subjects — Hollywood, the arts, money, politics, and style — in modern ways, from newsletters to TikTok to new platforms that don’t yet exist.
Today, we will start working toward our new editorial strategy, gradually sunsetting our siloed vertical structure to focus on Vanity Fair as a whole. We will be moving away from news aggregation, reviews, and trade coverage. We will no longer think of something as a “Hive post” or a “HWD post.” We will treat each story as a Vanity Fair story.
This does not mean we are becoming less ambitious. The opposite is true. Transformations are not without difficulty, but I’m thrilled to say that we are hiring for a number of new positions. They include a global creative director to oversee visuals and design across all editions and platforms. They also include two senior editor positions and three new correspondents, each focusing on Hollywood, Washington, and Style, as well as producers and an entirely new social team. We will continue to add roles.
As we look ahead to the Hollywood Issue, my first, we are working on a redesign of the magazine that will influence the look of Vanity Fair on every platform, including our live events, from the Oscar Party to our presence at film festivals.
I’m also thrilled to announce that Claire Howorth will be stepping into the role of Deputy Editor, overseeing our stories everywhere that they may live. In this role, Claire will guide our day-to-day assignments, from quick turn reporting to longform narrative features to live events coverage.
I’m also happy to announce that Daniel Kile will become VP, Global Content Strategy. Video, social, operations, audience development, and events teams will report to Daniel, who will also work closely with departments across the building, from Revenue to Product and Technology. In this role, Daniel will also be collaborating with Simone Marchetti and our global HOEC as we look to grow Vanity Fair internationally.
My favorite thing about the past six weeks has been meeting each of you 1:1 and seeing firsthand the immense talent here at Vanity Fair. I also know that these weeks have been busy, often exhilarating, and I appreciate everyone who has stepped up.
Today and always, I want to encourage all of you to come to me with your ideas and questions. My door is always open. Most importantly, thank you for welcoming me to the team.
Mark
Best of Variety
New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
What’s Coming to Disney+ in August 2025
What’s Coming to Netflix in August 2025
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
