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Scaachi Koul | |
|---|---|
 Koul at a book reading inToronto in 2017 | |
| Born | (1991-02-07)February 7, 1991 (age 34) |
| Alma mater | Ryerson University |
| Occupation | Writer |
Scaachi Koul (born February 7, 1991) is a Canadian former culture writer atBuzzFeed Canada.[1][2] She is the author of the book of essaysOne Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter and was one of the reporters in BuzzFeed'sNetflix documentary seriesFollow This. Before BuzzFeed, Koul worked atPenguin Random House Canada, the acquiring publisher of her book.[3] Her writing has appeared inFlare,[4]HuffPost Canada,The Thought Catalog,The Guardian,The New Yorker,[5]The New York Times,[6]The Globe and Mail,[7] and other publications.
Koulfreelanced while still at theRyerson School of Journalism where she wrote forMaclean's from 2009 up until her graduation at the end of 2012.[8][9] From April to November 2014 Koul wrote the "Unf*ck Yourself" column forHazlitt.[10] In 2015 her column was rebranded "Scaach-22" with the new tagline "managing your own privilege without being a dick".[11]
In March 2015, while Koul was still employed by Penguin Random House Canada, they announced publication of a collection of her essays.[3] Originally the collection was titledThe Pursuit of Misery[12] then it was changed toOne Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter.[13] The book covers subjects including family, race, feminism, body image, and rape culture from her perspective as an Indian-Canadian woman growing up in the suburbs of Calgary.[14] She also discusses her writing career andsocial media, including temporarily deactivating her Twitter account as a result of invective and threats following a request for long-form submissions from people who were "not white and not male".[15] Koul was praised for her wit and humour,[16] ability to mix sarcasm and sentimentality,[17] and for her effective use of confessional writing as a complement to analytical rigour.[18] She received a shortlisted nomination for the 2018Stephen Leacock Award for the best book of humour written in English by a Canadian writer.[19]
She hosts theScamfluencers podcast with Sarah Hagi, which covers scammers who areinfluencers.[20] Scamfluencers won theAmbie award in 2023 for best podcast covering the entertainment industry.[21]
She also co-hosts a BBC production podcastWhere to be a woman with Sophia Smith Galer.[22]
In March 2024, she appeared in 4 episodes of the Nickelodeon documentary “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” as a consultant.
As of 2024[update]Slate lists Koul as a senior writer.[23]
In May 2023, Koul revealed in aHuffington Post article that she was investigating former pornographic film franchiseGirls Gone Wild and its founderJoe Francis.[24] She also revealed that she had interviewed Francis for nine hours ata home he had inPunta Mita,Mexico.[24] In December 2024, the three episode seriesGirls Gone Wild: The Untold Story, a documentary detailing Koul's investigation ofGirls Gone Wild and Francis, became available to stream onPeacock.[25][26] The documentary provided insight into Girls Gone Wild's influence and sex abuse allegation against the franchise and its founder.[25][26] Koul's 2022 interview with Francis, who was revealed to now be living outside of the United States in Mexico since 2015 following a criminal conviction for imprisoning three women at his Hollywood home and assaulting one of them, was included in the series as well.[27][25] In Koul's documentary series, multiple people, including a former Girls Gone Wild cameraman, alleged that Francis engaged in sex with underage minors and that some his sexual encounters, no matter the age, were nonconsensual.[27]
Koul was born to Indian parents and raised inCalgary, Alberta.[1] She was a member of theGirl Guides of Canada and participated in their youth programs.[28] She currently lives in New York[29] with her cat, Sylvia Plath.[30] She was formerly married.
Koul is anIndian-Canadian ofKashmiri descent, and her writing on race andshadism draws from her own life.[7][31] Of her ethnicity, she has stated although she is of Indian descent herself, her fairer skin has given her a privilege when she goes to India.[32][33]
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