Our Writers
Elaine "Lainey" Lui
Elaine "Lainey" Lui is the founder and Editor of LaineyGossip.com, co-host of CTV's daytime talk show "The Social", and a reporter on CTV's "etalk". Lainey has covered the Red Carpet at the Oscars, SuperBowl XLII, Cannes and Toronto International Film Festivals, and other top tier events worldwide, and is regularly called upon by various media outlets including CNN, CBC, CTV News as one of Canada's top celebrity and pop culture experts. In 2014 Lainey became a best-selling author with her memoir "Listen to the Squawking Chicken".
Sarah Marrs
Sarah has written about film and pop culture on the internet for ten years, with additional bylines at Decider, Pajiba, and SYFY Fangrrls. She is a programming assistant for the Chicago Critics Film Festival, and is also a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, the Critics' Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society.
Duana Taha
Duana is a television screenwriter whose credits include Degrassi: The Next Generation, Lost Girl, Lost & Found Studios, and many more. On LaineyGossip.com, she raves about television, feminism, and "Hamilton", and writes the popular name column "Duana Names". She also hosts the hit podcast 'Show Your Work' with Elaine Lui, and is the author of the bestselling book, 'The Name Therapist'.
Hayley McGowan
Hayley has been a personal trainer in the city of Vancouver and holds a Bachelors of Human Kinetics from the University of British Columbia, a Comprehensive Pilates certification from Balanced Bodies as well as her 200HR yoga certification. When she is not busy working or writing the smutty fitness column, she spends much of her spare time practicing yoga and exploring the mountains of the West Coast, either by foot, on her snowboard or on her mountain bike.
Joanna Adams
Joanna is a producer at Canada's most-watched entertainment news show, etalk. Her obsessive Oscar knowledge has contributed to back-to-back etalk's Canadian Screen Award nominations for "Best Talk Program or Series." She also works as an associate news editor at HuffPost Canada.
Kathleen Newman-Bremang
Kathleen has worked at some of the biggest media outlets in North America: MuchMusic, MTV and CTV. Currently, she's a celebrity and entertainment producer at daytime talk show The Social. In addition to writing for LaineyGossip, her side hustle includes contributing to various publications like Elle Canada, Corduroy Magazine and The Kit.
Maria Tallarico
Maria spent 7 years as a managing editor of a digital women's magazine and has used that expertise to analyze the intersection of celebrity and lifestyle as an entertainment writer. Beyond LaineyGossip, her work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Salon, Flare and HuffPost. She's also a frequent guest contributor on CTV Morning Live Vancouver.
Sasha Tong
Sasha heads up the fashion department as an entertainment producer at eTalk. She's also the founder and creator of Lost & Found Apothecary.
Prem Sai Ramani
Prem was part of Lainey's 4th year Arts and Humanities course on gossip at Western where he quickly became enthralled by celebrity culture. Now, after finishing his university degree, he is excited to start his career as a writer on LaineyGossip. His favourite topics to write about are RuPaul's Drag Race, adult animated TV shows, and gorgeous male celebrities. When he's not writing, he's in Vancouver eating good food, skiing the slopes, or playing with his nephew.
Melayna Williams
Melayna Williams is a legal-educated, anti-racism advocate, writer and podcaster. Her work is grounded in community mobilization, social justice, critical race theory and intersectional feminism. She has worked in human rights law, education law, alternative dispute resolution and sexual assault crisis response. She hosts Black Tea on Frequency Podcast Network and her work has appeared in Macleans, Flare, Vice, Photo District News, NOW Magazine and West End Phoenix.
Cody
Cody is a producer, and social media coordinator at Canada’s most-watched entertainment news show, etalk, where he’s covered tent-pole red carpets from the JUNO Awards to TIFF. As a self-described pop culture junkie, when he's not working or writing for LaineyGossip, he’s spending too much time on Twitter or binge watching a new series — but he's always got a spare moment for a debate about feminism in female rap.
Violeta
Violeta is a college professor with a PhD in Literature. She was born in Mexico but came of age in the United States, so her love for pop culture does not recognize borders. Violeta is fascinated with examining the contradictions of the ideology of the American Dream in pop culture; and in her classroom, she is passionate about teaching texts that engage with social justice issues. As a writing teacher, she encourages her students to tell their own stories and is currently working at writing her own. Now that she is writing for LaineyGossip, she is happy that she can say that all that TV watching and celebrity blog reading she does is "for work."
Anastasia
Anastasia is a full-time Ryerson journalism student and a part-time News Writer at CHCH News. When she's not sitting in lecture, you can find her binge-watching reality TV, listening to podcasts about The Bachelor, catching up with #BlackTwitter, or lost in the depths of her TikTok "For You" page.
Stephanie
Stephanie is a former media industry professional turned non-profit worker. A former producer with shows like The Social and etalk, she also worked on national specials centred around racism in Canada and mental health. She holds a Specialist in Journalism and a minor in history from the University of Toronto. She is a mom, the owner of Briar & Sage Co., a conscious wellness and stationery store, a reader, a carnivalista and true crime junkie.
