Derek Blasberg sneaks cell phone into exhibit for reclusive writer J.D. Salinger

December 30, 2019


Influencer Derek Blasberg ignored a strict “no cell phone” policy during a visit to the “very intimate” J.D. Salinger exhibit at the New York Public Library.

Blasberg, head of fashion and beauty partnerships at YouTube, shared the reclusive author’s possessions for his nearly one million followers on Instagram over the weekend.

“Yesterday was THE BEST DAY EVER: Twelve oysters, three exhibits, two teens, one Broadway show, and JD Salinger’s typewriter,” he wrote.

“This is me waiting in line to see the JD Salinger exhibit. Which at first I found very annoying because I’m a spoiled brat.”

The Post reported in November that Salinger’s son, Matt, was behind the cell phone confiscation program after he complained about visitors posting photos online.

Library workers have been stationed outside the gallery holding more than 200 Salinger artifacts. Patrons are instructed to check their cell phones away at a mandatory coat check.

In his posts, Blasberg revealed the author’s original sketch for “Catcher in the Rye” along with a video of his bookcase from his personal library inside the exhibit.

The blogger also posted a telegram Salinger sent to a writer.

“Before nasty comments, people would send nasty telegrams,” he wrote. “Here’s one Salinger sent to a writer who he thought offended his editor. It’s spicy!”

Salinger, the notoriously private novelist steered away from the public. All of the items are on loan from the J.D. Salinger Literary Trust.

“We wanted to promote a very intimate, almost communion, between the viewer and the subject,” Matt Salinger told the Post in November.

“We thought that things like phones and cameras would get in the way of that immediate kind of relationship.”

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