In the mid-1990s, one of the most popular magazines around was George, a monthly founded by John F. Kennedy Jr. that focused on politics and pop-culture, and featured big, glossy images of celebrities on its covers. After Kennedy died in a plane crash in 1999, however, the magazine went downhill and ultimately ceased publication in 2001.
Well, it appears that George is back from the dead. Unfortunately, it has been resurrected by a QAnon conspiracy theorist, Gene Ho, who seems to want to give it a thorough MAGA makeover.
In February, Vice reported that old issues of George were selling for big bucks on eBay because QAnon supporters had convinced themselves that it held cryptic messages vital to the Q conspiracy. Some supporters also apparently believe that JFK Jr. is still alive and has been showing up at QAnon conferences in disguise…make of that what you will. Anyway, it now appears that Ho, who previously served as Trump’s photographer during the 2016 presidential election (he calls it “TRUMPography”) and has expressed his support for the Q movement, wants to officially revive the magazine.
You can check out the weird abomination by travelling to GeorgeOnline.com. The site features a video introduction from Ho, who says he will serve as editor, and who wants you to know that the magazine’s reboot is going to be a good time: “We’re gonna talk politics! We’re gonna talk religion! We’re even gonna talk business! We’re gonna have a lot of fun!” Ho then directs interested visitors to give him their email address so he can send “a sneak peak on everything that’s going on.” I definitely want to know everything that’s going on, so I joined the George mailing list but still haven’t received a “sneak peak” yet, or even a verification email that I’ve been added to their list.
Ho also appears to have stamped Donald Trump’s big, blockish face across the first issue of the reboot (you can see a picture of the magazine cover at the website), though it’s unclear how and where you can get ahold of the actual magazine. A giant advertisement for the supposed reboot was also paid for in Times Square on Wednesday, also featuring the image of Trump.
Check out the billboard in Times Square today. The first issue of the new launch of George Magazine pic.twitter.com/eUTMTsBPWi
— Scott A McKay (@SAMcKay3) July 14, 2022
Even if Ho is serving as the editor, it’s not totally clear who legally owns the magazine at this point in time. The Daily Beast reports that a “Florida company called Retrobrands USA applied for what appears to be the only existing magazine-related “George” trademark, according to a search of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.” However, the outlet also notes that whatever “remains of the original George’s assets appears to rest with the Hearst media conglomerate, which purchased George’s parent company in 2011,” so it’s not exactly clear who is in charge here.
Gizmodo reached out to Ho for more details on George and will update this story if he responds. We also reached out to Hearst with an inquiry about the magazine.