Politics
NY Mag Embroiled In Legal Trouble Over Cherry-Picked Hit Piece Against Young MAGA Partygoers
In January, New York Magazine published an article titled “The Cruel Kids’ Table” by Brock Colyar, which delved into a gathering of young conservatives celebrating former President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. The piece portrayed attendees as predominantly white and highlighted their use of provocative language, suggesting a rebellion against political correctness.
The article came under fire for purportedly distorting the event’s inclusivity. CJ Pearson, a 22-year-old political commentator and one of the event’s hosts, criticized the magazine for not mentioning him and other attendees of color, claiming this oversight fed into the misleading perception that the MAGA movement lacks diversity.
The situation escalated when it was discovered that New York Magazine’s cover photo had been edited to exclude several people of color, sparking accusations that the magazine had deliberately manipulated the image to support a particular narrative.
In defense, the magazine claimed that the cover used a centered crop of a fully published online image and insisted that both the article and the cover accurately depicted the event. Now, Pearson is taking legal action.
“I have made the decision to retain legal counsel and will soon issue NYMag formal notice,” Pearson announced on X. “For TOO long, the media has been allowed to slander conservatives, painting us as racists without consequence. In the same spirit as Donald Trump, It’s time we fight back.”
NEWS: I have made the decision to retain legal counsel and will soon issue @NYMag formal notice.
For TOO long, the media has been allowed to slander conservatives, painting us as racists without consequence.
In the same spirit as @realDonaldTrump, It’s time we fight back. pic.twitter.com/U118rlcgTB
— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) February 3, 2025
“It would have undermined this entire narrative that they wanted to perpetuate, which is that MAGA is some racially homogenous movement of people,” Pearson told The New York Post last week.
“It took willful ignorance to ignore the diversity that was present at the event as New York Magazine so clearly did, by … not even reaching out to me,” he explained. “They were wrong to crop the photo and insinuate that I was throwing some KKK kumbaya.”
Pearson first came into the spotlight in 2015 at just 12 years old when his YouTube video critiquing then-President Barack Obama went viral, catapulting him into the media’s eye. Since then, Pearson has actively engaged in politics, holding roles such as the executive director of Young Georgians in Government and Teens for Trump, and contributing as a commentator for PragerU.
His media presence extended to appearances on Fox News and Newsmax.

CJ Pearson and Waka Flocka
“President Trump was propelled back into the White House by a diverse coalition of Americans … and there were black influencers at this party who were contributing factors to that success,” Pearson explained to The Post
“Everyone in that picture is happy. They’re classy. They look good,” Pearson added. “[Whereas the article] is the definition of hating outside the club because you can’t get in.”
In January 2024, Pearson threw his hat in the ring for the Georgia House of Representatives 125th district seat in a special election. Despite a spirited campaign, he was not successful in the runoff and subsequently withdrew his candidacy for a full term in March 2024.
Currently, Pearson continues to influence young conservatives as the co-chair of the Republican National Committee’s Youth Advisory Council.
