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Caity on Cardi for GQ: When I die, I want Caity Weaver to write my obituary.
For her last piece at GQ before joining the New York Times Style desk, Weaver profiles Cardi B, a stripper-turned-rap star who has recently taken the mainstream music world by storm. Cardi, known for her body expertly engineered for public eyes, displays her quirky personality and intriguing backstory through her Cardi-specific vernacular.
Weaver has a knack for visualizing her subjects in an odd but satisfyingly perfect manner—her first sentence describes the “slick, brick-colored barbecue sauce clotting under [Cardi’s] Swarovski-crystal manicure,” an unusual depiction of an A-list celebrity. I felt like I was sitting across from Cardi, sharing some ribs in West Hollywood.
In the past, I haven’t been a huge fan of Cardi’s music—what really sold me on Cardi B here was her professed love for Franklin Delano Roosevelt and her blank-faced memorization of presidential fun-facts: “‘[Buchanan] was the 15th president,’ she says, and her tone is as neutral as if she were reciting types of weather. ‘Buchanan is the only president that was a bachelor.'”
Weaver’s profiles for GQ include Wonder Woman lead Gal Godot, Girls Trip star Tiffany Haddish, celebrity drag queen Trixie Mattel, The Big Lebowski‘s Jeff Bridges, and many more. Her interviews with these celebrities are more like anthropological “hangouts” in which she expertly pins down the essence of each person by delightfully describing their surroundings.
Weaver will be one to watch in her move to the Times.
