Ramin Setoodeh is Creating Space for LGBTQ+ People in Media

Ramin Setoodeh oversees a newsroom that is on the pulse of the entire entertainment world and that has covered everything from awards shows to business deals to scandals to the recent writers’ and actors’ strikes. Since early last year, the co-editor in chief of the trusted and renowned trade publication Variety, which has been around 118 years, has shared the reins with fellow co-editor in chief Cynthia Littleton in overseeing editorial operations across all Variety platforms.

“Working at Variety for the last eight years under Claudia Eller’s leadership has been the most rewarding experience of my career. I’m incredibly excited to be teaming up with Cynthia Littleton, one of the best reporters and editors in the business, to grow our award-winning magazine and website,” Setoodeh said in a statement when he was promoted to the position in January 2022. “I look forward to expanding established franchises and creating new and exciting content for Variety — across print, online, video, and live events.”

While working at Variety over the last decade, Setoodeh has written over 50 cover stories for the magazine, interviewing A-listers like Lady Gaga, Chadwick Boseman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, and many others. He also created the publication’s New Power of New York franchise, which has included guest essays by Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, Lena Waithe, David Remnick, Leslie Jones, and Timothee Chalamet. He’s also known for hosting and executive producing Variety’s Emmy-winning, “Actors on Actors,” a semi-annual TV series that features discussions around some of the best performances in television and film.

“I’m incredibly proud that Variety has become the number 1 most-read news site covering the business of entertainment for the past 15 consecutive months,” Setoodeh recently told Out when he was included in its famed Out100 list. “It’s a testament to how hard our journalists work at covering this industry as they deliver the best scoops, long-form magazine profiles, reviews, and video.”

Setoodeh is also a bestselling author, with his juicy 2020 behind-the-scenes exposé on American daytime TV institution, The View. Women Who Punch tells the real story of what goes on when cameras aren’t rolling — when tempers flare and creative conflicts arise. Over the years, rather than just discussing the latest headlines, the show’s various strong-willed co-hosts — Barbara, Whoopi, Rosie, to name a few — often found themselves becoming headline news.

Ultimately, whether through his journalism, writing, or producing, Setoodeh is a born storyteller. He says that he knew he wanted to be a journalist since he started working at his junior high school newspaper in the seventh grade, but it was when he moved to New York City at the age of 21 to start working at Newsweek that that he really started to find his place and his voice in the world — something he hopes others will be inspired by.

“There’s never been so many positive examples of queer representation in popular culture, and a lot has changed since Ellen DeGeneres became the first prime-time star to come of the closet on her show in 1997,” he told Out. “Having a broad spectrum of queer role models will make it easier for the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth to forge their own paths.”