Jessica Pressler (born 1977/78) is an American journalist and contributing editor at ''
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
'' magazine. Her 2015 article "The Hustlers at Scores", was nominated for a
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
, and was later made into a feature film called ''
Hustlers
Hustler or hustlers may also refer to:
Professions
* Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a:
** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks
** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs
** Male prostitute
** Pimp
** Business man, more gener ...
'' in 2019.
She also wrote a story about
Anna Sorokin that was later developed into the mini-series ''
Inventing Anna'' released by
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
in 2022.
Early life
Her mother, Judith Pressler, was a
guidance counselor at
Swampscott High School
Swampscott () is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 15,111 as of the 2020 United States Census. A former summer resort on Massachusetts Ba ...
and her father, Michael Pressler, was a professor of English and the director of the
interdisciplinary arts Interdisciplinary arts are a combination of arts that use an interdisciplinary approach involving more than one artistic discipline.
Examples of different arts include visual arts, performing arts, musical arts, digital arts, conceptual arts, etc. ...
program at
Shippensburg University
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania (Ship or SU) is a public university in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. Founded in 1871, it later became the first teachers college in Pennsylvania. ...
in Pennsylvania.
Career
Pressler became the co-editor of ''
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
'' magazine's ''
Daily Intel'' blog in 2007 after working as a staff writer at ''
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
'' magazine and as a freelancer for celebrity magazines.
At ''New York'', she has written extensively on "the culture of wealth and money," interviewing
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for ...
CEOs such as Goldman Sachs
Lloyd Blankfein
Lloyd Craig Blankfein (born September 20, 1954) is an American investment banker who has served as senior chairman of Goldman Sachs since 2019, and chairman and chief executive from 2006 until the end of 2018. Previous to leading Goldman Sachs, ...
and AIG CEO
Robert Benmosche about their firms’ involvement in the
2008 financial crisis. Pressler has profiled New York personalities
Lynn Tilton and
Anthony Scaramucci
Anthony Scaramucci ( ; born January 6, 1964) is an American financier who briefly served as the White House Director of Communications from July 21 to July 31, 2017.
Scaramucci worked at Goldman Sachs's investment banking, equities, and priva ...
. Her feature articles about the feud between
Chris Burch and
Tory Burch
Tory Burch ( née Robinson; born June 17, 1966) is an American fashion designer, businesswoman, and philanthropist. She is the Executive Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of her own brand, Tory Burch LLC. She was listed as the 88th most power ...
and the culture of
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Count ...
startups have appeared in ''The Best Business Writing'' editions.
In 2014, Pressler wrote a story about a Stuyvesant High School senior who had allegedly made $72 million trading stocks, which was later revealed to be not true.
Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...
rescinded a job offer made to her for their investigative unit after the student confessed he had "made the whole thing up."
On December 28, 2015, Pressler published an article for ''New York'' called "The Hustlers at Scores", a story about strippers who manipulated money out of their clients. She was nominated for a
National Magazine Award
The National Magazine Awards, also known as the Ellie Awards, honor print and digital publications that consistently demonstrate superior execution of editorial objectives, innovative techniques, noteworthy enterprise and imaginative design. Or ...
in 2016. A team of producers that included
Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 20 ...
"snapped up" the film rights in February 2016.
[ The story was adapted into a film by Gloria Sanchez Productions titled '']Hustlers
Hustler or hustlers may also refer to:
Professions
* Hustler, an American slang word, e.g., for a:
** Con man, a practitioner of confidence tricks
** Drug dealer, seller of illegal drugs
** Male prostitute
** Pimp
** Business man, more gener ...
''; it stars Keke Palmer
Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) ( ) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP ...
, Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez, with Julia Stiles portraying "Elizabeth", a fictionalized version of Pressler. The film was released in 2019.
In 2018, she wrote a story about New York City high society grifter Anna Sorokin, which was developed into the mini-series '' Inventing Anna'' by Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...
and Shonda Rhimes
Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television screenwriter, producer, and author. She is best known as the showrunner—creator, head writer, and executive producer—of the television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', it ...
. Pressler's book, "Bad Influence: Money, Lies, Power, and the World that Created Anna Delvey", is scheduled for publication in 2022.
Pressler has also written for '' GQ'', ''Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the ...
'', ''Esquire
Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title.
In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'' and '' Smithsonian''. She was a regular ''Gossip Girl
''Gossip Girl'' is an American teen drama television series based on the novel series of the same name written by Cecily von Ziegesar. The series, developed for television by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, ran on The CW network for six ...
'' episode recap writer for ''Vulture
A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including Condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North a ...
'' website, and made an appearance as a ''New York'' magazine editor in one of its episodes.
Personal life
In 2008, she married Benjamin Wallace, a freelance
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance ...
magazine writer and author. They later divorced, and she is now married to Josh Uhl.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pressler, Jessica
1970s births
21st-century American journalists
21st-century American women writers
Living people
American magazine journalists
American women journalists
Journalists from Massachusetts
New York (magazine) people
People from Marblehead, Massachusetts
Temple University alumni