As she turned each page, pointing to the faces, her voice was low, relaxed, unbothered.
“This is one of my best friends.” Flip. “That’s Alice, who helped with the wedding.” Flip. “He’s an agent at WME.” Flip.
Hilarious. Loved the entire piece, Jessica Testa.
211
So she’s selling $350 handbags, while disparaging the “vibes” of the crisis of unhoused people? Please don’t call this woman the queen on our city.
1518
So according to her the homeless situation in Echo Park has gotten so terrible. So rather than be part of the community and help with the problem she runs to the Westside. What has she done for the homeless? What has Ari? What has her bestie “regular guy” Elon done? The whole thing wreaks. I’m glad you ran this piece though. You’re documenting the fall of America.
1781
I have lived in Los Angeles for 20 years. I had never heard of this person before I saw this article. Who is Sarah Staudinger indeed?
756
She's this ultra-LA person and had to look up who Ari Emmanuel is?
Wish this article was just about the Larry David - Elon Musk conversation. THAT I want to know about.
538
I actually liked the Staud brand until reading this. So many problematic things here, so I'll just focus on the scariest and most glaring one:
A man who calls you persistently for months on end and will not take no for an answer has no respect for you or your right as a woman to make your own choices. Period. That is not a cute story in any way. Add in the fact that he's three decades older and incredibly powerful in Hollywood, and you have me genuinely a bit frightened for her.
1412
@Cay Thank you!! I was so disgusted by that. But hey, money (and fame) are pretty convincing to some.
472
I'm mostly glad that the NY Times has discovered California. This clearly should have inspired the editor to recall Solomon in all his glory, and cut the article in two, one for the T Magazine fluff and one for the Nuptials fluff. But that's just me, my head in the wrong century clearly.
I do prefer this to knee jerk right wing talking points, mind you. So well done?
134
The comment section is so precious! Thank you to all of you.
744
Of course, this article was cringey. Wasn't that the point? Many of the commenters here do not give due credit to the writer. Do we really think the writer was enamored of this person? My cynical mind tells me that this article was created for the sole purpose of the incredible comments.
1068
I read this article around 6AM this morning and there were no comments. I just came back and wow! My initial reaction was "who cares?" I wish them well. I love her couch and great leather suit.
64
@Sharon G You came back...
68
@Patrik I did. I was curious to see the comments. But, now that I finished my lunch, I am going!
59
"most suits her present social life: attending dinners with entertainment executives; tanning while “the boys watch sports” in the screening room being built inside her pool house; playing pickleball with whomever happens to drop by the house."
She eats, tans and plays pickleball.
Wow. I am pea green with envy.
325
Short answer: She is not the Queen of LA.
575
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, in the milieu in which she grew up. It's a loathsome place--90210 culture. Or culture-less.
I even work in The Business today.
Yet, I've never heard of her.
And how dare you call the subject of this piece the New Queen of Los Angeles?
Is the NYT a tabloid?
She is the queen of nothing but self-absorption and wealth.
Los Angeles has a million queens, and none of them are her.
1627
1. read headline...feel disappointment (and shame)
2. read "Larry David presided..." in subhead feel SOME interest (and LOTS of shame)
3. read the first sentence... then STOP reading immediately
4. read some comments ... wonder where these people are "IRL"
5. move on
150
“All The News That Fits, We Print”
300
@Tim Reilly I see what you did there and I like it!
74
I guess, not being from California, the editor who wrote this headline might think hollywood is LA. These people are as foreign and removed from my life and the lives of everyone I know as they are to anyone able to read this comment. But she is hot, and she is rich, and she is the kind of trophy wife our last President was able to have in the White House (at least part time).
It seems she was born way past 3rd base, which is certainly a royal characteristic, but we've got literally hundreds of thousands of millionaires here, and their kids reside in the same space.
You gotta do more than be sexy and get a sugar daddy to be our royalty. Try harder;)
547
@SIRReal` Exactly! I know approximately zero people like this. The vast, vast majority of Angelenos are not people like this and cannot remotely relate to people like this. We have no pickle ball instructor or favorite facialist.
249
Sir real, thanks for the clever addition of trumps third wife into your comment. Perhaps I should be above this, but after the destruction that family has brought upon us, I just can’t help but value the humor.
My follow up question: when and how did “vacuous” become an admirable trait?
271
anyone notice that Emanuel was texting her for a date while still married?
779
Long pig. Yum.
35
I really enjoyed…the Comments Section.
1402
@Dave 🇨🇦 Me too!
95
Don't get this- how does any of this make her the queen of LA?
303
Don't know who she is but I'm calling her out on purse-speading!
58
The most interesting thing about this article is the extreme visceral reaction it seems to have on people who read it. I'm reading The Body Keeps the Score and it's making me notice triggering things. This wasn't one for me. I opened it because her name was unfamiliar to me and my only reaction was wanting to go look up her handbags.
61
@Working mom, Fortunately most of us commentors here understand the harm to a great paper that printing tripe like this does. We'll do the lifting for you.
276
Your teeth didn’t clench at the description of the way she was hounded into dating an old man who refused to take “no” for an answer?
379
Interesting article that shows how outsiders think of LA versus what LA actually is.
169
I am a bit confused how all these vitriolic and downright hateful comments are making it through the reviews. I could not care less about Ms. Staudinger jet set friends but it sounds like she is creative and professionally successful in her own right without Ari Emmanuels connections. So how about everybody just calm down and end the cultural revolution tribunal!
48
@Tom - Agreed! Staud is an "it" brand. That is news, both business news and fashion news. This is a story about successful people who work hard and earn their place. So, why such angry hateful comments from people?
20
Well, without his connections, but WITH Cher’s connections, and with financial backing she didn’t earn
Obviously there’s no way this brand would have launched successfully if not for the early support of celebrity acquaintances and the financial backing of wealthy family and friends. She’s just following the same script as a hundred other celebrity-adjacent women with access to capital looking to set up a new revenue stream that doesn’t involve working for anyone else
Laudable? Sure! Worthy of a feature in the NYT? No
294
"Is She the New Queen of Los Angeles?"
No. Next question please.
262
I just clicked for the comments. Because...I mean...
459
Imagine Maggie Maggie Habberman, David Brooks, Bret Stephens, Gail Collins and Charles Blow juiced up on truth serum. What would their take on "Is She the New Queen of Los Angeles?"
94
who is the old queen of los angeles ?
228
@Ricci
Nuestra señora la reina de los angeles. That's who.
86
@Ricci, This article is an affront. LA has a current reigning queen and her initials are KK. I can't wait to her excellent "reality" show to see how she responds to this usurper.
37
@ShadeSeeker, Put your thinking cap on. A vacuous person who is famous for nothing, but did have a leaked home movie sex tape. Here's a hint: Her father hid OJ's knife and bloody clothes to help him get off.
120
Gratifying to see all the comments that add up to, at best, meh. Who are all these consumers that have to spend their money on plain old stuff, “designed”and marketed by self-appointed celebs?
60
So the answer to homelessness is to move away from it? The ultimate in privilege regardless of color.
254
Oh, was she supposed to solve homelessness? I didn't realize that. And how is your neighborhood in Connecticut -- is it sufficiently virtuous?
63
I couldn't care less who Sarah Staudinger is but her publicist just got a bonus I bet for this story.
233
This self-indulgent tripe would make Nero blush. Or, in a language that Ms. Staugdinger would understand, "Zero stars. Would not recommend."
260
Of course this article makes something out of nothing: she's married to Ari Freaking Emanuel!
78
@Ayecaramba
Um, sorry, don't know who he is either.
95
@TRF He is a well-known publicity agent for many big stars.
25
@TRF an old dude who bulldozes boundaries to take what he wants, apparently
224
what a waste of valuable newspaper space. this article is a perfect example of why people think California is home to self-entitled rich weirdos. who cares about these people???
223
Yawn.
90
Who cares.
98
As I read this story, I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or sharpen the guillotine (figuratively).
308
Suggestion for these types of articles: instead of listing the home’s artwork, how about asking what charitable organizations to which the couple donates? She seemed to complain about the homeless problem, yet did not acknowledge her possible role in creating it, or mention anything she might be doing to improve the situation. Is she paying the producers of her products a living wage as she offers lower prices to her customers? I had many such questions reading this article. I guess if NYT held these celebrities to task, they wouldn’t have access to these people for these types of articles.
183
This is a waste of valuable digital newspaper space.
181
I will tip my hat to the "famous for being famous" crowd for not only making that their singular personality trait but also being able to monetize the hell out of it.
Anyone want to wager the lifespan of her marriage to Ari? I'll take the under at 5 years.
160
Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
133
I hope this was a setup for a new Larry David show.
225
LOL.... "On a tour of the rooms, Ms. Staudinger also pointed out an ice bath, a hyperbaric oxygen therapy chamber and various other machines that promise better health; she and Mr. Emanuel are fixated on wellness. He was a vegan until she convinced him to read 'The Carnivore Code.' He now eats meat twice a week, although the couple is 'lectin free and pretty much grain free.'"
186
I’m going to try and sell her my new book — “The Crystal Diet: Staying beautiful through mineral consumption”
It’s about a strictly non-biological diet of powdered minerals and vitamin supplements. Avoid destroying any living thing, and I promise you won’t gain an ounce of weight!
108
I often wonder if the NY Times style writers try to make their subjects look insufferable on purpose. The writers are smart, skilled people and fluent in sarcasm and snide, so it seems like they'd know what they are doing. And the subjects are either too stupid or too blindly narcissistic to understand what is going on here. Honey, what did you think would happen when you made the writer watch while you flipped through your celebrity photo book like some hunter showing off the animals she shot? Did you think this writer was going to be impressed? Awed? Cowed? I guess the Archer School for Girls doesn't teach people how to read a room outside of an elite, wealthy context.
684
@LL "I guess the Archer School for Girls..."
For those not in the know this school used to be the Eastern Star and actors' retirement home. It's where Jack Nicholson finds out what's really going on in "Chinatown."
85
Nauseating Lifestyles of the rich and privileged.
137
I tried to read this article, I don't even know why, but it was just so ridiculously not interesting and my brain just kept saying "who cares"
116
Hilarious. I am glad the NYT still has this stuff because it is a sign that the live-and-let-live faction at the Times has not been completely driven out. Also, if you want more stories about homeless people instead of this fare then go out and talk to one!
46
Ugh...another famous for being famous rich person! These type of stories sicken me. Why should we be interested in this person?
80
I think her fashion line sounds like a great—cool and more affordable than many, without logos. She also comes across as a reasonably nice person. Ultimately I found this article a briefly intriguing glimpse into someone else's life, and nothing more. I don't know why the commenters so angry!
19
@Navah "...briefly intriguing glimpse into someone else's life, and nothing more."
Intriguing? I'm afraid this comment says more about you.
69
Note to self:
In the unlikely event that you need a publicist, find out who reps Sarah Staudinger
233
Gahh.
49
The article is a must-read introduction to Ruben Östlund's marvelous satirical film "Triangle of Sadness." Sic transit gloria mundi.
52
Wow just wow - I hope my daughter who is about to turn 27 doesn’t ever feel the need to date someone her fathers age - or if God forbid something happened to me My 55 year old husband doesn’t choose to date someone who is the same age as his daughter. I get age is just a number but this is disturbing
191
@Amy The only thing I could think of throughout this whole article. I've seen this a few times. It's fine until all of sudden, he's elderly. And then it's a lot less fun.
94
@Working mom
But isn't that true of any marriage or relationship, no matter what the age of either of the people?
17
Don't give a whit. Pretty grotesque
65
I think I'm going to be sick.
111
THANK YOU NYTs for giving me some material for my next short story. This parody practically writes itself. xo
149
This article is one example – and there have been a number of them lately – where the commentary has been far superior to (and a heckuva lot more entertaining than) the content. My fellow screeders, you guys are at the top of your game here!
756
@SubScriber I came here just for the comments!
159
@SubScriber I almost always enjoy the comments more than the article.
131
I don't know who she is but I don't like the headline to this article at all.
38
For me, at the moment, Sarah Staudinger as presented here is too much of a fiddling while stuff burns personage. I don't know Elon Musk, cannot say whether he comes across as a regular person. I do know that his public presence has devolved into an agent acting in the service of the worst among us who are savagely going after our democracy, our basic rights, our fundamental prospects. At first glance, the change from Reformation, which we loved and still are very fond of, to Staud looks to be a similar devolution.
98
Please tell me this is a parody or I’ll never be able to watch Larry David again.
422
@theresa, We all love Larry but remember he shilled for crypto currency.
153
Staud and Ari are friends with Elon Musk, who likes Trump and is in the process of revamping Twitter to be more of a right-wing conspiracy-theory digital rag than it had been. That Ari has a collection of Black artists means nothing. Does this uber-affluent couple, with their billions, do anything for the less privileged in the world? A better article would have been to contrast Staud with one of the homeless people she detests.
392
@Karen P. When the article wrote about Ari being a collector of Black artists I thought: either he is counting on the pieces becoming more valuable or he is into some type of voyeurism.
172
I wanted her to be aware of what she looked like.
Which girl has class?
She is deeply obsessed with chips...
The margins are really low.
I don’t care.
202
I’m sorry to all the party poopers not only reading but then also leaving hateful, holier than thou comments, this is a super fun article.
19
Would you like a new handbag with your tea, Lauren ?
70
@Lauren, It looks like your positive comment is one of about two or three others. Sometimes the majority is actually right. This is one of those cases.
134
I found this exhausting and boring which is crazy because I am totally in love with the whole 1970’s boho style
More pics of the style would have been more interesting and less about wellness which always sounds like a self absorbed mental illness to me
111
She’s the epitome of class …yet laments homeless, casually scoffs at the multiple Hermes blankets gifted to her by well wishers, refers to her old workplace clients as “slutty”, and married a man twice her age no doubt for money. I’m confused.
322
@Huh Homeless? Excuse me, but you can be cool and still not like mentally ill formerly institutionalized felons camping on your doorstep, screaming obscenities and defecating on the sidewalk. This is why the Democrats are losing. The homeless? Where are their families? I take care of my own. I am not responsible for their irresposiblity or California's. I am sick to death of their trash and chaos. No more empathy here. Get thee to an institution or campsite at least an hour away from civilization. And sweetheart, many many people think the same.
39
@Me No empathy for the homeless? Maybe you can be "cool" if you don't like witnessing desperation at your doorstep, but not having empathy for suffering, regardless of how repugnant it appears to you, is appalling.
183
This isn't my L.A. And I live in Santa Monica.
79
@Gary E, So who's your queen in SM?
7
I thought Larry David had more sense than to ever hang out with these types of shallow people. Guess I was wrong.
188
@AHominid He also shills for crypto.
75
1) Cher seems nonplussed about her. 2) Anyone that calls you obsessively ("an onslaught") before you've even met them doesn't actually want to meet you; they want to meet who they think they are meeting and what it makes them feel about how they can and will meet them. 3) You put your Kara Walker slave market piece in your entryway? Okay, great, just checking.
276
@blw Nonplussed? (of a person) surprised and confused so much that they are unsure how to react.
I didn't get that from this read. Cher seems perfectly happy for her friend's kid using her as inspiration.
11
Still waters run deep, or is that the light reflecting off the dense, damp asphalt.
62
Never heard of her.
38
Lectin free? Had to look it up.
85
I’ve lived all of my 62 years in L.A., and have never heard of this woman. What kind of world have we become when the 10 million residents of my city must bow to someone who designs purses and knows a lot of celebrities? This type of vacuous idolization has begun the decline of our civilization.
995
Having just read the article about Joan Didion's stuff going to auction, and then reading this, I paused and smiled at the thought of Ms. Didion writing about Staud, about all that seems vaguely similar to her writings about L.A. and the U.S. and the distortions of wealth and fame. Here's my bottom line: Ms. Didion, "effortlessly chic" next to her Corvette, and Staud's effort to be chic...and falling flat I'm afraid. It's not that she is so terrible; it's that these times do not produce actual thinking people. I mean she has a rich, older husband and they're friends with Elon Musk, and she's a handbag designer, whose godmother is Cher? Sigh. Compare that to Didion and her friend artist, writer and photographer Patti Smith. These modern folks just don't have "it." Maybe because there's no there, there.
420
Good for her.
6
Actually, good for her privilege and entitlement, Pete Shaw.
46
Cmon, the best paragraph was the last one where the creatives are so bummed out by the margin touting business person that the heretofore open plan layout was deemed to be unbearable. Filthy profits and all that. Does this woman know how absurd she sounds?
162
@CT Nope.
60
I actually like Staud clothing and own a few pieces. But this article reads like something out of a bygone era. It’s cringe on steroids. The Queen of LA? I can’t. The journalist who wrote this should be embarrassed.
242
I did not read this article, only glanced at the headline. Because I knew nothing in it would be worth the time. In my 60 years of a rich, full, and happy life, I have never for a moment cared one bit about Los Angeles and have never wanted to go there. With a nod to the (I presume) normal people who live there, this sort of thing might as well be on a different planet—one that we couldn’t possibly care less about.
31
I come from LA, my much-missed hometown and this article makes it sound like another planet to me too!
65
@Scott Wilkinson
Like the city itself, narcissism on (vegan) steroids
27
@Scott Wilkinson " I have never for a moment cared one bit about Los Angeles and have never wanted to go there."
Boy that really hurts. Only the second best architecture in the US, top 3 food destinations, second to NY in its contemporary art scene. And pretty much, except where I live, the best climate in the US.
I give art and architecture tours there and no one has not been amained at what I show them. I guess Eugene's nice to; I was there once.
61
Why is she queen of LA? Just read it as it had Los Angeles in the title. Oh well. These articles keep LA vapid...There are some real creative people here (LA). Find them and write about them.
99
I know that it's great fun for New Yorkers to think of Southern California as the "Shallow Coast."
The reality of Los Angeles is very different. NY Times observers of Los Angeles should really venture east of La Brea Avenue: there is a whole other world out there with stories that are really worth telling.
158
@UC Graduate So we're in agreement that this isn't one of them?
62
@Anna
Well, I suppose Sarah Staudinger's story is part of LA Stories... We should just be mindful that her story and the vast majority of LA stories that NY Times writes about comes from a tiny sliver of the region that represents about 5 percent of the population.
46
Did this woman’s publicity agent write this? Los Angeles is a great town! Good food, good surf, awesome hiking. This “queen” is perhaps the queen of privilege and narcissism, not my beloved LA.
161
Nauseating self-absorption. Absolutely no relevance to normal humans living normal lives. Still, important I suppose to have some documentation along the way chronicling the fall of Rome redux.
324
If America doesn't implode and adjusts course in education and standards history will one day explain how the vapid culture of Los Angeles and social media combined to create a country of neurosis.
61
A hot seller that she could add to her fashion line: a bumper sticker for her and her clients' cars......
"A walk through the sea of my soul would barely get your ankles wet"
119
Did I miss the „Rags to Riches“ moment? Or did you mean „Riches to Riches“?
This article is a gut punch to every decent stomach. I‘m disgusted.
158
Did I just open up Cosmo or Vanity Fair; vanity being the key word? Oh wait, it is the NYT; shock for me.
142
@Margot Smith
My reaction exactly. I compared it to a Vanity Fair puff piece.
62
Not knowing when this vacuous piece was written, let me see if I get this straight: Article includes the factoid that Mr. Emanuel, from a prominent Jewish troika of brothers collects works by prominent Black artists; the subtitle of this includes the name Ms. Jenner, a mere two degrees of freedom from the rapper/fashionisto and noted anti-semite, and no mention of the controversy? What's happening to journalistic curiosity?
64
Super entertaining article, and her handbags are good, and reasonably priced for such. All the sour grapes in the comments are tiresome. If you wish to subsist exclusively on seriousness, go right ahead. Me? I might as well enjoy my life, and watch the stars play.
10
@Lola how about a subscription to Vanity Fair, Cosmo etc and you can cancel this one?
62
@Margot Smith I feel sorry for anyone who views this as an either/or.
14
Sometimes friends of the privileged, written about in these vapid articles, will hop on the comments section, pretending to be a fan. It’s so embarrassing, you’re not doing them any favors. Read the room!
52
I absolutely worship celebrities.
95
@bill Best comment of the week. You win.
41
@bill., You don't need to worship a queen, just submit to her edicts.
16
Well, that's 5 minutes out of my life that I'll never get back but at least I am reassured that "the couple is “lectin free and pretty much grain free.” And this is one "modern Californian" not interested in biohacking and psychedelics. I have to keep in mind this was in Style and not presented as an ethics dilemma.
242
How can you be both “obsessed with chips” and “virtually grain free?” Asking for a friend.
123
@Owen Her favorite chip, Snacklins, are grain free.
15
This just feels like a vanity article with a bunch of name dropping!
Could've had some real heart if it maybe talked about Developing Staud, alternatively we got to learn Cher is her godmother. Whup tee dooo
52
She isn’t my queen. I have no idea who she is and could care less.
66
@Zak, With subjects like you she's going to have a hard time ruling.
54
After this article, please read David Brooks' opinion piece on the rise of global sadness which is well-positioned just below this article's header. It is a fitting companion piece, perhaps even better positioned above the "queen."
99
@InAZ, I had just finished that before reading this one.
8
I can’t understand a person who finds value in collecting African American artwork but has no empathy for homelessness. Seems contradictory and hypocritical and dismissive to marginalized and oppressed peoples. However, this whole missive is about a person who only apparently views design as a two dimensional form instead of a multi-dimensional reality, The shallowness on how things present is more important, which is immensely sad for someone who has an opportunity to be more. This is no Queen, this is no inspiration, no leader… not when there are more important things going on in the world.
332
@SGR It’s one of the conundrums of the « haute » art world that collectors who will spend millions on works by Black artists don’t give a dime to assuage flagrant racial inequality in this country. Many hold their colletions as badges of honor, and this helps mask their lack of actual interest or compassion for those who are struggling.
159
@SGR Agree. Do we expect a person raised with this kind of parenting to NOT be shallow though:
“I wanted her to be aware of what she looked like, what she acted like,” Joanna said. “We’d drive by a group of older girls, and I’d say, ‘OK, Sarah, which girl do you think has class?’ She would say, ‘The girl in the red dress’ or something. I’d say: ‘You’re going to be standing in that circle one day. Which girl do you want to be?’”
151
Agreed! I was going to point out that line, but did not.
Unfortunately, in this culture “how we appear” can define our value. And for those searching for a place in the world this is important. Now this is narcissistic, once upon a time it was about acculturation and a way for economic improvement.
50
Well, this is surreal. Who knew we had “a queen”? And, more importantly, who knew this lady even existed? Apparently, the few people who’ve bought her handbags get to make these decisions.
I love how all New York Times articles claiming to be about Los Angeles bear no familiarity, or importance, to 96% of the city’s population. Reading them is like entering an alternate universe.
At least they’re good for a scratch of the head and a chuckle.
419
@ShadeSeeker
Correction! There is one exception to the rule above and that is the wonderful food articles written by Tejal Rao. Whenever I read those, I connect with a Los Angeles that one can actually recognize, and that exists in more than the imagination of a handful of folks moving in the smallest of circles.
55
Smfh.
35
I don't care about these people. Good luck to them though.
24
HRH Staud had to move her "design team" from [Insert name drop here] Courtney Cox's building because . . . "the “'homelessness situation just got so out of control,'” she said." Why didn't she build them pickleball courts to keep them moving?
402
It would be delightful to read that Ms. Staudinger has focused on democracy as a cause and that she has chosen to invest heavily on getting out the vote in the waning weeks of the midterm elections. That she "won't drop it (even if she's told it won't sell)." That seems like it would be worthy of being reported and written about in the New York Times. I'm not sure about all of the other stuff in this article.
81
Be it vegan or lectin free or carnivore, these two need to get some healthy food over to kids in South Central.
Like to know what these two very lucky people do to help others.
315
Unfortunately, this profile was uniformly cringey and that is a disservice to the reader and perhaps also to Ms. Staudinger. I've seen her clothing in other magazines and quite liked it and I like the idea of bringing down the crazy price point demanded for anything well made. But next time I see her name I will think of this article and her mother making her pick out the "girl with class." Ugh!
382
Pickleball instructor? I was our high school pickleball champ: I had no idea it could lead to a lucrative career! Sign me up
95