John Simon Out, Jeremy McCarter In as New York Magazine’s Chief Theater Critic

The 79-year-old Simon has been the magazine’s theater critic for 37 years. “I am, and have always been, a great admirer of John Simon’s courage as a critic and of his powerful prose,” stated Moss. “John has outlasted every critic in the long and illustrious line of cultural writers for this magazine — and almost every other critic in this business. It has been an incredible ride. He will be missed.”

Throughout Simon’s tenure at the magazine, his reviews were controversial due to the often scathing way in which he expressed his opinions and his attacks on the physical appearance of many performers. As quoted by The New York Times, Simon said that Moss said he was looking to take New York in a younger direction. McCarter is 28.

In addition to his job at The New York Sun, McCarter is a contributing editor at The New Republic, which he joined after graduating from Harvard in 1998. From 1999 to 2002, he was editor of The New Republic Online. In addition to his work as a journalist, he has directed full productions and readings of plays by Tony Kushner, Tennessee Williams, and others.

According to Moss, “Jeremy McCarter has enormous shoes to fill, so he will have to forge a fresh path at New York magazine while doing justice to the space that, for 37 years, has been occupied by a cultural legend. Jeremy is that rare critic who appears to have been born with a confident voice and a discerning eye, and I am sure that our readers will be excited and impressed by him as I am.”