Jessica Pressler (born 1977/78) is an American journalist and contributing editor at New York. Her 2015 article "The Hustlers at Scores" was nominated for a National Magazine Award and was later made into a feature film called Hustlers in 2019.[2] She also wrote a story about Anna Sorokin that was later developed into the mini-series Inventing Anna released by Netflix in 2022.
In 2014, Pressler wrote a story about a Stuyvesant High School senior who had allegedly made $72 million trading stocks,[9] which was later revealed to be not true.[10][11]Bloomberg News rescinded a job offer made to her for their investigative unit after the student confessed he had "made the whole thing up."[12][13]
On December 28, 2015, Pressler published an article for New York called "The Hustlers at Scores",[14] a story about strippers who manipulated money out of their clients. She was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2016.[15] A team of producers that included Will Ferrell "snapped up" the film rights in February 2016.[16] The story was adapted into a film by Gloria Sanchez Productions[17][18] titled Hustlers; it was released in 2019[2] and stars Keke Palmer, Constance Wu and Jennifer Lopez, with Julia Stiles portraying "Elizabeth", a fictionalized version of Pressler.[19]
In 2018, she wrote a story about New York City high society grifter Anna Sorokin,[20][4] which was developed into the mini-series Inventing Anna by Netflix and Shonda Rhimes.[21][22][23][24] Pressler's book, Bad Influence: Money, Lies, Power, and the World that Created Anna Delvey, was scheduled for publication in 2022, but as of 2024 has yet to have a release date.[25]
Pressler has also written for GQ, Elle, Esquire and Smithsonian.[4] She was a regular Gossip Girl episode recap writer online for Vulture, and later made a cameo appearance as a New York editor in one of its episodes.[26][27]
Personal life
In 2008, she married Benjamin Wallace, a freelance magazine writer and author.[1] They later divorced, and she is now married to Josh Uhl.[28]
^Kilgore, Ed (July 21, 2017). "Instead of a Reassuring Senior Communications Director, Trump Chose the Mooch". Intelligencer. We don't know their specific grounds for opposing the appointment, but one factor could be the Mooch's manifest lack of gravitas, as evidenced by this revealing glimpse of Scaramucci's view of Washington provided in January by Jessica Pressler: (excerpt of article)
^Pressler's contributions to Best Business Writing editions: "Jessica Pressler (New York) delves into the personal and professional rivalry between Tory and Christopher Burch, former spouses now competing to dominate the fashion world."
^Ramos, Dino-Ray (February 16, 2016). "Adam McKay And Will Ferrell Snap Up Rights To 'The Hustlers at Scores'". The Tracking Board. Retrieved September 18, 2019. The Big Short writer-director Adam McKay is preparing to take on the underbelly of financial intrigue from a slightly different angle. Sources confirm that McKay and partner Will Ferrell have picked up the film rights to Jessica Pressler's New York Magazine article, THE HUSTLERS AT SCORES, McKay, Ferrell, and Jessica Elbaum will produce under their Gloria Sanchez Productions.
