Former CIA officer John Kiriakou's unexpected second act: From whistleblower to viral sensation

John Kiriakou spent 15 years working in the shadows as a CIA officer.Today, at 62, he's walking the runway at New York Fashion Week, racking up millions of views across social media and becoming an unlikely Gen Z internet sensation.His videos regularly attract millions of views, and his audience of hundreds of thousands of followers has transformed the former intelligence officer into an unexpected voice for a generation that was too young to remember the events that once defined his life."I never thought that I would be this figurehead for thousands and thousands of young men between 15 and 35," Kiriakou told Fox News Digital.That newfound popularity has opened doors he never imagined, including one into the fashion world.

Kiriakou is the first to admit he has never considered himself fashionable.During the interview, he joked that the black T-shirt he was wearing cost about $12 and said he only occasionally flipped through GQ to see what men were wearing.

Yet in September, he found himself walking the runway for designer Elena Velez at New York Fashion Week — an unexpected appearance for a man better known for the CIA, national security and exposing the agency's interrogation program.HOUSE GOP BILL MOVES TO CLOSE WHISTLEBLOWER GAPS EXPOSED BY MINNESOTA MEDICAID FRAUD SCANDALFormer CIA officer John Kiriakou appeared on Sean Hannity’s podcast, "Hang Out with Sean Hannity," for an interview discussion.(Screenshot/"Hang Out with Sean Hannity")John Kiriakou models a look during Elena Velez’s New York Fashion Week show.

(Theo Wargo/Getty Images)John Kiriakou was honored with the First Amendment Award, during the PEN Center USA's 25th Annual Literary Awards Festival.(Frederick M.

Brown/Getty Images)John Kiriakou walks the runway during Elena Velez - Runway - New York Fashion Week September 2026 on September 12, 2026, in New York City.  (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)Director Francis Ford Coppola and John Kiriakou at the Annual Literary Awards in 2015.(Michael Tullb...