The cover of New York Magazine’s March 19–April 1, 2018, issue is a tabloid-style cover featuring Olivia Nuzzi on Hope Hicks, Trump’s right-hand woman whose unexpected departure has left outsiders angling to get back in; a look at Michael Osgood, the NYPD’s top sex-crimes investigator who tried to bust Harvey Weinstein three years ago, and an explosive account of what happened when the DA’s office stepped in; a primer for the SETI-curious on how seriously you should take those recent reports of UFOs; and more.
“The tabloid cover was the nice handiwork of design director Tom Alberty,” says New York editor-in-chief Adam Moss. “A custom blend of Enquirer and Us Weekly styling.” The idea to let a tabloid cannibalize the cover of the issue came about in discussions of the Hope Hicks story. Hicks is a key character in this administration’s soap opera, and her affair with Rob Porter was initially uncovered by a tabloid newspaper. “If the likes of Us Weekly covered government figures the way they cover reality television stars Hicks would be a tabloid superstar,” Moss says. “The scary thing was how many of this issue’s stories lent themselves to this treatment. Headlines have rarely been so fun to write.”