Where is Tavis Smiley today? Wiki, Net Worth, Wife, Suspended?

• Short Info
• Who is Tavis Smiley?
• Early life and education
• Tavis’ career
• Tavis’ books
• Love life and wife
• Hobbies and other interests
• Age, height and net worth
• General Info
• Family
• Accomplishments
• Social profile links
• Facts
• Pictures
• Movies
• Awards

• Tavis Smiley is an American author, talk-show host, and former PBS host
• He was raised by a single mother in Bunker Hill, Indiana and attended Indiana University, Bloomington
• He has hosted multiple radio shows and talk-shows, such as the “The Tavis Smiley Show” and “Smiley & West”
• He has authored 15 books, including “Just a thought: The Smiley Report”, “Keeping the faith: Stories of love, courage, healing, and hope from Black America”, and “Accountable: Making America as good as its promise”
• As of April 2022, Tavis is 57 years old, and his net worth is estimated at more than $4 million.



Known for movies

Stand (2009)
as Producer

Tavis Smiley Presents: The Road to Health – Obesity & Our Children, Part 2 (2007)
as Himself – Host

Tavis Smiley Presents: The Road to Health – Obesity & Our Children, Part 1 (2007)
as Himself – Host

Jimmy Carter Man from Plains (2007)
as Himself



Who is Tavis Smiley?

Tavis was born in Gulfport, Mississippi USA, on 13 September 1964 – his zodiac sign is Virgo, and he holds American nationality. He’s an author and talk-show host, while he’s probably known best for two things: hosting “The Tavis Smiley Show” on National Public Radio between 2002 and 2004, and for having been fired from Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) because of sexual harassment.

Early life and education

Tavis was raised an only child in Bunker Hill, Indiana, solely by his mother Joyce Marie Roberts who was either 18 or 19 when she gave birth to him; his father didn’t want and wasn’t ready to have a child, and thus wasn’t around while Tavis was growing up.

He learned about his biological father’s identity when he was around 10 years old. Tavis’ mother married non-commissioned US Air Force officer Garnell Smiley on 13 September 1966, and they had three children together; after Joyce’s sister was murdered, the family took in four of her five children.

Tavis’ mother was deeply religious, and they went to New Bethel Tabernacle Church at least once a week; Tavis and his half-siblings weren’t allowed to go to theatre or listen to secular music, while they were allowed to watch only the TV shows which Joyce believed to be family-friendly. He was a rather problematic child and didn’t care much about religion, while he became interested in politics when he was 13 years old, after having attended a US Senator Birch Bayh fundraiser.

Tavis studied at Maconaquah High School, which was made up of 98 percent white students, according to him; he was on the school’s debate team and the student council, although his parents were skeptical about all non-church activities. Upon matriculating in 1982, Tavis began attending Indiana University, Bloomington, and during his second year there became director of minority affairs, business manager of the dormitory and member of the student senate.

He quit college in 1985 and moved to Los Angeles, California in search of a job; he returned to college 15 years later, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in public affairs from Indiana University in 2003.

Tavis’ career

Upon his move to Los Angeles, Tavis began working for Mayor Bradley as an administrative assistant, and in 1991, he ran for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council, finishing fourth of 15 candidates.

He was then hired by the radio station KGFJ and became a commentator, hosting the one-minute daily segment “The Smiley Report”. Tavis then began co-hosting a local talk-show about race and politics, and his work attracted the attention of people working for the magazine “Los Angeles Times”. Around half a year later, he moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada but returned to Los Angeles after a couple of months.

In 1996, Tavis joined the “Tom Joyner Morning Show” as a frequent commentator, and the same year saw him become the host of the show “BET Tonight”; he interviewed many celebrities and political figures, but was fired in 2001, after having sold an exclusive interview to ABC News without having previously offered it to BET. The interview in question was with Sara Jane Olson, who was an alleged member of the American left-wing organization United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army; Tavis revealed that he had initially tried to sell the interview to CBS but after they passed on it, he sold it to ABC.

He was then hired at National Public Radio (NPR) and hosted “The Tavis Smiley Show” until December 2004, when he quit NPR and joined its rival Public Radio International in 2005, and went on to host his “The Tavis Smiley Show” until 1 January 2018, when he was accused of sexual harassment. Between 2010 and 2013, he co-hosted “Smiley & West” together with American philosopher and political activist Cornel Ronald West.

He began hosting the late-night talk-show “Tavis Smiley” on PBS in 2006, but was fired during the Me Too movement in 2017, when his female employees accused him of sexual harassment.

An investigation conducted by PBS revealed that Tavis was verbally abusive, and had engaged in sexual relationships with several of his subordinates, and he was thus suspended indefinitely. Tavis went on to sue PBS but lost the case, and was ordered to pay them $2.6 million in damages.

Tavis is today hosting his talk-show on the radio station KBLA.

Tavis’ books

Tavis has published 15 books, his first came out in 1993 entitled “Just a thought: The Smiley Report”.

He published “Keeping the faith: Stories of love, courage, healing, and hope from Black America” in 2004, and “Accountable: Making America as good as its promise” in 2009, while his three most recent books were all published in 2016, entitled “The Covenant with Black America – ten years later”, “50 for your future: Lessons from down the road”, and “Before you judge me: The triumph and tragedy of Michael Jackson’s last days”.

Love life and wife

Tavis prefers to keep details of his love life to himself, and hasn’t spoken of any women or men whom he has perhaps been with. This is why there are various rumors circulating the internet, concerning his past and present affairs, as well as his sexual orientation.

Some of his fans believe him to be bisexual, and this to be the reason why he avoids talking about his love life; a fan has claimed that Tavis was in a relationship with a non-celebrity American man in 2013 and 2014, and that he had seen the two spending time together on multiple occasions, but no evidence has been provided to support these claims.

There are also those who claim that Tavis is perhaps a married man today, but that he prefers to keep his wife away from the media’s attention; this hasn’t been confirmed either.

As of April 2022, Tavis seems to be single, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.

Hobbies and other interests

Tavis is quite active on Instagram, and seems to be enjoying the attention which he’s receiving from his close to 10,000 followers; he’s uploaded more than 600 pictures onto the network, most of which serve to announce his upcoming interviews.

He’s passionate about travelling, and his career has taken him to various US states, while Tavis has also vacationed in a couple of European and South American countries; his dream travel destination is London, England.

Although he was physically quite active in his 20s and 30s, and had multiple training sessions at the gym every week, Tavis rarely works out nowadays; he does, however, occasionally play tennis and golf with his friends.

He’s a fan of Hollywood movies, and some of his favorite actors and actresses are Nicholas Cage, Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, while a couple of his favorite movies include “Gone in 60 Seconds”, “Saving Private Ryan”, and “The Runaway Bride”.

Age, height and net worth

Tavis’ age is 57. He has short black hair and brown eyes, his height is 6ft (1.85m) and he weighs around 175lbs (80kgs).

As of April 2022, his net worth has been estimated at more than $4 million.

Facts

#	Fact
1	Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6270 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 24, 2014.
2	Attended Indiana University Bloomington.
3	Distant cousin of T.D. Jakes and James Wheaton.
4	Is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity.

Pictures

Movies

Producer

Title	Year	Status	Character
Stand	2009/I	Documentary executive producer
State of the Black Union: Jamestown – Memorable Moments	2007	TV Movie executive producer
State of the Black Union: Jamestown – The Next 400 Years	2007	TV Movie executive producer
State of the Black Union: Jamestown – The First 400 Years	2007	TV Movie executive producer
All-American Presidential Forums on PBS Moderated by Tavis Smiley	2007	TV Movie executive producer
Tavis Smiley	2004	TV Series supervising producer

Actor

Title	Year	Status	Character
PoliticKING with Larry King	2015	TV Series
Sinister	2012/I		Anchor
American Dreams	2004	TV Series	Thurgood Marshall
Any Day Now	2001	TV Series
The Parkers	2000	TV Series	Tavis Smiley

Writer

Title	Year	Status	Character
Stand	2009/I	Documentary written by

Miscellaneous

Title	Year	Status	Character
P.O.V.	2012	TV Series documentary godfather – 1 episode
I’m Carolyn Parker	2011	Documentary godfather

Director

Title	Year	Status	Character
Stand	2009/I	Documentary

Thanks

Title	Year	Status	Character
Sinister	2012/I	the filmmakers wish to extend their personal thanks for their contributions and support to the making of this movie

Self

Title	Year	Status	Character
The Daily Show	2014-2016	TV Series	Himself
PoliticKING with Larry King	2016	TV Series	Himself – guest
The Wendy Williams Show	2011-2016	TV Series	Himself
Democracy Now!	2005-2016	TV Series	Himself
This Week	2012-2016	TV Series	Himself – Powerhouse Roundtable Panelist / Himself – Roundtable Panelist / Himself – Roundtable Panalist
Face the Nation	2012-2015	TV Series	Himself / Himself – Panelist / Himself – PBS
Entertainment Tonight	2015	TV Series	Himself
In Depth	2015	TV Series	Himself – Interviewee
Nathan East: For the Record	2014	Documentary	Himself (as Travis Smiley)
Dancing with the Stars	2014	TV Series	Himself – Contestant
Good Morning America	2014	TV Series	Himself – Guest
Hannity	2013	TV Series	Himself
Piers Morgan Tonight	2011-2013	TV Series	Himself
Keep the Promise: The Global Fight Against AIDS	2013	Documentary short
Tavis Smiley Reports: Education Under Arrest	2013	TV Movie	Himself – Host
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno	2007-2012	TV Series	Himself
Larry King Now	2012	TV Series	Himself – Guest
Today	2012	TV Series	Himself
Soulacoaster: R Kelly Interview with Tavis Smiley	2012	TV Movie	Himself
The High Bar	2012	TV Series	Himself – Guest
The O’Reilly Factor	2012	TV Series	Himself
Last Call with Carson Daly	2012	TV Series	Himself – Guest
Fox and Friends	2012	TV Series	Himself
The Colbert Report	2012	TV Series	Himself – Guest / Co-Author, The Rich and the Rest of Us
Real Time with Bill Maher	2004-2012	TV Series	Himself
Urban Style	2007-2011	TV Series documentary	Himself – Guest
Meet the Press	2008-2011	TV Series	Himself – Author, ‘Fail Up’ / Himself
Tavis Smiley Reports: Too Important to Fail	2011	TV Movie	Himself – Host
Fear of a Black Republican	2011	Documentary	Himself – Interviewee
Problema	2010	Documentary	Himself
Tavis Smiley Reports	2010	TV Movie	Himself
Redemption of the Welfare Queen	2009	Documentary	Himself (voice)
Still Bill	2009	Documentary	Himself
PBS Special Report: Health Care Reform	2009	TV Movie	Himself
Stand	2009/I	Documentary	Himself
Larry King Live	2008-2009	TV Series	Himself / Himself – Guest Host
Barack Obama: The Power of Change	2008	Video documentary	Himself
9th Annual State of the Black Union: Memorable Moments	2008	TV Movie	Himself
9th Annual State of the Black Union: Building Blocks for America	2008	TV Movie	Himself
9th Annual State of the Black Union: Breaking New Ground	2008	TV Movie	Himself
The Boondocks	2008	TV Series	Himself
Tavis Smiley Presents: The Road to Health – Obesity & Our Children, Part 1	2007	TV Special	Himself – Host
The Game	2007	TV Series	Himself
Charlie Rose	2007	TV Series	Himself – Guest
Everybody Hates Chris	2007	TV Series	Himself
Jimmy Carter Man from Plains	2007	Documentary	Himself
State of the Black Union: Jamestown – Memorable Moments	2007	TV Movie	Himself
State of the Black Union: Jamestown – The Next 400 Years	2007	TV Movie	Himself
State of the Black Union: Jamestown – The First 400 Years	2007	TV Movie	Himself
All-American Presidential Forums on PBS Moderated by Tavis Smiley	2007	TV Movie	Himself
Tavis Smiley Presents: The Road to Health – Obesity & Our Children, Part 2	2007	TV Special	Himself – Host
Hardball with Chris Matthews	2006	TV Series	Himself
Live from Lincoln Center	2005	TV Series	PBS Host
Letter to the President	2005	Video documentary	Himself
36th NAACP Image Awards	2005	TV Special	Himself
The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn	2004	TV Series	Himself
Jeopardy!	2004	TV Series	Himself – Guest Contestant
One Special Moment	2001	TV Movie	Himself
31st NAACP Image Awards	2000	TV Special	Himself
30th NAACP Image Awards	1999	TV Special	Himself
For Your Love	1999	TV Series	Himself
BET Tonight with Ed Gordon	1998	TV Series	Host (1998-2001)
The Roseanne Show	1998	TV Series	Himself
The Light		Documentary filming	Himself
Tavis Smiley	2004-2016	TV Series	Himself – Host / Himself -Host
Extra	2016	TV Series	Himself
Conan	2016	TV Series	Himself – Guest

Awards

Won Awards

Year	Award	Ceremony	Nomination	Movie
2014	Star on the Walk of Fame	Walk of Fame	Television	On April 24, 2014. At 6270 Hollywood Blvd.
2000	President’s Award	Image Awards

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia