Q&A with Lainey

It’s the craziest time of year for Lainey, whose film fest celebrity encounters fuel her internationally popular blog, and who also pulls double duty as a host on CTV’s etalk. In between bouts of blogging, TV shoots and red-carpet coverage, Lainey sat down to dish about TIFF, her favourite Vancouver haunts, and how Twi-Hards¹ are taking over her city.

Lifestyle Magazine: Is TIFF the best or the worst time of year for you?

Lainey: The best moments happen at TIFF, how about that? Etalk has the most complete coverage, and it means that we basically handle everything and we’re everywhere. So I can’t say to you that the best time of my life is when I’m run down, but I can tell you that the best moments I have working as a blogger and an etalk host happen at TIFF. Like the other night, I was at the after-party for George Clooney — [The Men Who Stare at Goats] movie and we were at this house on the Bridle Path and it was sick. Those are benefits you can’t really exchange.

Lifestyle: You’re incredibly busy and yet you remain very devoted to your blog. Will you always blog?

Lainey: I always want to be the primary person on my blog. That’s my number one priority. I love contributing to etalk, but I’m nothing to etalk without being Lainey Gossip. The whole reason I’m on etalk is because they found my blog and they wanted to introduce a gossip segment onto the show. People weren’t being satisfied in the kind of reporting that People magazine was delivering to them or shows like Entertainment Tonight. It’s too clean and we all know that celebrities aren’t clean. My brand is so associated with my personality. I’m never going to extricate myself from that.

Lifestyle: How did your blog become so huge? How did you make your network of sources?

Lainey: I just started writing this email to my girlfriends about celebrity smack talk and they started sending it around, and it started to get to hundreds of people and thousands of people and eventually it was too much in terms of email server space. So I had a friend who was like “I’ll just design you a website.” So the site launched and when you’re online immediately you become more accessible. I guess it started getting read by the “right” people working in L.A. and New York and what not, and a couple of them started to make contact with me and give me stories.

Lifestyle: And what are your sources getting out of it?

Lainey: People seem to think that everything is money motivated but in the world of entertainment and gossip, information is currency. My sources will give me something and later on I’ll repay the favour and I’ll give them a tip for something else that they can use for whatever it is that they’re doing. We’re human beings. Gossip is immortal. There’s a reason why gossip exists and it’s because we can’t keep secrets. There’s nothing like the thrill of you telling somebody a secret and knowing you were the person that made it get out there… It’s a little bit of an ego trip for some sources, too.

Lifestyle: Vancouver is going to host the world during the 2010 Olympics. What are your favourite refuges in Vancouver to escape for a drink or a meal?

Lainey: For a drink I really like going to George, which is this lounge in Yaletown. Sometimes I’m afraid it’s getting too posh because you know Yaletown is where you find the girls and their accessory dogs and wannabe L.A. styles. They all dress like a cross between Tara Reid and Nicole Richie. In their minds they see themselves as Nicole Richie but they actually look like Tara Reid. So George is in Yaletown but it just has such a chill vibe and the drinks are so great that I really, really like it there.

"We’re human beings. Gossip is immortal. There’s a reason why gossip exists
and it’s because we can’t keep secrets."

My husband and I love this restaurant called Chambar. It’s a Belgian restaurant and it’s right around the corner from GM Place. It’s one of our favourite restaurants and the f—king Twilight/Kings of Leon orgy happened there so now I’m mad because you know crazy the Twi-hards are. They basically go on these Twilight pilgrimages all over Vancouver and now that they know the Chambar was booked out exclusively by Kings of Leon and the [Twilight] cast was there partying with them, they’re basically going to spoil it. Like, they pissed on my favourite place. Yeah, put that in your column. I’m sad about losing Chambar.

Lifestyle: More and more movies are shooting in Vancouver. Do you like that?

Lainey: I do like that because it’s good fodder for me, because I’m so plugged in there and also because it’s obviously showcasing a place that we love. It’s good for everyone in B.C. because the economic value of having productions taking place there, you can’t say enough about it. Having said that, it’s kind of embarrassing to me how Vancouver is acting over this Twilight business. You know how you move around in New York and L.A. and Toronto and the concierges will give you tips and the maître d’s will give you tips at a restaurant? Vancouver’s not like that. Vancouver prides itself on being above everybody else. That was the previous image, and then Twilight came along and everybody f—king lost their s—t! Vancouver fans are supposed to be cooler too — like they wouldn’t chase people down the street. Twilight came along, and shame went out the window. Twilight has tapped into some sort of latent crazy gene that exists in certain people and now it’s vibrant and thriving. •

Follow Lainey’s hilarious celebrity smut-mongering on laineygossip.com. 

¹Twi-Hard: Lainey’s not-so-affectionate nickname for fanatic fans of the Twilight book and movie trilogy, which is shooting its third installment in Vancouver