Overview

New York Magazine's "The Cruel Kids' Table" Cover refers to a viral cover story published by New York Magazine on January 27th, 2025, featuring photos taken at the "Power 30 Awards," an event co-sponsored by TikTok to celebrate social media influencers who aided in President Donald Trump's reelection. While some internet users described the photos as "sinister," citing the high-contrast and perceived garish lighting, many conservative users described the images as flattering, with Vice President J.D. Vance tweeting, "It’s like they’re trying to make us look cool." CJ Pearson, co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council and a Black influencer who co-hosted the event, accused the writer of the story of distorting the racial makeup at the party, saying that he and other non-white attendees were cropped out of the cover photo purposefully.

Background

On January 27th, 2025, New York Magazine published a cover story^[10] titled, "The Cruel Kids' Table; Out late with the young Right as they contemplate cultural domination." The story, written by Brock Colyer, detailed the events at a January 19th, 2025, Washington, D.C. function called "Power 30," an award ceremony created to celebrate social media influencers who aided in Donald Trump's reelection.

The event was co-sponsored by TikTok and hosted by Raquel Debono, known for organizing "Make America Hot Again" conservative dating events, and CJ Pearson, co-chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council.^[3]

New York Magazine posted the cover to its Instagram^[1] that same day, where it gathered over 14,000 likes, and to its X^[2] account, where it gathered over 6,000 likes, each in three days.

Developments

CJ Pearson's Response

On January 27th, 2025, co-host and Black Republican youth leader CJ Pearson^[4] posted a series of tweets criticizing the magazine's coverage of the event, writing, "I hosted this event and @NYMag intentionally left me out of their story because it would have undermined their narrative that MAGA is some racist cult." The post gathered over 40,000 likes in three days.

Later that same day, X user @ChrisBarnardDL^[5] quote tweeted Pearson, gathering over 36,000 likes in a similar timeframe on a post that accused New York Magazine of cropping "all the black people out of this cover photo."

Online Reactions

On January 27th, 2025, X^[6] user @Real_Politik101 tweeted several photos from the New York Magazine feature, writing, "The Roaring 20s ARE BACK," and gathering over 17,000 likes in three days.

On January 28th, 2025, VP J.D. Vance^[9] reposted the cover with the caption, "It’s like they’re trying to make us look cool," gathering over 100,000 likes in two days.

However, several internet users criticized this positive characterization of the photos, describing the lighting framing as sinister or uncanny. For example, on January 28th, X^[7] user @AlsikkanTV posted an edit that inserted Jack Torrance from the Overlook Hotel in The Shining into the scene, gathering over 26,000 likes in two days.

Also on January 28th, X^[8] user @wiltingwheels tweeted, "the clarity dialed up to 100, the sinister looking shadows, love a photographer who has underlying commentary," gathering over 140,000 likes in two days.

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References