HBO casts Charlamagne tha God to host 'The Gray Area'
Radio presenter and television personality Charlamagne tha God (real name Lenard McKelvey), who is best known for being the co-host of nationally syndicated hip-hop radio show and iHeartRadio program 'The Breakfast Club' with DJ Envy and Angela Yee, has landed the role of hosting HBO's 'The Gray Area.' The series will consist of four interview specials, the first of which will premiere later this year.
Little is known about the special currently, with there being no information on the guests or the topics that McKelvey will cover and dissect in any of the four episodes. However, it has been confirmed that he will be serving as the executive producer alongside Karen Kinney, who has in the past worked with shows such as 'Unique Rides' and 'Mysterious Islands.'
The HBO special will add to the radio presenter's growing list of credentials. He has starred in TV shows such as 'Guy Code,' 'Guy Court,' and 'Girl Code,' all of which are reality comedy television series that air on MTV2, and also served as a video jockey for 'The Week in Jams' with DJ Envy and Sofi Green.
He was also a co-host on 'The Wendy Williams Experience' with Wendy Williams on VH1, with the show involving Williams speaking about gossip, fashion, celebrity news, and taking interviews with celebrities. It was here that he developed his stage name, Charlamagne, which he took from his pseudonym as a drug dealer, 'Charles.'
Following his stint in the latter — he was laid off from the program in 2008 for his unorthodox and upfront questioning of the hip-hop/R&B artists on the show and later fell out with Williams — McKelvey began hosting 'The Breakfast Club' alongside DJ Envy and Angela Yee on WWPR-FM in New York City, along with its national television simulcast on Revolt in 2010.
McKelvey has previously starred on MTV2 Show 'Charlamagne & Friends,' and with fellow MTV2 personality Andrew Schulz, hosts 'The Brilliant Idiots' podcast on Combat Jack's Loud Speakers Network. His moment in the spotlight came in 2014 when he co-hosted MTV New Year's live from Times Square and he then went on to work as a correspondent for the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show.
He currently hosts and stars in 'Uncommon Sense with Charlamagne' on MTV2, which features a panel of guests who discuss current events in politics and the media and is the narrator for BET Show 'Inside the Label.' His book, 'Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It,' was received well by critics and was even ranked sixth in the May 7, 2017, New York Times list of best-selling hardback non-fiction.
He is represented by KK Entertainment, ICM partners, and attorney Loan Dang, with 'The Gray Area' arguably his biggest role to date.