Kennedy (commentator)

Kennedy
Born Lisa Kennedy Montgomery
September 8, 1972
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Nationality American
Occupation Political satirist
Game show host
Television personality
Years active 1991–present
Political party
 Republican[1]
Religion Eastern Orthodox[2]
Spouse(s) Dave Lee (2 children)

Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (stage name Kennedy; born September 8, 1972) is an American political satirist, radio personality, former MTV VJ, and current host of Kennedy on the Fox Business Network.[3] She was the host of MTV's now-defunct daily late-night alternative rock program Alternative Nation throughout much of the 1990s.

Early life

Montgomery was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and raised in Lake Oswego, Oregon,[4] an affluent suburb outside of Portland. Montgomery graduated from Lakeridge High School in 1990. She also has a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy from UCLA.[5]

Career

Montgomery first came into the public eye in 1991 as an intern at Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM, where she was known on the air as "The Virgin Kennedy." A year later she took the "VJ" job at MTV, where she spent several years.

As "Kennedy", Montgomery ushered in a new musical era for MTV as the host of Alternative Nation from 1992-1997, helping popularize bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden and Pearl Jam.[6]

Montgomery appeared as a panelist on the 1998 revival of Hollywood Squares.

In 1999, Montgomery completed her first book, Hey Ladies! Tales and Tips for Curious Girls, in which she incorporated a multitude of personal experiences. That same year, she moved to Seattle to host a talk show on KQBZ "The Buzz" 100.7 FM talk station (now country station KKWF "The Wolf"). The show was a mix of news, local issues, and comedy. Montgomery then left Seattle in 2001 to co-host a morning radio show with Ahmet Zappa on the ComedyWorld Radio Network. The show was entitled The Future With Ahmet & Kennedy, and like her show in Seattle, consisted of news and current events with a comedy bent. She later co-hosted the morning show with Malibu Dan entitled The Big House, her final show on the network before the network went off the air.

Starting June 3, 2002, Montgomery hosted Game Show Network's original program Friend or Foe?, which ran for two seasons. On April 1, 2003, she guest-hosted the GSN show WinTuition, normally hosted by Marc Summers, who made a "guest" appearance. She also hosted GSN's Who Wants to Be Governor of California?, a televised debate among some of the more colorful candidates in the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election, such as Gary Coleman and Mary Carey.

As of September 23, 2005, Montgomery appeared as an occasional panelist on VH1's Best Week Ever and MSNBC's Scarborough Country. MSNBC ended Scarborough Country in June 2007. In October 2005, she became host of Fox Reality's Reality Remix until that series ended in June 2008.

In December 2007, she guest-hosted the evening show several times on Los Angeles talk radio station KFI,[7] before being hired by the station for a regular show on Sunday afternoons from 3-5 pm.[8] In April 2008 she joined Bryan Suits as cohost of the Kennedy & Suits Show, which ran from 7 pm-10 pm weekday evenings.

Kennedy's final broadcast on Kennedy & Suits was September 30, 2009. She hosted Music in the Mornings (6 am to 10 am) on KYSR 98.7 FM in Los Angeles from 2009 until March 2014.[9]

On January 18, 2011, she started appearing as Anthony Sullivan's assistant on PitchMen, looking for new inventions to promote in infomercials.

Kennedy is a contributor to Reason.com and Reason.tv, and occasionally serves as guest host for Bill Carroll, John and Ken, and Tim Conway Jr. on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles. She is a "special correspondent" on the Fox Business News talk show Stossel, and has made occasional appearances as a panelist and guest host on Red Eye.

She hosted The Independents, a current events and political discussion show, from its debut on the Fox Business Channel on December 9, 2013.[3] The show was cancelled in January of 2015 but she continued as host of her own show, Kennedy.[10] [11]

Personal life

Montgomery is an Eastern Orthodox Christian.[2][12] She is married to former professional snowboarder Dave Lee and has two daughters, Pele and Lotus.[13]

In March 2012, Reason magazine published an article by Kennedy claiming that atheism is an organized religion.[14]

In September 2012, during an appearance on Red Eye, Montgomery said that she had been diagnosed with celiac disease,[15] leading her to change to a more meat-based diet.

Political views

Montgomery is a libertarian and a registered Republican, describing herself as a "Republitarian". She even has a pink Republican elephant tattooed on her upper left thigh.[1] She actively supported Gary Johnson's 2012 presidential campaign.[16]

She is a supporter of same-sex marriage,[17] pro-choice,[18] privatizing social security,[19] opposes the War on Drugs, and opposes bureaucratic regulations.[20]

When Montgomery joined MTV in 1992, she said “I didn’t dare out myself as a conservative” in her early months at MTV. At MTV’s 1993 Rock ’n’ Roll Inaugural Ball for Bill Clinton, she chanted, "Nixon now! Nixon now!”, whenever the Clintons went on stage.[21] Along with being a fan of Richard Nixon, she supported Dan Quayle and Bob Dole.[22] She was also a speaker at the 1996 Republican National Convention.[1]

She later abandoned conservatism. Montgomery said that "Social conservatism was really bringing me down, and I realized, as time went on, that I wasn't a Bush conservative. I was really a libertarian."[20][23] She was first introduced to libertarianism when Kurt Loder suggested she read Ayn Rand's Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.[24]

See also

Books

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Kennedy - Libertarian". The Advocates.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kennedy (7 May 2012). Tweet on Twitter.com
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Welch, Matt (3 December 2013). "Kennedy, Matt Welch, Kmele Foster to Launch New Nightly Fox Business Show Called The Independents". reason.com.
  4. ↑ Clark, Taylor (November 10, 2004). "The Veejay". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2008-02-16.
  5. ↑ "Anchors & Reporters". Fox Business. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "MTV turns 30: MTV VJs: Where are they now?". Daily News. 2011-08-01.
  7. ↑ "GUEST HOST ON DEMAND". KFI AM 640. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "www.kfiam640.com". KFI AM 640. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Kennedy (March 24, 2014). "A Farewell from Kennedy". KYSR.
  10. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (January 15, 2015). "Fox Business to Replace 'The Independents' With 'Kennedy'". Variety.
  11. ↑ Chariton, Jordan (January 15, 2015). "Fox Business Canceling 'The Independents' Hosted by 'Kennedy'". The Wrap.
  12. ↑ "Atheism Is a Religion". Reason.com. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "Every Third Thursday-Secret-Stash-Snowboard-by-Signal Snowboards". YouTube. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  14. ↑ Kennedy (March 10, 2012). "Atheism Is a Religion". Reason.
  15. ↑ "I’m A Triathlete: Former MTV VJ Kennedy". triathlon. Retrieved 2013-08-04.
  16. ↑ Chamberlin, Brett (September 19, 2012). "Yesterday’s NYU Libertarian Event Was Sort Of Insane". NYULocal.
  17. ↑ "Why You're Wrong About the Right: Behind the Myths: The Surprising Truth ...". Google.
  18. ↑ Grove, Lloyd (December 9, 2013). "Lisa Kennedy Montgomery on Her Path From MTV to Fox Business". The Daily Beast.
  19. ↑ "Why You're Wrong About the Right: Behind the Myths: The Surprising Truth ...". Google.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Busis, Hillary (Dec 9, 2013). "Ex-MTV VJ Kennedy on her new libertarian news show -- and 'hooker-in-training' Miley Cyrus". Enterinment Weekly.
  21. ↑ Schwab, Nikki (August 8, 2013). "MTV VJ Kennedy recalls being an alt-rock Republican". Red Alert Politics.
  22. ↑ McNamara, Mary (October 29, 2006). "Back as host, but it's a whole new reality". The New York Times.
  23. ↑ Cavanaugh, Tim (Oct 25, 2011). "Reason.tv: Former MTV VJ and Radio Host Kennedy on Medical Marijuana, The Politics of Alt Rock, and How She Went From Conservative to Libertarian". Reason.
  24. ↑ "MTV Libertarians: Kennedy, Kurt Loder Talk Politics & the Golden Age of MTV". Youtube. Aug 25, 2013.

External links