The writer who raised celebrity hackles with a widely read Newsweek.com essay about gay actors playing straight (and even earned himself a reference at the Tonys for it) is returning home to roost. Ramin Setoodeh, who left cultural reporting at Newsweek for a human-interest writing gig at People back in June is already back at his old job. He’s so far the only one of a recent slew of reporters and editors who fled the mag — after longtime owners the Washington Post Company announced they were planning to sell the title back in May — to do so. “There’s a lot of opportunity here, especially on the Web. I’m excited for the future and I can’t tell you how happy I am to be back,” Setoodeh told us in an e-mail this morning from the Newsweek offices. “Look, People is the most-read magazine in the country, but it wasn’t the right fit. I’m grateful to [editor] Larry Hackett for being supportive and letting me try something new. But Newsweek still has some of the best reporters, and young reporters, in the business. Don’t count us out.”
