Like a scene straight out of “Zoolander,” the New York Times recently included ousted Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro on its list of most stylish people of the year so far. But the paper just as quickly pulled his name from the list.
Maduro made the cut earlier this month along with 38 (more expected) names, including Justin Bieber, John Travolta, Amy Poehler, Josh O’Connor and Olympian Eileen Gu.
8 John Travolta also made the list. Getty Images But an eagle-eyed media insider informed us of what they called and, “amazing little correction,” soon after the piece posted which axed the infamous despot from the list.
The Gray Lady’s Style section told readers: “This article has been updated to remove an entry on Nicolás Maduro.”
(The update then pointed folks to a previous NYT piece, saying, “Read our Styles story about how an image of him in a tracksuit became a meme,” with a link to a post from earlier this year on the viral Nike gear the strongman wore when he was captured by US Special Forces in a January raid.)
The Times’ move to include the resident of Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center in a froufrou Style story did spark some initial backlash.
An X account for fans of Bad Bunny (who also made the list) posted when the article published this month: “Bad Bunny and Nicolas Maduro were the only Latin Americans featured on The New York Times list of the world’s most stylish personalities of 2026.”
When the same account noted that Maduro was removed from the piece, titled, “The 39-ish Most Stylish People of 2026, So Far,” user comments included, “Yeah because it was in real bad f–king taste.”
A Times spokesperson did not immediately get back to us about why Maduro was removed from the list.
Yesterday, a judge ordered the trial of the Venezuelan president and his wife, Cilia Flores, to begin on June 1, 2027. They’re charged with working with cartels to ship thousands of tons of narcotics into the US for more than 20 years, which they have denied. A pre-trial hearing is reportedly set for November 17. The accused tyrant is expected to argue that his case should be tossed because of international law.
(In a hearing this week, Maduro, 63, appeared in court in a less fashionable beige jail uniform that did not catch the attention of the Times’ fashion editors.)
Also making the list — and remaining — were Meryl Streep, Stephen Colbert, Blue Ivy Carter, Victor Wembanyama, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti and Sarah Pidgeon. There were some other polarizing names as well, including RFK Jr., Justin Trudeau and “looksmaxxer” Clavicular.
