{"id":719301,"date":"2026-06-22T14:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/719301\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T14:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T14:28:17","slug":"john-early-and-kate-berlant-spotted-in-the-hamptons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/719301\/","title":{"rendered":"John Early and Kate Berlant Spotted in the Hamptons!"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Summer in the Hamptons are off to a rollicking start: Wall Street bonuses were the highest they\u2019ve been in years, sending the real-estate market into a complete frenzy \u2014 the median sale price rose 18.3 percent year over year to $2,412,500. Since no one balked at last year\u2019s $400 melon<\/a>, the same shop owners introduced a $150 grape juice<\/a> shipped in from Nagano, Japan; in Amagansett, an $80 blueberry pie is already regularly selling out before the weekend\u2019s over. The social calendar is crammed. After a one-year respite, Michael Rubin is back with his extravagant White Party, which will once again clog the streets of Bridgehampton with paparazzi and ambitious social climbers \u2014 whom, incidentally, we asked comedians John Early and Kate Berlant to channel on this issue\u2019s cover. We also captured real Hamptons characters out in the wild \u2014 among them John Slattery tootling around on his Boston Whaler, Katie Couric working on her pickleball serve, and Donna Karan sipping coffee with some hard-bodied men.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

On a recent afternoon in Southampton, Kate Berlant and John Early are channeling a heterosexual Hamptons couple. \u201cWe decided that they\u2019re kind of climbers. They\u2019re trying to rise up through the ranks of Hamptons elite,\u201d says Early. \u201cI actually think they\u2019re happily married,\u201d adds Berlant. \u201cIn the way that Alex McCord and her husband in season one of RHONY are. They really just fit well together. They both have a certain kind of hunger.\u201d<\/p>\n

They disagree briefly over how the couple attained their \u201csoulless, chilling\u201d Hamptons home. \u201cI think both of their parents are rich,\u201d says Berlant. Early ponders this. \u201cI don\u2019t know. I think they might be new money.\u201d \u201cMaybe they\u2019re both,\u201d says Berlant. \u201cI feel like his dad isn\u2019t exorbitantly wealthy but enough where he\u2019s comfortable in a space like that.\u201d Early builds on this: \u201cBut not enough to be actually privately secure. There\u2019s a gnawing quality.\u201d Berlant laughs. \u201cHis brother is more successful than him. And that\u2019s what motivates his every life choice.\u201d Early\u2019s character was particularly upset by being assigned Toby the donkey to sit on. \u201cI think he felt cucked,\u201d says Early. \u201cI think he probably reserved a full horse. And there was a mistake,\u201d says Berlant. \u201cAnd he knows it would be undignified ultimately to make the woman sit on a donkey,\u201d adds Early.<\/p>\n

The Hamptons Issue<\/p>\n


\n \"package-table-of-contents-photo\"\/
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

See All<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

The two have made this jaunt to the Hamptons while promoting Early\u2019s directorial debut, Maddie\u2019s Secret, a Lifetime Movie of the Week\u2013style melodrama he wrote and starred in alongside Berlant about a food influencer ascending the ranks at a Bon App\u00e9tit\u2013ish workplace while hiding a serious case of bulimia. \u201cI\u2019ve always dreamt of taking this sketch-comedy instinct in me but making it more cinematic and more emotional,\u201d says Early. \u201cI have wanted to play an ing\u00e9nue since my early 20s.\u201d Berlant is Deena, Maddie\u2019s best friend and co-worker who\u2019s sexually obsessed with her. It\u2019s a dynamic Early and Berlant play with often in their work, and it\u2019s been \u201cperverted and exaggerated\u201d from their real-life friendship.<\/p>\n

They first met in 2012 as fledgling comedians, initially on Facebook and shortly thereafter at a variety show where they both performed. Around the same time, they were cast in a friend\u2019s short film. \u201cI remember getting on the train and going home,\u201d Berlant says, \u201cand then we were texting that night in bed. I remember John texting me, \u2018I\u2019ll kill myself if I don\u2019t see you.\u2019\u201d They\u2019ve spent the years since completely entangled personally and professionally \u2014 sleeping over at each other\u2019s apartments, co-writing and co-starring in sketches and comedy specials, and supporting each other as they built their own separate careers simultaneously. \u201cIt really was the falling-in-love thing of, like, we were just inseparable,\u201d says Berlant. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t dating; there wasn\u2019t any coitus. It was just \u2026 very lesbian.\u201d \u201cVery lesbian,\u201d confirms Early.<\/p>\n

In that sense, playing a happily married couple in the Hamptons came naturally to them. Though both agree that in real life, Berlant would fit in more easily than Early, who, during a break from the shoot, angered a trio of local Hamptonites merely by using the bathroom at a Citarella. (\u201cBecause they had to wait in a line? I don\u2019t know,\u201d he says.) \u201cI just think I could gab with the girls at Citarella,\u201d says Berlant. \u201cI could stir shit up and be like, \u2018No, she was rude.\u2019\u201d \u2014 Rachel Handler<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I just like farting around on the Whaler, drinking a beer, and being outside. And while you\u2019re out there, you drop a line in and see if you catch something. My neighbor across the street, he\u2019s got all kinds of gear, and he catches tons of fish. He tells me where to go. I wish I was a better fisherman. I plan on getting better this summer. I just had a rod that I got at a fishing-and-tackle store that doubles as a gas station, Sam\u2019s Auto Service and Mrs. Sam\u2019s Bait & Tackle, but I think it got stolen. It\u2019s not like you leave that somewhere. I own the boat with a guy named Fred Walsh. We bought it together. We never really officially christened it \u2014 it doesn\u2019t have a name. We were thinking of calling it The Seanut because it\u2019s a combination of both our dogs\u2019 names. We actually swam off the boat at the end of last summer and then someone said, \u201cDon\u2019t swim there. There\u2019s too many seals there, and there\u2019s sharks there.\u201d But I have the app where you can follow them, all named and tagged. Actually, my wife is in that famous three-part episode of Happy Days where Fonzie jumps the shark. She played Richie\u2019s girlfriend. We\u2019ve been coming to the Hamptons for 20-plus years and bought the house in Springs in 2012. Truthfully, I surf more than I fish, mostly in Montauk. I\u2019m not sure it\u2019s world-class, but neither am I. Unfortunately, the summer is not the best season wavewise, so sometimes it\u2019s cold-water surfing, which I enjoy less the older I get. Anybody who surfs is obsessed with surfboards, and I have too many. My wife looks at me like I\u2019m insane because I\u2019m buying another one. She\u2019s like, \u201cYou already have ten of them in the garage.\u201d \u2014 As told to Mike Albo<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It\u2019s really hard to get your car washed in the Hamptons \u2014 I guess everyone is getting theirs privately detailed \u2014 but on Montauk Highway there is Victor\u2019s, the sweetest, smallest car wash attached to a gas station. It\u2019s one lane, and you don\u2019t even stop. He does the top of your car and the tires with a mop, then you go through the machine. It\u2019s like 25 bucks. We\u2019ve been coming out since my child was born on hiatus from 30 Rock. We have a little cottage in Amagansett. I\u2019ve watched all the kids grow up together. You can kind of walk up to almost anyone\u2019s bonfire and join in because you\u2019ve probably seen them on the beach. If I\u2019m going to someone\u2019s house, it\u2019s always good to show up with something. Even hydrangeas from a farm stand. My go-to last summer was food baskets from Il Buco. I always go to Flowers by Beth, and I love going to Ganeaux, which has been there for over a decade. This woman who runs the shop sells her own brand of candles that are my go-to every summer, like a \u201970s Coppertone scent that brings you right back to your childhood. Balsam Farm Stand is my main spot. In July, you can buy the corn pre-roasted. It\u2019s fantastic. But really you could go to any farm stand out there and be completely delighted and overcharged. One time, I was just driving on some of the back roads and pulled up to the tiniest farm stand, near Wainscott, and Ina Garten was there. I was in awe. I stood back and watched what she bought and then I bought the exact same thing. She bought corn, tomatoes, apples, lots of berries, and \u2014 what are those little green beans that look like a corkscrew? I didn\u2019t even know how you cook them, but I bought them because she did. \u2014 M.A.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I used to be a Fire Island girl. And at one point, my daughter Gabby said, \u201cWhy aren\u2019t the boys wearing clothes?\u201d I said, \u201cOkay, it\u2019s time to go.\u201d I\u2019ve been living in East Hampton for, oh my God, 40 years. I like to be on the bay because nobody\u2019s here. I\u2019m up where the roads are really windy. Nobody could find us in the days before GPS. My husband made me get another house next door to us right before he passed away so I could have my \u201cwoo-woos\u201d there. I\u2019ve been doing yoga since I was 16. Now I do Pilates. I go to Lauralee in Sag Harbor. You go in your bodysuit, your leggings, with flats, and you do Sag Harbor. I\u2019ll go to Sagtown Coffee after. I love Lulu, too. Of course, I spend a lot of time at Tutto Caff\u00e8 in East Hampton. Now there\u2019s a Tutto Mare in Palm Beach too. It\u2019s gorgeous. I was there for two months. But can I just say? I am not a Palm Beach girl. \u2014 M.A.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When artists come to stay, we cram everyone upstairs. We go to the beach, and at night we convene for dinner. I like to start when the sun is just setting. The temperature is more pleasant; everyone looks prettier. Then we can go on until one in the morning. The best number for an official gallery-opening dinner party for is 40 to 50 people. You want it to feel like a festival but intimate. What I have learned about hosting is saying \u201cno,\u201d which is hard for me because I am a game dame. We had a dinner that was 85 people, and the food took so long the spread was not so perfectly bountiful. There is only so much capacity to really express your full attention. I love the spirit of family style. I think I got that from Andrew Tarlow. I love big chunks of vegetables, and I usually get them from Amber Waves or these little farmers\u2019 markets we have now in Amagansett. If it\u2019s just with my artist friends, everyone helps clean. One more thing: I use beeswax candles. I\u2019m neurotic about that. It\u2019s a very different kind of flame. It\u2019s not a paraffin flame, and it creates a primal environment. A warm fire. And it smells good. I get them from Camphill Village. They are not cheap, nor should they be. \u2014 M.A.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The women I play pickleball with are animals. I think I\u2019m the weakest link. We\u2019re not the ladies who pickle \u2014 we are busy. We pickle and then we move on. I would say my secret weapon is probably my serve, especially if I get it in the back corner, which is sometimes hard to return. I\u2019m working on my dinking, and I\u2019m really bad at returning lobs. I use a Joola paddle that has really improved my game. If I need anything sports related, I go to Gubbins in East Hampton. Luckily, I have a court in my backyard. I like to play in the morning, around eight or 8:30, or in the late afternoon. I can\u2019t pickle without my iced coffee. I get that at either Goldberg\u2019s or Red Horse Market. Sometimes I reward myself with an ice-cream cone from Bostwick\u2019s, which has the best soft serve in the Hamptons. But please don\u2019t tell anyone. \u2014 M.A.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I have been summering in Sag Harbor for 25 years. I\u2019ve rented the same house for ten years in the hope the owner will sell it to me. I am part of the homeowners association \u2014 I pay my dues. Joy Behar lives two blocks away. We shoot The View four days a week, Monday to Thursday, and if we time it correctly, we can leave around 1:30 p.m. and be in Sag by four. The area is called SANS, after the Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest, and Ninevah Subdivisions. It was originally bought by African American teachers, lawyers, doctors, and postal workers beginning in the 1940s. Many of them built their homes from Sears catalogues. I was welcomed walking on the beach by a man named Bill Pickens, whose father was one of the original founders. At one point, a lot of BlackRock money came in, and they tried to build huge mansions that would have blocked water views from those old Sears-catalogue homes. We fought that, and we kept the community looking the way it\u2019s supposed to. It\u2019s special here. In fact, my novel Summer on Sag Harbor is historical fiction about this Black Hamptons that\u2019s hidden, sort of intentionally. \u2014 M.A.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lizzie Tisch: I\u2019ve been hosting a July 3 dinner for probably 15 years. And that invitation went out before Memorial Day. We also have another big party at the end of the summer \u2014 we get a pizza truck, a Shake Shack truck, and Mister Softee. My husband, Jon, and I are very big planners \u2014 he knows where he\u2019s eating three months from now. In the event that we can\u2019t make something or we regret having said \u201cyes\u201d in the first place, I usually make him cancel.<\/p>\n

Mason Rudnick: I blame my parents.<\/p>\n

L.T.: I told her to do that. I guess 20 years ago I would have used her as an excuse. But there are multiple things to go to, so I like to make sure people know it\u2019s a seated dinner because if you\u2019re not specific, then all of a sudden you\u2019ve got 12 people leaving your dinner early. Last year, we had just moved into our house after a big five-year project. I thought it\u2019d be so pretty to have the trucks in the driveway and put the two tables outside, and right before, the weather changed. We literally moved two tables of 20 into the barn in 25 minutes. We bought this old barn from a website called the New England Barn Company. They basically have all these old barns they\u2019ll take apart and put on a truck and then you rebuild them yourself with all the original beams, the original floor. It\u2019s super-pretty. We use it as an entertainment space. I love to cast a good dinner party. It\u2019s not like I\u2019m planning the seating at the Met Ball with a giant dry-erase board. My one rule: If you sleep together, you don\u2019t sit together. Dear Annabelle makes adorable place cards that have witty sayings or a theme. If it\u2019s a smaller group, I use the calligrapher Bernard Maisner. But most of the time, it\u2019s just me and my semi-okay handwriting. Jon likes a 45-minute cocktail hour, which I respect. Things move along at a good clip. People know him pretty well, so they know it\u2019s never a late night at the Tisches\u2019. Two years ago for his birthday, three different people bought him a needlepoint pillow that said, \u201cPlease Leave by Nine.\u201d
\u2014 M.A.<\/p>\n

Thank you for subscribing and supporting our journalism.
\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the June 22, 2026, issue of
\n New York\u00a0Magazine.<\/p>\n

Want more stories like this one? Subscribe now<\/a>
\n to support our journalism and get unlimited access to our coverage.
\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the June 22, 2026, issue of
\n New York Magazine.<\/p>\n

Production Credits<\/p>\n

Portfolio by
\n Mark Seliger<\/p>\n

Styling by
\n Daniel Edley<\/p>\n

Executive Production by
\n Ruth Levy<\/p>\n

Production by
\n Madi Overstreet<\/p>\n

Production Assisting by
\n Angus Alexander\u00a0and\u00a0Stella Santini<\/p>\n

Postproduction by
\n Rachel Crowe\u00a0and\u00a0T.J. Huff<\/p>\n

Style Assisting by
\n Caniese Banton<\/p>\n

Digi Tech by
\n Joel Alexander<\/p>\n

First Photo Assisting by
\n Will Foerster<\/p>\n

Photo Assisting by
\n Adison James,\u00a0Reggie Desilus,\u00a0Adam Fahlund,\u00a0and\u00a0Eric Scott<\/p>\n

On the Cover: Kate Berlant and John Early: Hair by Jae-Manuel Cardenas; Makeup by Matin; Grooming by Tory Wells; Wardrobe by Herm\u00c8s (Berlant Jacket, Shoes), Loro Piana (Berlant Pants), Dior (Early Jacket, Shirt), Alias Costumes (Early pants, Early shoes, Berlant hat), Celine (Early scarf), Tiffany & Co. (Berlant Jewelry); Special thanks to Joanne Comber-Jimenez, Hamptons Pony at Two Trees Stables<\/p>\n

Kate Berlant\u00a0and\u00a0John Early: Pool: Hair by Jae-Manuel Cardenas; Makeup by Matin; Grooming by Tory Wells; Prop Styling by Lana Boy; Wardrobe by Gucci (Berlant Dress), Tiffany & Co. (Berlant Jewelry), Michael Kors (Early Suit), Louis Vuitton (Early Shirt), Celine (Early scarf); Special thanks to Dawn Bodenchak, Senior Global Real-Estate Adviser at Sotheby\u2019s International Realty. Bike: Hair by Jae-Manuel Cardenas; Makeup by Matin; Grooming by Tory Wells; Prop Styling by Lana Boy; Wardrobe by Gucci (Berlant clothing, shoes, bag), David Yurman (Berlant jewelry), Ferragamo (Early clothing, shoes), Ray-Ban (Early glasses) <\/p>\n

John Slattery: Grooming by Danny DiMauro; Special thanks to Chris Shields<\/p>\n

Jane Krakowski: Hair by Michael Silva; Makeup by Todd Harris Wolf; Wardrobe by Miu Miu (Swimsuit, Apron), Giuseppe Zanotti (Shoes), Tiffany & Co. (Earrings)<\/p>\n

Donna Karan: Hair by Sally Hershberger; Makeup by Berta Camal; Models: Tony Marzano and Shomari Francis; Wardrobe by Urban Zen (Karan), Bottega Veneta (Marzano Pants), Dolce & Gabbana (Francis Swimsuit)<\/p>\n

Galerie Sardine: Hair by Peter Gray; Makeup by Kento Utsubo; Wardrobe by Stone Island (Bradley jacket), Louis Vuitton (Kronner), Bottega Veneta (Eckstein Shirt); Food Styling by Chris Kronner; Special thanks to Amber Waves Farm<\/p>\n

Katie Couric: Wardrobe by Ralph Lauren (Clothes, Shoes), David Yurman (Jewelry), Omega (Watch) <\/p>\n

Sunny Hostin: Hair by Lauren Berrones; Makeup by Kento Utsubo; Wardrobe by Ralph Lauren Collection (Clothing), David Yurman (Necklace), Cartier (Bracelets) <\/p>\n

Lizzie Tisch\u00a0and\u00a0Mason Rudnick: Hair by Xavier Merat; Makeup by Jessica Vetri; Wardrobe by Prada (Tisch and Rudnick clothing), Tiffany & Co. (Tisch and Rudnick Jewelry), Alias Costumes (Trooper uniform), Ray-Ban (Trooper sunglasses)<\/p>\n

More From the Hamptons Issue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Summer in the Hamptons are off to a rollicking start: Wall Street bonuses were the highest they\u2019ve been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,84026,88,162154,86347,63406,57866,92501,1999,21032,53594,15720,309712,309713,10677],"class_list":["post-719301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-donna-karan","tag-entertainment","tag-jane-krakowski","tag-john-early","tag-john-slattery","tag-kate-berlant","tag-katie-couric","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-magazine","tag-sunny-hostin","tag-the-hamptons","tag-the-hamptons-issue","tag-the-hamptons-issue-2026","tag-vulture-homepage-lede"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}