In 2012, on the night of Obama’s reelection, a young man named Andrew Warren sent a text message to his friend Peter Brant II, the son of publishing magnate Peter Brant the senior. “Guess were [sic] poor now,” it began. Brant posted the exchange to his Instagram account, which inevitably led to some not-so-great press; both apologized, saying they were totally kidding. “It was completely out of context,” Warren says now. His real friends, he says, know this. And tonight, these real friends have gathered for a “Friendsgiving” celebration (the menu: takeout Mr. Chow) at the home of Ezra William, an NYU student who somehow lives in a Robert A.M. Stern–designed townhouse on Bethune Street.
The first floor is a sea of Fendi Casa crystal chandeliers, and black and white marble countertops, though William says it’s far from finished: “I’ve been through two designers.” For the past few years, the members of this group — many of them grew up in New York, but also included are Tiffany Trump (Donald’s daughter with Marla, from L.A., whom Andrew has known since he was a toddler) and E. J. Johnson (son of Magic, also from L.A., whom Warren met when E.J. was at NYU) — have become minor celebrities thanks to the anonymous Rich Kids of Instagram blog and have leveraged their hundreds of thousands of followers to further their personal brands. And at the helm, the gatekeeper, the self-proclaimed “Kris Jenner” of the group, is Warren, a soft-spoken 22-year-old with a swoopy haircut and an affection for fashion T-shirts. In high school, he says, “it was kind of like the coolest girls all wanted to be friends with me.” He says that there were about 50 young women that he was juggling at any one time. “I’d call Serafina and be like, ‘Hi, I’d like to make a reservation for 30.’ ” Since then, he’s whittled down the group. “Honestly, I used to take on a lot more people, but I spread myself too thin, and now I just want to hang out with people I genuinely love.”
“Andrew tells us where to be and at what time; it’s like having a manager, literally,” says Alana Miller, who grew up in New York, then joined Warren at Syracuse University. Promoters and publicists who want this crew (which includes Reya Benitez — daughter of DJ Jellybean — and, weirdly, the actress Abigail Breslin) at their parties get in touch with Warren, who will gather the troops. “I’m calling it now, you’re totally going to have your own PR agency someday,” says Tessa Gourin, a raspy-voiced aspiring actress. For the time being, Warren (the grandson of designer David Warren) is focusing on a fashion line, Just Drew. “People think I’m rude when they first meet me, but I’m actually just really shy at first,” he says. Warren still lives with his parents on Central Park West and still relies on his live-in babysitter named Lita. According to Natalie Jackson, a friendly blonde with over 25,000 Instagram followers who went to Columbia Grammar, then USC, and is now studying real estate, “Lita is the Dorota to his Blair,” (It’s a Gossip Girl reference.) “Most of my Snapchat followers are just because of Lita,” Warren says. “She’s literally the funniest person ever — I could just watch her all day.”
At the table, as early Destiny’s Child plays in the background, Gaia Matisse, the great-great-granddaughter of Henri and a budding actress, is regaling everyone about her recent tattoo — a pair of dog ears on the back of her neck to honor her Chihuahua, Bambi, and recalling an evening last summer in Ibiza when she and Justin Bieber, as Gourin reminds her, “almost went there.” She won’t reveal any more except to say that “it was super-chill.” Kyra Kennedy, the daughter of Robert and the late Mary Richardson, whom Warren met in Aspen (“It was love at first sight; I gave her the nickname Viv because she reminded me of Selma Blair’s character in Legally Blonde”), FaceTimes in from Miami to say hi. “I have that jumpsuit,” Gourin says, eyeing the iPhone screen. “Everyone has that jumpsuit,” Matisse mumbles under her breath.
Barron Hilton, Paris and Nicky’s younger brother, shows up with Alex Assouline, the son of art-book publishers Prosper and Martine Assouline, and talk shifts to Tiffany Trump, who is in Palm Beach at the moment. “She’s the southern belle of the group even though she isn’t from the South,” Jackson says. Meanwhile, the 2002 Good Charlotte song “Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous” is actually playing in the background.
*A version of this article appears in the December 14, 2015 issue of New York Magazine.
