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Nathaniel Cullerton, 45, a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, was filmed on July 23 kissing 29-year-old associate Kelsey Borenzweig on a park bench in New York. The video, posted to TikTok by Jay Guapõ, has since drawn 9.6 million views.

The controversy could prove costly for Cullerton, who reportedly earns at least US$4 million a year. According to The New York Post, a planned move to rival firm Gibson Dunn has been abandoned following the viral incident, potentially depriving him of tens of millions of dollars in future earnings.

The video shows the person behind the camera approaching the pair and telling them: “Get a room. There are kids watching.”

Cullerton and Borenzweig quickly stopped kissing and tried to shield their faces. Cullerton later stood up, smiled and waved off the filmer, while Borenzweig asked for the recording to stop, the Daily Mail reported.

Much of the online backlash has focused on the fact that Cullerton is married.

Following the incident, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz suspended Cullerton pending an internal investigation. His planned move to rival law firm Gibson Dunn was scrapped after the video went viral.

The firm has not announced whether Borenzweig will face any disciplinary action. As of July 28, both lawyers’ profiles remained on the firm’s website.

Many U.S. law firms prohibit romantic relationships between supervisors and subordinates to avoid conflicts of interest and generally require employees to disclose workplace relationships to human resources.

Cullerton and Borenzweig previously worked together on the legal team defending OpenAI and Sam Altman against Elon Musk’s US$150 billion lawsuit.

Neither Cullerton nor the law firms involved responded to media requests for comment.

Cullerton married his wife, Moira Penza, 42, in February 2016. Penza is a lawyer at Wilkinson Stekloff in New York and previously served as a federal prosecutor, leading several high-profile cases. The couple live in a $2.3 million apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The incident has drawn comparisons to the viral Coldplay “kiss cam” scandal near Boston in July 2025, when Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and HR chief Kristin Cabot were caught embracing on the stadium screen. Byron, who was married, and Cabot, who was separated from her husband, both later resigned.