Evan Spiegel, Mike Bloomberg and Katie Couric took the stage together at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit Wednesday evening, probably because the magazine’s editor, Graydon Carter, thought it would be funny.
Evan Spiegel and Mike Bloomberg on Sexting and Dealing With the Haters
“First -- Mike, have you ever sexted on Snapchat?” Couric inquired.
Kimberly White/Getty Images for Vanity Fair
And it was!
The Summit, which is being presented Wednesday and Thursday at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, brought together the glossy magazine’s latest lineup of power players. And since so many of them are based in Silicon Valley, the premier New York media stalwart took its road show cross-country, to California.
The session was titled “Disrupting Information and Communication,” and moderator Couric started strong, with questions about the special relationship between Spiegel and Bloomberg — they had apparently met previously to discuss dealing with negative press. (Bloomberg was a controversial mayor of New York City. Spiegel, the co-founder and CEO of Snapchat, saw some of his aggressively sexist emails from college surface a few months ago.)
“I think Mike has a pretty unique history of doing things that aren’t popular,” said Spiegel. “He’s really been a role model.”
Bloomberg, who wore a blue suit and Tiffany-blue tie, said he has learned to handle negative press. “Just know that in the end you’re gonna be fine and they’re not,” Bloomberg said, referring to reporters. “It’s drivel. Nobody remembers.”
“Lining the birdcage,” added Couric, global anchor for Yahoo News, referring to a classic dig about news stories only lasting a day.
And then there’s old-fashioned forgiveness: “I work for a team who believe you can be an idiot frat boy and also become someone more thoughtful and considerate,” said Spiegel, who chose skinny black jeans and an oversized black sweatshirt for the onstage chat.
Couric changed the subject to … sexting! It’s what Snapchat might be for, right, Evan? But wait, actually a question for Bloomberg:
“First — Mike, have you ever sexted on Snapchat?” Couric inquired.
He had not. Bloomberg said that he follows the Richard Nixon rule: “Don’t record anything.”
Couric wanted to know if Spiegel knew how many of his users are sexting, but also wanted to make it clear that she was not “obsessed with sexting.”
Spiegel did not know how many Snapchat member use the app for sexting. And he said that his anecdotal research indicates that sexters like to save their sexts, anyway, so this issue is overblown.
Good to know.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
