“He’s doing kind of an amazing job,” said one partygoer seconds before Kyle Cooke launched into a remix of “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
No one arrived earlier or stayed later than Nick Viall at Vulture’s Reality Masterminds party. The onetime Bachelorette villain turned podcaster rocked up to Lawn Club in a perfect garden-party-appropriate light blazer and happily schmoozed with anyone who passed him at the bar. It was a bit hard to tell as the event kicked off who was one of our reality masterminds and who, perhaps, was just a tall, beautiful person that also happened to be at an event. While Vulture successfully gathered this year’s honorees in groups of twos and threes for their cover shoots, the question of the night would be this: What would it be like to get all these stars — Bravolebrities, gamers, podcasters — all in a room together? After walking our black-and-gold carpet (thank you, Gold Bond!), our esteemed guests stopped by our livestream, which featured interviews and BTS moments. Early into the night, various attendees stuck to their franchises: Survivor’s Robs (that’s Mariano and Cesternino) stayed by each other near the bar that boasted custom cocktails and On the Rocks cans as the cast of Summer House drifted over to the DJ booth to cheer on and dance to their very own Kyle Cooke. “I never thought I’d be at a party where Kyle Cooke is DJ-ing,” one stylish woman remarked while walking down the titular lawn of Lawn Club. Several times over the course of the night, guests were overheard praising his DJ set that heavily favored millennial hits (Jason Derulo, P!nk, etc.) with the odd bit of ABBA for good measure.
While the room(s) filled out and rumors of Andy Cohen’s arrival time swirled, one particular star held court: Ariana Madix, in attendance with her boyfriend Daniel Wai. Madix quickly became the party’s go-to First Lady, greeting any and all in attendance with warmth and eagerness. Kristen Kish came by to pay her respects, as did Carl Radke. In a stunning silver gown, Madix was something of a magnet, rarely getting a moment to herself. The party fizzed with excitement and was filled with unexpected run-ins: To turn a corner was to see Tiffany Pollard and Jonathan “Foodgod” Cheban deep in conversation, surely plotting their next reality-TV move. Cosmetics lovers and dutiful husbands flocked to the e.l.f. activation, where people could get custom-engraved lipsticks. When Cohen showed up, Bravo stars and fans alike drifted close but not too close, hoping to absorb some of his boundless energy.
Around 8:30, Cooke announced it was time for awards, and everyone flocked to the Vulture-branded DJ booth. First, Frances Berwick, the chairman of Bravo & Peacock Unscripted, presented our Forever Icon Award to Kathy Hilton in a tribute that noted reality TV moves at “the speed of the group chat.” Hilton was modest and humble, admitting she loves to be a “fly on the wall” and once again reiterating that she does not watch reality TV, but she does read. Drop the Goodreads account, Kathy!
Carole Radziwill presented Cohen with our Honorary Degree, but not without first delivering the type of speech she knew he would deride for its loving long-windedness. After teasing out that RHONY is officially “back” (based on her lingering hangover from the previous night), Radziwill praised Cohen’s ingenuity as both a host and also a onetime distributor of pot brownies, the likes of which once led her to end up “in a bathtub in a red silk gown with an Italian prince.” As Cohen took the stage, silence fell over the crowd. Lindsay Hubbard and Radke, despite being two of the tallest people at the event, both stood up on benches to film and watch him speak. Cohen kept his comments brisk and thoughtful: “Fun is what I’m into, and Bravo is fun.”
Cooke returned to his perch as Cohen, Radziwill, and Hilton held court off to the side. The Summer House cast drifted to the front of the house to dance to the remainder of Cooke’s set. As the party wound down, the stalwarts included the aforementioned Viall, Madix, and Pollard, the latter still getting down to “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” even as she made her late-night exit as the lights came up. That’s the thing for a lot of this year’s inaugural masterminds: There’s no place they’d rather be than out in reality.
Brian J. Moylan talked to Stacey Rusch in our video studio.
Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images
And Arden Myrin was the life of the party after she co-hosted our livestream with Dame Moylan.
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
Kristen Kish stopped by the gold carpet.
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
Kathy Hilton receives the first Forever Icon award from Vulture editor-in-chief Neil Janowitz.
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
Andy Cohen, Master of Culture, accepts his honorary degree.
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
The engraving station at the e.l.f. activation let partygoers make their own one-of-a-kind lipsticks.
Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Vulture
Mia Calabrese and Taylor Hale cheer on DJ Kyle Cooke.
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
Highly recommend the blue Vitamin Water when it comes to beating the NYC heat this summer.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Vulture
Carole Radziwill asking the important questions about Andy Cohen’s masterminds interview, like what he meant by “doing molly.”
Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Cover stars Andy and Kathy.
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
Mastermind Ariana Madix.
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
Chloe and Brooks Marks taking a breather in the Sonic Refreshers lounge.
Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Vulture
Lindsay Hubbard and Andy Cohen sipping and schmoozing.
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
The latest issue of New York.
Photo: Marsha Brownstein
The Queen.
Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
And Nick Viall!
Photo: Marsha Bernstein
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