VANITY FAIR

AUGUST 2018 No. 696

FEATURES

42 KENDRICK ASCENDANT

By LISA ROBINSON

Pulitzer Prize-winning "poet laureate of hip-hop" Kendrick Lamar has made history with his music. The author takes an intimate look at what drives Compton's favorite son as Lamar headlines this summer's blockbuster Top Dawg Entertainment tour. Photographs by Annie Leibovitz. Cover styled by Mel Ottenberg.

52 GEORGE LDCAS STRIKES BACK

By PAUL GOLDBERGER

After five tumultuous years, construction on the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is finally under way. Star Wars creator George Lucas may be one step closer to establishing a showcase for his collection, but his project has landed in the least likely of cities. Photograph by Stefan Ruiz.

60 FLOWER POWER

Spotlight on model and actress Hari Nef, who stars in Assassination Nation, a reimagining of the Salem witch trials for the social-media age. By Keziah Weir. Photograph by Radka Leitmeritz.

62 "I WAS DEVASTATED"

By KATRINA BROOKER

In 1989, idealistic Oxford grad Tim Berners-Lee developed the software for the World Wide Web and then gave it away for free. Now, in the era of Internet trolls and fake news, he has a plan to take it back. Photograph by Olaf Blecker.

68 LORENA BOBBITT'S AMERICAN DREAM

By LILI ANOLIK

Lorena and John Wayne Bobbitt made tabloid headlines 25 years ago as a marital nightmare turned castration punch line. Though their paths have diverged—advocacy work for her; Frankenpenis for him—their enmeshed stories speak to ultra-current issues of gender politics and celebrity culture. Photograph by Mark Mahaney.

74 THE CHAIRMEN

By ERIC KONIGSBERG

When antiques dealer Charles Hooreman suspected that several purported 18th-century Palace of Versailles chairs were actually fakes, his j 'accuse against a former mentor rocked the Trench art world. Photographs by Wayne Maser.

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82 BRUTAL LANDSCAPES

By ZANDER SHERMAN

Canadian authorities may have been slow to respond when men from Toronto's Gay Village, many of them immigrants, began to disappear. But when body parts were found in the handiwork of a sixtysomething landscaper, the police were finally on the right trail. Illustrations by Tomer Hanuka.

88 OUR TOWN

By BOOTS RILEY

With his new film, Sony to Bother You, rapper turned filmmaker Boots Riley honors his native Oakland, joining an artistic renaissance putting the city—and its divisive history—firmly on the cultural map.

92 RESIDENT EVIL

By MICHAEL SCHULMAN

Louise Fletcher won an Oscar for playing Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and earned a place among cinema's most memorable villains. An upcoming Netflix series will give the iconic character a second look.

VANITIES & FAIRGROUND

27 SCENE-STEALING SCANLEN

The case for turning life into art. This month's best books and bags. My Stuff: SZA. Stockholm's best beauty exports. Music: Tank and the Bangas. Fairground: V.F. and Max Mara celebrate women on-screen.

COLUMNS

38 TWENTY AND FABULOUS?

By SONIA SARAIYA

Launched in 1998, HBO's Sex and the City was full of the superficial fizz of turn-of-the-century New York. On its 20th anniversary, nothing seems so simple. Photo illustration by Michelle Thompson.

40 THE LEAR OF BEVERLY HILLS

By WILLIAM D. COHAN

At 95, Sumner Redstone is losing his grip on his media empire at CBS and Viacom. The deepest wound? His estranged daughter, Shari, is the one angling to seize control. Photo illustration by Sean McCabe.

ET CETERA

18 CONTRIBUTORS

22 EDITOR'S LETTER

24 LETTERS Meghan Remarkable

102 PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE Angela Bassett

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