Graydon Carter

Career TCR and Time magazine

In 1973, Carter co-founded The Canadian Review (TCR), a general interest monthly magazine.

In 1978, Carter moved to the United States and began working for Time magazine as a writer-trainee, where he met Kurt Andersen. During the final years of Spy, Carter was an editor at The New York Observer, subsequently rebranded The Observer.

Carter took the helm of Vanity Fair from Brown in July 1992.

Carter was depicted with an idiosyncratic personal style, in the book, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, by former Vanity Fair contributing editor, Toby Young and in a 2008 film adaptation of that book, Jeff Bridges portrayed a character closely based on Carter.

On September 6, 2017, Carter announced his departure from the editorship of Vanity Fair in interview with The New York Times, he stated he would be on a "garden leave" until the end of 2017. Since leaving the magazine in 2017, Carter spends part of each year living in France with his third wife. former Vanity Fair journalist Vicky Ward wrote that she had interviewed the family of two young sisters (later identified as Annie and Maria Farmer) and discovered credible reports of molestation amidst a 2003 profile assignment on financier Jeffrey Epstein. The allegations were—Carter claimed in communications with David Folkenflik of NPR—removed from the profile as they did not meet the magazine's legal threshold for publication at the time.

Air Mail newsletter In 2019, Carter co-launched a weekly newsletter with Alessandra Stanley, John Tornow (CTO), and Bill Keenan (COO) called Air Mail. In 2025, Air Mail was acquired by Puck. As of October 2025, Carter was believed to be leaving Air Mail as part of the deal.

Other enterprises In 2009 Carter and Jeff Klein became partners in the Monkey Bar, a New York City bar and restaurant eatery with a history dating to 1936. Both men sold their interest in the property in 2020.

As of this date, Carter was a co-owner, with his third wife, Anna Scott, of The Waverly Inn in the West Village.

Books authored Carter wrote What We've Lost, which was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September in 2004, which has been described in review as a comprehensive critical examination of the Bush administration.

He published his memoir, When the Going was Good: An Editor's Adventures During the Last Golden Age of Magazines, in March 2025.

Theatrical and film productions

Carter was a producer of I'll Eat You Last, a one-woman play starring Bette Midler, about legendary Hollywood talent agent Sue Mengers. The show, directed by Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello, opened at the Booth Theatre in New York City in April 2013, and at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles on December 3.

Carter has co-produced two documentaries for HBO, Public Speaking (2010), directed by Martin Scorsese, which spotlights writer Fran Lebowitz, about Hollywood producer Jerry Weintraub, and His Way (2011), which was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. He also was a producer of Chicago 10, a documentary which premiered on the opening night of the Sundance Film Festival in early 2007. He was also a producer of Surfwise, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2007, and Gonzo, a biographical documentary of Hunter S. Thompson directed by Alex Gibney.

Carter was an executive producer of the award-winning film, 9/11, a film by Jules and Gedeon Naudet about the September 11 terrorist attacks, which aired on CBS. He also produced the documentary adaptation of the book The Kid Stays in the Picture about the legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans, which premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival and opened in theaters in July of that year. In 2012, Carter had a minor role in Arbitrage.

Awards and recognition Accolades during his tenure at Vanity Fair (from 1992-2017

In 2017, Carter was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada by Governor General David Johnston for "contributions to popular culture and current affairs as a skilled editor and publisher".

Carter received an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award for his film 9/11.

Personal life

Carter has married three times.

Carter and Williamson separated in July 2000, divorcing amicably and in 2003, he began dating a British woman, Anna Scott, with a background in fashion who is 18 years, his junior.

In a 2003 interview, Carter described himself as a libertarian.

Carter splits his time between, France,