Nathaniel D. Cullerton, 45, was caught in a heated smoochfest with a much younger Kelsey Borenzweig, 29, by TikTok user Jay Guapõ who posted the now-viral video on Thursday.
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Cullerton was slated to join more than half a dozen prominent attorneys from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz who jumped ship to rival firm Gibson Dunn this week, but Cullerton’s expected move was quashed after video of him sucking face with 29-year-old coworker Kelsey Borenzweig exploded on social media last week.
The kiss happened fast.
The pair were filmed sharing a kiss on a park bench on July 23 before a TikTok creator interrupted them.
The legal duo, who both work for the prestigious Manhattan firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, were canoodling on a Central Park bench as the camera-wielding TikTokker interrupts them by hollering, “Get a room. There’s kids around.”
Cullerton is listed a partner at the firm, while the more junior Borenzweig works as an associate.
The TikToker got a response.
Cullerton stands up with a smile as he attempts to shoo Guapõ away, and Borenzweig then asks him to ‘put the phone down’.
“Don’t touch me, don’t touch — if you touch me I’ll have to touch you,” Guapõ adds.
Guapõ’s followers saw it all.
The video amassed 4 million views on TikTok.
The mystery surrounding a viral Central Park kissing video has quickly come to an end after online users identified the couple as two lawyers from the same prestigious New York law firm.
The Post was able to confirm the identities of the lawyers by comparing the viral TikTok video to their headshots on Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz’s website.
The consequences landed hard.
Nathaniel Cullerton, a 45-year-old reportedly married partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, was sidelined amid an investigation connected to the now-viral canoodling, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.
People familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that Cullerton was placed on leave ‘pending further investigation’.
But Cullerton’s career wasn’t the only thing affected.
The group of defectors would have included Wachtell partner Nathaniel Cullerton, but his hiring was scrapped after he was filmed in a viral TikTok video in an apparent romantic embrace with a colleague last week.
Cullerton had been placed on a leave of absence from Wachtell pending further investigation.
The personal stakes were serious too.
The 45-year-old lawyer has been married to Moira Penza, 42, who is a partner at another Big Apple firm, since 2016 and share a $2.3 million luxurious Upper East Side co-op apartment together.
Cullerton kept silent.
The Daily Mail approached Cullerton as he was returning to his apartment – he had nothing to say to the outlet.
Wachtell did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Neither did Borenzweig or Penza.
The associates’ prior relationship status raised questions.
Borenzweig was supposedly in a relationship with Adam Littlestone-Luria, a 35-year-old judicial law clerk, but according to a source, it ended ‘months ago’.
Littlestone-Luria told a Daily Mail reporter: “I am not comfortable talking about this, but I am aware of it.”
The two had worked closely on major litigation.
The two high-profile lawyers — both of whom worked on the legal team defending OpenAI and Sam Altman against Elon Musk’s $150 billion lawsuit this year — look up in embarrassment and shield themselves from the camera after Guapõ approaches them.
In the viral moment on July 23, Cullerton and Borenzweig were photographed kissing on a bench near Central Park West and West 63rd Street in Manhattan. The clip showed them attempting to shield themselves when Guapõ approached with his camera, with Cullerton standing to push the TikToker away while Borenzweig asked him to stop recording. The video spread rapidly across social media, drawing comparisons to the Coldplay concert kiss cam controversy involving executives Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot the prior year.
The impact on Cullerton’s career was substantial—the Gibson Dunn opportunity represented a significant financial opportunity for a lateral partner move.
The per partner profits figure at Wachtell runs north of $12 million.
As of Tuesday, both lawyers’ profiles remained active on Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz’s website.