Richard Lawson (born 1982/1983) is an American writer and critic. He rose to prominence as an entertainment writer for ''

Gawker ''Gawker'' was an American blog founded by Nick Denton and Elizabeth Spiers that was based in New York City and focused on celebrities and the media industry. According to SimilarWeb, the site had over 23 million visits per month in 2015. Fo ...

'' and was named chief critic for '' Vanity Fair'' in 2018. Lawson's debut YA novel, ''All We Can Do Is Wait'', was released in February 2018.

Career

Lawson began his writing career at ''

'' in 2007. Initially hired onto Gawker's ad sales team, Lawson secretly began participating in ''Gawker'''s active

comments section The comments section is a feature on most online blogs, news websites, and other websites in which the publishers invite the audience to comment on the published content. This is a continuation of the older practice of publishing letters to the e ...

under the handle LolCait, where his writing gained the attention of the editorial staff. After revealing his identity, he began providing editorial content for the site, first by selecting the week's best comments, and eventually becoming a full-time editor. Lawson gained notice for his television recaps for shows such as ''

The Real Housewives of New York City ''The Real Housewives of New York City'', abbreviated ''RHONY'', is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on March 4, 2008. Developed as the second installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired fifteen s ...

''. His posts were the most popular on the site, where they garnered 2.4 million viewers each month. He left in July 2009 to work at TV.com for five months, before returning to ''Gawker''. Lawson left the site for the second time in late 2011 to work for ''The Atlantic Wire'' as a senior entertainment and culture writer. In November 2013, Lawson left ''The Atlantic Wire'' to work as the Hollywood columnist at ''Vanity Fair''. Four months later, he was hired as the magazine's TV and film critic. In March 2018, he became ''Vanity Fair'''s chief critic. Lawson's debut novel, ''All We Can Do Is Wait'', was released on February 6, 2018 under

Razorbill The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is a North Atlantic colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus ''Alca (bird), Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinus impennis' ...

. The book is a YA novel that centers on a group of teenagers in the waiting room of a hospital after a bridge collapse. ''All We Can Do Is Wait'' received a starred review from ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

''.

Preferences

Favorites

When asked to rank the best films of the 2010 decade, Lawson named: *1. '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' (USA, 2015) *2. ''

Phantom Thread ''Phantom Thread'' is a 2017 American romantic period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Vicky Krieps, and Lesley Manville, and follows an haute couture dressmaker in 1950s London who takes a y ...

'' (USA, 2018) *3. '' Dawson City: Frozen Time'' (USA, 2016) *4. ''

Melancholia Melancholia or melancholy (from ',Burton, Bk. I, p. 147 meaning black bile) is a concept found throughout ancient, medieval, and premodern medicine in Europe that describes a condition characterized by markedly depressed mood, bodily complain ...

'' (Denmark, 2011) *5. ''

Parasite Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted str ...

'' (South Korea, 2019) *6. ''

Get Out ''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb ...

'' (USA, 2017) *7. '' Eden'' (France, 2014) *8. ''

Force Majeure In contract law, force majeure ( ; ) is a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as a war, strike, riot, ...

'' (Sweden, 2014) *9. ''

Weekend The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...

'' (UK, 2011) *10. '' Princess Cyd'' (USA, 2017)

Best of the Year

Since becoming a film critic for '' Vanity Fair'', Lawson has marked these films as the best of the year. * 2013: ''

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

'' * 2014: ''

Love is Strange "Love Is Strange" is a crossover hit by American rhythm and blues duet Mickey & Sylvia, which was released in late November 1956 by the Groove record label. The song was based on a guitar riff by Jody Williams and was written by Bo Diddley u ...

'' * 2015: '' Mad Max: Fury Road'' * 2016: ''

The Meddler ''The Meddler'' is a 2015 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Lorene Scafaria. The film stars Susan Sarandon, Rose Byrne and J. K. Simmons. Principal photography began on March 30, 2015 in Los Angeles. It was screened in the Spec ...

'' * 2017: ''

BPM (Beats per Minute) ''BPM (Beats per Minute)'', also known as ''120 BPM (Beats per Minute)'', () is a 2017 French drama film directed by Robin Campillo and starring Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, Arnaud Valois and Adèle Haenel. The film is about the AIDS activism ...

'' * 2018: ''

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

'' * 2019: ''

'' * 2020: '' The Nest'' * 2021: '' The Worst Person in the World'' * 2022: ''

Tár ''Tár'' is a 2022 psychological drama film written and directed by Todd Field. Cate Blanchett stars as Lydia Tár, a world-renowned conductor, whose life unravels after she is accused of misconduct. The supporting cast includes Nina Hoss, No� ...

'' * 2023: '' May December''

Personal life

Lawson was raised in the

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

neighborhood of Boston, and attended

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

, before moving to New York City. Lawson wrote an article that went viral about the personal significance of openly gay Olympic figure skater

Adam Rippon Adam Richard Rippon (born November 11, 1989) is a retired American competitive Figure skating, figure skater and media personality. He is the Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2018 Olympic bronze medalist in the team eve ...

during the

2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...

References

External links

Richard Lawson
on ''Vanity Fair'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Richard Year of birth missing (living people) 1980s births 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American novelists American male bloggers American bloggers American film critics National Society of Film Critics Members American online publication editors American television critics American young adult novelists The Atlantic (magazine) people Boston College alumni Boston Latin School alumni Entertainment journalists American gay writers Gawker Media LGBTQ people from Massachusetts Living people Vanity Fair (magazine) people Novelists from Boston Novelists from New York City LGBTQ media critics