About

Ilana Kaplan is a Brooklyn-based music and culture journalist and author. She is currently a music editor at PEOPLE Magazine, who has over 17 years of experience in writing and reporting and 11 years of experience in editing. The focus of her work has spanned across entertainment and style, with a specialization in celebrity profiles, cover stories, trend reporting and oral histories. She also has experience in writing bios for artists, editorial strategy and consulting.

Over the years, her work has been published in print and online in publications including The New York Times, Vanity Fair, ELLE, New York Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, NPR, GQ, Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Pitchfork, Variety, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and more.

She has previously held positions as the editor of Alternative Press across print and digital; as a lifestyle editor on the performance marketing team at Dotdash Meredith (now People Inc.), working on publications including Byrdie, Brides and Tripsavvy; a news editor at Digiday across print and digital; and a weekend writer at Rolling Stone; a U.S. culture reporter for The Independent; a contributing editor at PAPER Magazine; and as a social media editor at Observer. She also previously held columns at VICE, Refinery29 and Observer.

Some portfolio highlights over the years include cover stories on Kate Hudson, Olivia Rodrigo, Nicholas Galitzine, Mandy Moore, Paris Hilton, boygenius, Gracie Abrams, Ariana Greenblatt, Demi Lovato, Louis Tomlinson, Miguel, Megan Moroney, Kelsea Ballerini, Lainey Wilson, Antoni Porowski, Lana Condor, Tinashe and more.

Other standout celebrity profiles/interviews with Glen Powell, Adam Brody, Pamela Anderson, Mariska Hargitay, Mandy Patinkin, Diane Keaton, Julia Fox, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mischa Barton, Ashlee Simpson, Freddie Prinze Jr., Chad Michael Murray, Paul Mescal, Busy Philipps, Kim Cattrall, Hayden Panettiere, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jessica Simpson, Jack Antonoff, Jenny Lewis, Chrishell Stause, SZA, Billie Eilish, Charli xcx, Dua Lipa, Chris Messina, Noah Centineo, Halsey and Chappell Roan.

She’s also enjoyed working on a series of oral histories on films like Almost Famous, 10 Things I Hate About You, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, 13 Going on 30, Freaky Friday, Legally Blonde, as well as ones on fake bands and TV shows like Pretty Wild and Degrassi.

Additionally, Kaplan is a USA TODAY bestselling author and made her nonfiction debut in 2024 with Nora Ephron at the Movies (ABRAMS), the first illustrated monograph about the iconic filmmaker Nora Ephron, which pairs detailed criticism with exclusive interviews to add color and nuance to her life and legacy. The New York Times said that Nora Ephron at the Movies “proceeded not just movie by movie, but book by book, interview by interview, toward understanding what it had meant to become Nora Ephron.” It was named one of the 25 best coffee table books of 2024 by Harper’s Bazaar and one of the 10 best coffee table books of the year by W Magazine.

The book was covered by Vanity Fair, NPR, ELLE, The Los Angeles Times, GQ, Town & County, The Washington Post, The Cut , Cosmo, Vogue, InStyle, People,

The Wall Street Journal and Vulture.

Kaplan has also had essays published in books, including Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2025, Penguin) and The Magnificent, Magical, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2024, ABRAMS).