Ramin Setoodeh

The business of covering the ins and outs of Hollywood is its own beast, especially in a year as tumultuous for the industry as this one has been. But thanks to the leadership of out journalist Ramin Setoodeh, Variety has been conquering that beast.

The co-editor in chief of the trusted and renowned trade publication, which has been around 118 years, 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 writers’ and actors’ strikes.

“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 says. “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.”

Though he says he knew he wanted to be a journalist since he started working at his junior high school newspaper in the seventh grade, 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 — something he hopes others can do too.

“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 says. “Having a broad spectrum of queer role models will make it easier for the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth to forge their own paths.” @raminsetoodeh