Archive · 17 Aug 2026
Phillip Picardi Named Playboy's First Openly Gay Editor-in-Chief
Phillip Picardi is a magazine boss who just got a very important new job.
He is the first openly gay person to lead Playboy, a famous magazine.
Playboy has been around since the 1950s and used to be made mainly for men.
Picardi wants to change what the magazine is about.
He says people no longer need a print magazine for self-pleasure.
Instead, he wants the magazine to show artistic and high-brow pictures.
The magazine's new mission says "all people can pursue pleasure."
It has also written about topics like trans pornography and reclaiming sexuality.
Picardi used to work at Teen Vogue and started a magazine called Them.
The latest Playboy cover features the model Cara Delevingne.
Phillip Picardi has become Playboy's first openly gay editor-in-chief and its new chief brand officer.
Picardi joined Playboy on 11 March and is based at the magazine's Miami headquarters.
He previously served as editorial director of Teen Vogue and founded Condé Nast's queer-focused outlet Them.
Playboy's updated brand mission states that "all people can pursue pleasure."
Recent Playboy features have tackled subjects such as trans pornography and reclaiming sexuality, with the latest cover profiling Cara Delevingne.
- Who
- Phillip Picardi, former editorial director of Teen Vogue and founder of Condé Nast's queer-focused outlet Them.
- What
- Became Playboy's first openly gay editor-in-chief and chief brand officer, leading a major overhaul of the magazine.
- When
- Joined Playboy on 11 March.
- Where
- Playboy's Miami headquarters.
- Why
- To update the brand mission so that "all people can pursue pleasure" and to explain sexuality as a cultural force.
- New role
- Editor-in-chief and chief brand officer
- First openly gay editor-in-chief
- Yes
- Start date
- 11 March
- Previous role
- Editorial director of Teen Vogue
- Founded
- Them, Condé Nast's queer-focused outlet
- Headquarters
- Miami
- Updated brand mission
- "All people can pursue pleasure"
- Latest cover
- Cara Delevingne