Jawn Murray is a multi-hyphenate TV host, media personality, social media influencer, and executive producer of the NAACP Award- and Telly Award-winning daytime talk show “Sherri.”
Murray has also worked with Tom Joyner, E!, VH1, HLN, NBC, Eurweb, The Travel Channel, “The Today Show,” and “The View.”
Murray says if he did not have his long-standing career in entertainment, he would have attended culinary school and become a celebrity chef.
“I like to achieve at a high level with whatever I do,” said Murray. “I love cooking. It’s probably one of my favorite passions. That’s a space I would love to play in as a host, as a personality [on television].”
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He says with that in mind, his love of cooking might have brought him full circle into television anyway. “I may have had the best of both worlds,” he said.
Now, with so many television credits in his repertoire, entertainment news writing was his pathway into the showbiz industry. “I was writing a widely popular column for AOL Black Voices division — I joined the ‘Tom Joyner Morning Show,’ ” said Murray.
He continued, “For seven years, I had the duality of writing this column [and] being on the radio.” Murray says after traveling all over the world with AOL and “Tom Joyner,” he began to burn out.
He also says that although he loved writing his column, he was oriented more towards television and writing began to take a back seat to his career as a television producer.
“I lived off my savings for a year, and I put a plan in place to get myself on television,” said Murray. “The journey in TV has been the hardest of the journeys that I have had to do because it is the most rejection that I have ever felt in the business.”
“My successes were predicated on older white men seeing the value in me, and that wasn’t always easy,” he said.
He says when he first started out in entertainment news there were not many other Black men working in the space.
“I saw my White counterparts being celebrated and the platforms in which they were showcased. I really wanted to carve a niche for the business. I wanted to give space in the business for Black entertainment to be able to shine,” said Murray.
Murray expresses great pride in being a media pioneer and creating pathways for other men of color with entertainment goals.
“While I was one of the first few to arrive in this [entertainment news] space as a Black man, I’ve always felt like I’ve been at the forefront of these movements and these waves in the entertainment business, and I’m glad I did enough to create space for so many other people to walk and thrive in it,” he noted.
He says being knowledgeable in all aspects of entertainment has helped him open his own doors to create a platform in an industry he enjoys.
One of the ways Murray has been able to expand his brand in entertainment is through social media. He says he used his experience as a journalist to create not only opportunities for himself, but also to make money.
“I’ve been somebody who has been able to create content and capitalize financially off of my social media, and that’s something I’m grateful for,” said Murray.
The culmination of all of Murray’s previous work has positioned him into being executive producer for the daytime talk show “Sherri,” hosted by comedian, actress, and personality Sherri Shepherd.
Murray says it was important to create a show that is very natural to Shepherd and that is welcoming to Black guests. However, the show has performed very well across all viewing demographics.
“We perform well with all sectors – Black people, white people and everybody in between,” said Murray. “But for every Black celebrity we have on the show – we’ve had huge White stars, A-listers who come on our show and really enjoy what we do.”
