The Harvard Lampoon Targeted The Hollywood Reporter — Is Hollywood Still Targeting The Lampoon?
The Harvard Lampoon revived its tradition of major parodies by targeting The Hollywood Reporter, after an 18-year pause. The collaboration turns Hollywood’s anxieties and excesses—including billionaire studio ownership, artificial intelligence and celebrity social-media campaigns—back on the industry’s own trade publication.
Lampoon leaders Kai Nelson, Lauren Wood and Adrian Maydanich worked with THR editor-in-chief Maer Roshan, aided by Lampoon alumnus Julian Sancton. THR supplied fonts, templates and creative guidance, and agreed to distribute the parody alongside a print issue, embracing satire that would technically have been protected under the First Amendment.
- Harvard Lampoon revived its major-parody tradition with a Hollywood-themed THR spoof.
- The parody targets Hollywood’s current anxieties, absurdities and powerful figures.
- THR helped produce and distribute the spoof rather than opposing it.