Tavis Smiley

Journalist

• Born: September 3, 1964
• Birthplace: Gulfport, Mississippi

Talk-show host and activist

Radio personality, political commentator, and author Tavis Smiley achieved mainstream success on national broadcasting networks. Through shows on networks ranging from Black Entertainment Television to National Public Radio, he offered a forum for information and debate on issues facing the African American community. However, his reputation was tarnished by sexual misconduct allegations.

Areas of achievement: Radio and television; Social issues

Early Life

Tavis Smiley was born on September 3, 1964, in Gulfport, Mississippi, to a young single mother, Joyce Marie Roberts. After Smiley was born, Joyce moved in with her mother, who helped care for the child. Smiley’s father, known as T, often returned, hoping to repair his relationship with Joyce. T also was young—only eighteen at the time he fathered Smiley—but was unable to win over Joyce. She later married US Air Force officer Emory Garnell Smiley around the time her son was two years old. Emory became Smiley’s father figure.

When Smiley was young, the family moved to an Air Force base in Indiana, where Emory was transferred. The family lived in a mobile home with five of Smiley’s cousins, who had been orphaned when his aunt was killed.

Smiley grew up in a strict, religious household. The family attended a local Pentecostal church, and the children were not allowed to listen to nonreligious music or watch television or films that their parents did not approve. Smiley and his sister, Phyllis, were briefly placed into foster care when Smiley was in seventh grade after Emory whipped the two children for misbehaving in church. However, the children soon were returned to their parents.

Smiley developed an interest in politics after attending a fund-raiser for Birch Bayh, a Democratic US senator. In 1982, he entered college at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he participated in activities such as the student senate, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, and minority affairs. However, Smiley also encountered several problems at the university. At one point, he was placed on academic probation; during his final year, he failed a computer class that left him short of the credits needed to graduate. Despite this setback, he left the university and worked as an aide to Tom Bradley, then the mayor of Los Angeles.

Life’s Work

Smiley initially pursued a political career by running for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in 1991 but was unsuccessful in his campaign. His three years working for Bradley ended when Smiley was given a job at local radio station KGFJ, where he broadcast one-minute segments called The Smiley Report. He also cohosted a talk show that covered current affairs, particularly those affecting the African American community. The show eventually was syndicated across the United States.

During the mid-1990s, Smiley’s career progressed rapidly. He earned a position as a commentator on a morning talk show in 1994 before working on a show called Twentysomething Talk that ran in the evenings. Smiley was named to Time magazine’s list of future American leaders in 1994 because of his ambition and vision. In 1996, he wrote a book called Hard Left: Straight Talk About the Wrongs of the Right to explain and spread his liberal ideas and rhetoric.

In the late 1990s and 2000s, Smiley continued to establish himself as a compelling political commentator and broadcaster. He hosted a news and public-affairs show on Black Entertainment Television (BET), BET Tonight, from 1996 to 2001. He also appeared on ABC News and CNN and hosted a talk show on National Public Radio (NPR) from 2002 to 2004. In 2004, he began hosting a late-night talk show, Tavis Smiley, on PBS. A year after his radio show on NPR ended, he began hosting a radio talk show on Public Radio International called the Tavis Smiley Show. The weekly program features news and guests who offer a variety of opinions on a range of subjects.

In 2008, Smiley ignited controversy after making critical comments about African American presidential hopeful Barack Obama. The backlash resulted in Smiley resigning from The Tom Joyner Morning Show, where he had been a frequent commentator since 1996.

Smiley was honored with several awards for his work as a radio host. He won the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Image Award for Best News, Talk, or Information Series multiple times in the late 1990s. He was also active in philanthropy. His Tavis Smiley Foundation, which he founded in 1999, funded speaking programs for young Black American men and women. In addition to his broadcasting career, Tavis Smiley also found success as a writer and editor of several books. He wrote primarily about politics, self help, and matters of black history and culture. In 2004 he founded the SmileyBooks, a nonfiction division of Hay Books, which published many of his titles.

In 2017, amid the growing #MeToo movement, allegations of sexual misconduct against Smiley surfaced. He consistently denied claims that he had pursued inappropriate relationships with subordinates and engaged in other abusive behavior, but PBS suspended and later fired him after an investigation and PRI announced it would cut ties with him as well. The following year Smiley sued PBS on grounds of wrongful termination, but the organization countersued that Smiley had broken a workplace morals clause in his contract. In 2020 a judge ruled in favor of PBS and eventually ordered Smiley to pay $2.6 million in damages.

In 2021 Smiley attempted to reboot his career by purchasing the Los Angeles radio station KBLA. He sought to turn it into an outlet for Black commentary on city and national issues.

Significance

Smiley became a well known, influential commentator on Black American political and social issues. With widespread exposure through radio and television, he sought to highlight injustices and raise awareness of matters of interest or concern to the African American community. Authoritative and accessible, he provided an important minority presence and voice in mainstream broadcast media. However, he also became an example of the power of the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct, as allegations upended his previously successful career.

Bibliography

Elber, Lynn. "No Apologies: Tavis Smiley Makes Comeback Bid After PBS Firing." AP, 17 June 2021, apnews.com/article/tavis-smiley-business-lifestyle-entertainment-arts-and-entertainment-c6d75e1491e93c96a7f0e64afcbb78c6. Accessed 23 July 2021.

Haring, Bruce. "Tavis Smiley Ordered to Pay PBS $2.6 Million for Violating Morals Clause in Sex Harassments Cases." Deadline, 19 Aug. 2020, deadline.com/2020/08/tavis-smiley-ordered-to-pay-pbs-2-6-million-for-violating-morals-clause-in-sex-harassments-cases-1202819986/. Accessed 23 July 2021.

Phillips, Lisa A. “Tavis Smiley.” In Public Radio: Behind the Voices. New York: CDS Books, 2006.

Simpson, April. "PRI Terminates Relationship With Tavis Smiley." Current, 15 Dec. 2017, current.org/2017/12/pri-terminates-relationship-with-tavis-smiley/. Accessed 23 July 2021.

Smiley, Tavis. “What We Must Do Now so We Can Make the Most of the Next Sixty Years.” Ebony 61, no. 1 (November, 2005): 178-180.

Smiley, Tavis, and David Ritz. What I Know for Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America. New York: Doubleday, 2006.