Wachtell Lawyer Nathaniel Cullerton Separating From Firm After Viral Central Park Scandal
Nathaniel D. Cullerton, a 45-year-old partner at the New York City law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, has been suspended following a viral TikTok video capturing him kissing 29-year-old litigation associate Kelsey Borenzweig on a Central Park bench, according to reporting by the Financial Times. The fallout has derailed a lucrative career trajectory, costing Cullerton a pending employment offer from rival firm Gibson Dunn estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars.
The Viral Incident and Immediate Fallout at Wachtell Lipton
The controversy ignited when TikTok comedian Jay Guapo filmed the pair embracing on the western edge of Central Park, roughly 30 blocks south of the Fifth Avenue co-op Cullerton is listed as living in with his wife, Moira Penza. The video, shared with Guapo’s 3.5 million followers, quickly spread across social media and circulated widely through elite New York legal circles.
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According to legal sources cited by the New York Post, Cullerton earned a salary of at least $4 million as a junior partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, where senior partners are paid around $12 million. Cullerton was among six partners expected to soon jump ship to Gibson Dunn before the viral clip surfaced. Insiders claim that Wachtell would have countered with ‘even more’ money to retain him, but those multi-million-dollar prospects evaporated.
Sources said that while Cullerton remains technically employed and on leave, he is in the process of separating from Wachtell. As of Wednesday morning, both Cullerton’s and Borenzweig’s attorney profiles remained active on the firm’s website, though internal investigations led by the firm continue. It remains unclear whether Borenzweig faces similar disciplinary action.
High-Stakes Corporate Litigation Background
Before the scandal thrust them into the public eye, Cullerton and Borenzweig worked closely together within Wachtell’s litigation department. Most notably, the pair collaborated to defeat a civil lawsuit filed by Elon Musk against Sam Altman, in which Musk claimed Altman breached agreements to keep OpenAI a nonprofit. A photograph from May 2026 captured Cullerton walking into the federal court building in Oakland, California, with Borenzweig steps behind him.
Cullerton earned his J.D. from Georgetown University in 2013 before clerking at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Borenzweig earned her J.D. from the New York University School of Law in 2022 and completed her own judicial clerkships prior to joining Wachtell.
Cullerton’s wife, Moira Penza, is a partner at Wilkinson Stekloff. A former federal prosecutor, Penza led the case against NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere and appeared in the HBO series The Vow.