Vanity Fair’s editor, Radhika Jones, abruptly resigns

Vanity Fair’s long-time editor Radhika Jones shocked the magazine’s staff on Thursday by announcing her resignation. In an emotionally charged meeting at the One World Trade Center office, Jones, 52, explained in an email that she had “begun to feel, more powerfully, the pull of new goals” in her life, adding she dreaded “staying too long at the party,” as reported by the New York Times.

Jones, who took the helm in 2017 after Graydon Carter, oversaw a period of transformation at the storied publication. Under her leadership, Vanity Fair maintained a paid circulation of roughly 1.2 million from 2017 to 2025, according to figures from the Alliance for Audited Media, even as advertising pages and revenue faced decline. Industry insiders say her departure may also reflect deeper financial and creative pressures at Condé Nast amid a challenging media environment.

Chief Content Officer and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, visibly emotional during the meeting, affirmed that Jones would remain until June to facilitate a smooth transition. Speculation is rife that the departure could signal a broader strategic overhaul to remedy what New York called a “deepening malaise.” The search for a new editor is underway, drawing names like digital director Mike Hogan or well-connected rising talents such as Mark Guiducci and Will Welch.

Jones’s sudden exit leaves a void at one of American journalism’s most prestigious positions as the magazine struggles with a shifting advertising landscape and the pressures of digital transformation.