Photos from Zeteo's One-Year Anniversary Party!

A vibrant night in New York to celebrate the seeking, telling, and defending of the truth, with some fascinating, fun, and famous guests.

The Zeteo anniversary party at Au Za’atar - Midtown East. Photos by Hamza Shallwani for Zeteo.

On Thursday evening, in midtown Manhattan, Zeteo hosted a packed party to celebrate our first birthday – and our well-deserved status as one of the most talked-about new media companies in the world. Held at Au Za’atar – the acclaimed ‘Arabian-French bistro’ and our CEO’s favorite Lebanese spot in the Big Apple – the night brought together leading lights from the worlds of politics, media, entertainment, and beyond.

Sponsored by Substack, the party was more than just a celebration of Zeteo’s successes as a business and a company, but also a recognition of the power of independent journalism and, in Mehdi’s words, “our one simple mission: to seek the truth, tell the truth, defend the truth.”

Mingling over mocktails and man’oushe, guests discussed everything from the New York mayoral race, to the latest Trump administration scandals, to Zeteo’s headline-grabbing new documentary ‘Who Killed Shireen?’

Below, we’re delighted to share some images from Thursday night’s party - celebrating an anniversary that would not have been possible without your support as a subscriber.

Mehdi speaks to New York mayoral candidate and current City Comptroller Brad Lander.

‘Democracy Now’ co-hosts Nermeen Shaikh and Amy Goodman – and Amy’s dog Zazou!

Palestinian-Italian Zeteo contributor Rula Jebreal has a new book out, in Italian, on the genocide in Gaza.

Guardian USA editor, and Mehdi’s former boss at The Intercept, Betsy Reed.

Mehdi addresses the crowd, including Peter Beinart, Dion Nissenbaum, and Jason Stanley, among others: “I’ve never run a business in my life… I can barely run a bath.”

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is in his element.

A pioneer of independent progressive journalism, ‘The Majority Report’s’ Sam Seder, is in the house

There were goodie bags for the guests, including Zeteo merch! (shop.zeteo.com)

‘Dollar’ Bill Stern from ‘Billions,’ aka actor Kelly AuCoin, is a Zeteo supporter.

Former Congressman Jamaal Bowman, co-host of Zeteo’s new YouTube show ‘Bowman & Bush,’ hugs a fan.

Palestinian diplomat Majed Bamya listening to Zeteo’s Prem Thakker along with Amy Greer, lawyer for Mahmoud Khalil

New York Times financial columnist and CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin greets economist and former Bernie Sanders adviser Stephanie Kelton.

Substack’s Catherine Valentine is a force of nature.

It wouldn’t be a media party without Semafor’s Ben Smith and Vanity Fair’s Natalie Korach.

Other guests of the night included Molly Jong-Fast, Azmat Khan, Dean Obeidallah, Ali Gharib, Amani al-Khatahtbeh, Murtaza Hussain, Conor Powell, Hadas Gold, and many others!

Okay, okay, celebration over. Back to work!

We’re officially now in year two of Zeteo. We’ve got a lot more planned, a lot in mind, and a lot that we’d love to involve you in. So please stay tuned, keep an eye out for our emails, and do keep telling us how we can better serve you and build our platform as we continue growing.

Onwards and upwards!