Alec Nevala-Lee has noticed a fascinating trend. After The New Yorker publishes a profile of somebody in the Hollywood industry, their careers almost always take a turn for the worst. Highlights from the article include:

• Last year director Andrew Stanton had a long, positive piece written about him in the magazine. His movie John Carter, released just six months later, is among the costliest flops in Hollywood history.
• Others who have fallen prey to the effect include George Clooney and Steve Carell.
• This might be because of what in finance is called ‘performance chasing.’ The New Yorker only runs profiles of the most successful – likely right after they’ve had a big hit. But such success cannot be maintained indefinitely and artists will eventually return to their performance mean.
• The effect might also be because The New Yorker is forced to tie its profiles into a wider theme – since it publishes so few of them a year. These themes attempt to project into the future of entire industries and they almost always get it wrong.

To read more about those who have fallen to the curse, how this relates to Sports Illustrated, why Armando Iannucci should be worried, the one exception to the rule in recent times, and why the New Yorker can’t focus on emerging talent, click here.

Source: Salon