April 9, 2021 • 34 mins
Ed Talks with broadcaster journalist Shaun Robionson about her career, including her 16 years as an anchor/reporter for Access Hollywood, the new opportunities for women and people of color in Hollywood and her new role as an executive producer for a series of movies on the Lifetime Network.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to the latest edition of one hundred The Ed
Gordon Podcast. Today a conversation with broadcaster and producer Sean Robinson.
Sean was a fixture as an anchor reporter for Access
Hollywood for sixteen years. She's now started a new part
of her career as she debuts as an executive producer
(00:42):
for the upcoming Lifetime original movies Lust and Envy. Both
are in the Seven Deadly Sins story series. Tomorrow is
my wedding day, and I'm about to make the biggest
mistake of my life because this man isn't my future husband.
(01:04):
This man is my weakness. I know it's wrong, but
I can't stop. My desire for this man consumes me.
It overrides reason, worlds everything. This is Lust. Lust is
the first of two movies to air on the network
starting this weekend. Shawn's success is no surprise to me.
(01:27):
We both hail from the Motor City and have known
each other for decades. It's been since high school. Since
high school, but since I was an underclassman, you never
spoke to me. So but you know, but I totally
over that now. I'm glad. Yes, growing up in Detroit,
(01:49):
I tell people for me, growing up in Detroit gave
you an extra sense of confidence because when we grew up,
the mayor was black, all of the city council we're black.
You had black doctors, and well, you was that a
part of you know, your confidence. Was that something Detroit
gave you, you know at uh. You know, it's so interesting, um,
(02:11):
the conversations that the conversations that we are having today
about black lives matter and white allies and the issue
of white centrality. And when we were growing up, we
saw leaders who look like us. We saw teachers and
(02:34):
professionals who all look like us. And you know, coming
out into the world after you know, we graduated into
Spellman College and all girls school in Atlanta, and you know,
going into this world where you know, those those faces
became fewer and fewer in the businesses that we were in. So,
(02:57):
you know, we had that foundation. I believe I had
that foundation growing up in Detroit because we knew that
we could accomplish anything. We knew that we could be
doctors and lawyers, we knew that we could be heads
of corporations. We knew that, um, that the sky was
the limit for us. UM. And also growing up in Detroit.
(03:20):
It gives you a sense of how uh of the
importance of work, of being hard working, because we came
from you know, all of our our parents were you know,
came from working class backgrounds. So we didn't take that
for granted. We certainly did not take education for granted because, um,
(03:42):
most we probably had all of us had parents who
instilled in us the value of education and the fact that, um,
even though we we we saw these leaders around us,
we saw what we can accomplish. The only way we
were going to do that is if we applied ourselves,
getting a good education and really working hard. Let me
(04:04):
ask you this. I don't think I've ever asked you this,
And I mean you and I have talked about careers forever. Um,
we still do. We still get a chance to go
to lunch and talk about where we sit right now.
But was this something you always wanted to do? Did
you always want to be a reporter and anchor, et cetera. Well,
I always felt I was some type of performer. Okay,
(04:27):
you might remember back in cast although you didn't speak
to me back then, But um, when we were at
cast Or High school, I was in performing arts. I
was in the performing arts curriculum. So you know, I
was a Wilhelmina and Count Dracula. We put on plays
even before that, when I was little, I remember I
used to write plays, Like when I was like about
(04:48):
six or seven, I would write plays and I would
perform all the parts for my parents and my grandparents,
and so I was always one. I think it was
destined to do some type of of something in front
of the camera, just because that was sort of you know,
the path I gravitated towards. Um. But also I as
(05:15):
a as a reporter, I learned early on how to
produce in addition to being on camera, and you as
a journalist also what that producing was also in our
genes and we that was something we had to learn
how to do. So um, yeah, I think that it
was always going to be something where I was, you know,
(05:37):
I was giving people information, I was performing in front
of people. UM. But also I knew that I felt
that I was a bit of a creative even early on. Well,
most people know you from the entertainment side. I mean,
you were on Access Hollywood for many, many many years, um.
But the truth of the matter is you started in news.
(05:57):
You did the traditional kind of local news, bouncing around
from city to city as you climb the ladder. Um,
what made the change for you? And do you ever
at all miss news? Well, well, I don't think anybody
really misses news right now because of what we see
on new the news every single day. I'm glad I'm
(06:21):
not in that in it that way, UM, but you're right.
And just a little bit about my background. UM, when
I was at Spellman, between my junior and senior year,
I started working at Channel sixty two in Detroit. UM.
Back then it was the only I think and you
(06:41):
probably know this information. Also, I think it was the
only black owned radio and television station in the country.
It may have been definitely one of very few. And
I remembered, uh, you know, I went there and I
started an internship. Up. I wasn't internships back then. You
(07:03):
weren't paid, you weren't giving food, launch nothing. You just
went to work. So back then I started learning how
to UM, to write, to report, to edit. UM we edited.
Sometimes we're editing our own stories. UM, definitely, you know,
(07:23):
producing our own stories. And after I graduated, I went
back to UM into Detroit and I interned again and
I got a I got a temporary job being a secretary,
and then I worked at the television station until they
put me on the payroll. UM. From there. From Detroit,
(07:44):
I went to Flint, Michigan h W I think it
was w E y I. I was there for two
and a half months. Uh. And that's when the news
director told me I wouldn't make it in TV, and
so he told me he was letting me go. UH.
And so I there used to be remember those those
(08:05):
those I think it was like broadcasting and cable magazines.
They would have reporting jobs in the back of the magazine.
And so what I would do I would look on
the back of the magazine see where the reporting jobs were.
And I found one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So I went
and interviewed for that, and I was I started off
(08:25):
as the health reporter, UH, then anchor, a weekend anchor,
and I also hosted a talk show in Milwaukee. UM.
From Milwaukee, I went to Austin, Texas as an anchor reporter,
then Miami as an anchor reporter. And then I got tired.
I said, I want to do something different. I want
to show my personality a little bit more. I got
(08:47):
tired of the car crashes and the murderers and the
fires and all of that, and I the Access Hollywood
saw a tape of mine. Back then, it was a tape.
It wasn't like a link to any think. It was
a tape. Um, And they called me out for an interview.
And then I was there for sixteen years and somebody
(09:08):
told me, I was I've been on a national entertainment
show longer than any one national entertainment show, longer than
anybody other than Mary Hart. Somebody just told me that.
So what was it like to cover entertainment for you?
It is not you know, people see the glamour and
all the other stuff, but it's not an easy business.
(09:29):
It can be an ugly business sometimes. Um. What was
it like for you to try to kind of do
it with some dignity and keep your head above war
because you can get caught in all kind of mess. Well, yeah,
you know, Um, back then things were very different. I
remember I came to Access Hollywood in that was before Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, anything,
(09:54):
before social media even existed. So I was one of
the very few black faces on the red carpet. Listen.
It was a fantastic job. I mean, it was you know,
being uh an African American woman and anchoring this at
that time, national show meant national show. It it was
(10:16):
different than it is today where we're in this global society.
But you know, to be on this show was history making, UM.
And you know, allowed my parents to see what I
was doing and I could you know, wave to them sometime,
and so it was, you know, it was it was
an extraordinary time back then. It was so different because
back then Access Hollywood. There were only really two games
(10:40):
in town, Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight. And so when
stars had to when starts had a new album, a movie,
a television show, they came to us. We were one
of the places, very few places that they came to.
You know, they also came to you know, some of
the morning shows and also you know, like Johnny Carson
and whatnot. But um, it was so it was a
(11:00):
lot different. It was a friendlier, more celebrity friendly, UM
atmosphere and time and entertainment UM. And then the chif
came when you know, you had um, you know, you
(11:21):
had some of the tabloids come on the scene and
we there was a time when we would never ever, ever,
in a million years show paparazzi video, you know, celebrities
coming out of a bar drunk or whatnot. We would
never ever ever show that in a million years. And
(11:43):
then when the some of the tabloids shows came on
and they would send these kids out with these cameras
and let them hang out at the bar, and they
get somebody, you know that who was known coming out
of a you know, stumbling out of a bar. Um.
That changed the game for everybody. Everybody all of a sudden,
(12:08):
shows like Access and ET had to compete with the
ratings that these other shows were getting, and so those
shows started to become more tabloid um more less celebrity
from So that for me, that was a shift that
what I was very uncomfortable with because that wasn't the
(12:29):
type of news that I wanted to do. Um you know,
I it was you know, it was just a shift.
It was a big shift in in in our culture
and it continues today. And when you asked do I
miss news, I don't miss the type of news that
I would have to cover today. Another shift was not
(12:53):
to be a one trick pony in the industry. Sean
wanted to find other ways to channel her talents when
you I were growing up in the business that we were.
You know, we were always loyal to one station. We
did one thing. We the word diversify or diversification we
did we did that didn't exist for us. And I
(13:16):
knew that I had more to contribute than what I
was doing. I mean, I had, you know, a great time, UM.
So often I felt like I was I was. It
was like groundhog Day. I would wake up and I'm like, Okay,
I'm covering the same story every single day, same award shows.
Said you know, I covered like sixteen award shows or
(13:37):
sixteen Oscar sixteen and the sixteen Grammys, And like after
a while, you know, I said, Okay, what what else
is there? Wouldn't we come back? Sean takes on that question.
She would find the answer in the pages of a
series of books and a partnership with one of America's
(13:58):
biggest preachers. After being in front of the camera as
a reporter and anchor at Access Hollywood for sixteen years,
(14:21):
Sean would depart and seek other opportunities, including those on
the other side of the camera. I felt I was
always a creator, UM and a producer at heart, and
so I just started looking for different UM properties, looking
for different content. And so what happened was one day
and I pitched a number of shows. I developed, created
(14:43):
a number of shows and pitched them around town and
things got so close so many times. It's just how
the business of Hollywood is. But a friend of mine,
Patrick Henry Bass, he used to be the books editor
at Essence Magazine, he called me one day and he said, Shawn,
I just got a galley for this book Lust by
(15:03):
Victoria Christopher Murray, who was a very prominent author in
the African American community. And I know Victoria, and he said,
you should call her up. Tell her that you want
to option not only this book, but the entire series
that she is doing. She's doing the Seven Deadly Sins
story UM and this the entire series. And so I
(15:24):
called her up and I said, Hey, I'd like to
try to pitch these as movies, and so she said great,
and so we did this deal, and I started pitching them,
and I had pitched to a number of places, including Lifetime,
including other networks, and everybody was like, oh, this is great,
but the time just wasn't right. Then T. D. Jakes
(15:45):
did a you know deal at Lifetime when you know,
he did he had done a movie at Lifetime that
did very well, um, and they wanted more content from him.
So his people called me and they said, hey, do
you still have that Seven Deadly sins Um you know
(16:08):
book series? And this had been months and months, this
is almost like a year after I had pitched it
to them, and I said, yeah, I still have it.
And he said, well, TD Jake's is interested in producing
it with you. Would you would you like to have
that partnership. I'm like, uh yeah, uh huh. And so
(16:30):
then then we started. We started with the scripts and
we started, you know, getting the writers and all that,
and things moved very first. Things we're moving quickly. Then
the pandemic hits and then everything comes to a stand still.
I'm like no, no, So you know, it slowed down
(16:52):
as everything did, and then it quickly picked back up.
Lifetime said hey, we want to do this and we
want to do it fast, um, and so we just
picked up steam and we just started the entire process.
And now my movies are coming on uh this weekend
and next weekend, and it has been a really long road.
(17:14):
But when I see ed, when I see the words
executive producer underneth my name. If you hear a scream,
that's me. Okay, that's gonna be me. So I'm really
excited about it. I watched Villa not anymore. I knew
you was up to no good, but going after your
(17:35):
own sister, shame on, shame on you. What you're talking crazy?
Look Benna is a liar. You can't trust it and
thinks she says you know not what you ask me
(17:57):
is that you mama. Great sense of accomplishment for you.
But what it also does as an executive producers, it
allows you to give others employment and and opportunities, particularly
for people of color. Yes, yes, and so many. Um.
(18:18):
When we were looking at we had a fantastic casting director,
Burn Champion, and we were looking at all of the
um the actors and actresses that were available and interested
in the roles for both lust and envy. And as
I was looking at them at it's just pages and pages,
(18:41):
people and reels and everything, I was thinking, Um, a
number of these people I had interviewed on the Red
Carpet when I was you know, covering different you know,
shows on the Red Carpet. And there were people that
I had never met before, but I had admired their work.
And then there were people I knew that hadn't worked
(19:02):
in a while, and I was like, I am in
the position to help somebody help you know, talent, These
talented people get work okay, and especially during a pandemic,
of course, everybody's you know, nobody had an abundance of work.
And so it was it was an amazing feeling to
(19:25):
be able to say I can help somebody. I can
help somebody get a shot, I can help somebody get
their next job, because once they get this, you know,
other jobs may come. And that's that's what it's about.
For me. It's always about you know, as you know
that I've always had a philanthropic herd. You know, I
have my own UH foundation, and I'm always about leveling
(19:49):
the playing field and helping other people get opportunities. So
that is one of the fantastic things for me as
an executive producer UH, somebody who's spent all of their
time in front of the camera, this is my chance
to help somebody else have an opportunity to shine and
to show their work. Let me ask you, as we
(20:11):
look at being able to have these opportunities a lot
of conversation going on about African Americans and people of
color in Hollywood and the opportunities that either come or
don't come because of your color. Right now, we see
an uptick, many people believe it much like corporate America
is kind of the aftermath of what we've been going
(20:32):
through over the last two years or so. UM do
you see this as UM an uptick that's going to stay?
Is it too early to tell? Where do you sit
on that? I mean, I know you have this opportunity
now we all have to be reasonable and and and
realistic about We've seen upticks before that kind of leveled
(20:53):
off after a while. Yeah, I don't think this is
going to level off. I think the expect he san
now is UM diversity. You know, I think the words
diversity and inclusion, you know, didn't hold much substance before
(21:15):
this time in our in our in our culture. I think,
you know, one of the things that I love about,
you know, being with Lifetime is that you know, they
you know, really put their money where their mouths are.
I mean, you know, to be able to UM give
a first time UM, you know, first time executive producer
(21:39):
like myself, the opportunity to not only have this title,
but to have not one, but two movies out. I
mean that is quite an accomplishment. And hopefully seven movies,
because we know there are seven deadly sins. But I
mean that's um you know, that is saying that we
are we are in this and and I know that
(22:01):
there are other people who are getting opportunities like this,
and I hope that other networks will start to, um, well,
we'll start to follow suit and also increase that, you know,
increase the people not only in front of but behind
the camera, as it's one thing to you know, put
some you know, make your on camera diverse. Be who
(22:25):
are the decision makers that is that is very important
to have decision makers that are people of color and
that understand that the world doesn't look like how it's
been presented for these last many, many many years. So
hopefully that we are now seeing a shift, um in
(22:48):
in how Hollywood is doing business. Another shift in the
way Hollywood is doing business is that more and more
there is a cross pollination of talent. There is a
blurring of the lines as singers, rappers, and social media
stars are being cast alongside actors. These movies follow that blueprint.
(23:10):
Kerry Hilson, Candy Burris, and Tank, who all started in
music star in these movies. Well, you know that definitely
is a benefit. And Candy is actually an Envy She's
in our second movie. We have Tank, Uh, Tobias and
Carrie Hillson Um and LaToya Luckett in Lust great great
(23:33):
cast Soriah who was on Power Uh is in Envy. Um. Addition,
in addition to DC Young Fly who's like that guy's
like a social media in Powerhouse. Um. But yeah, that definitely,
that definitely is a benefit. Um. None of them sing
(23:55):
in the movie, so we don't have their music in
the movie. But um, it's yeah. And what you say, obviously,
what you see now is you see a lot of artists,
um moving into the acting world and and vice versa.
You have actors who are you know, singing, you know,
showing off their music skills. But definitely you're seeing a
(24:18):
lot more artist Um. Look listen, we just had um
what Cynthia Revo. I mean, you know, you you talk
about somebody who's able to who's showing her acting chops
and her singing chops. I mean, you know, it is
a great combination to be able to have. What does
that do for you? Um? You know you have sometimes
(24:39):
put your toe on the water for for acting. Oh,
I was gonna say, I know you weren't gonna say singing.
I know you aren't gonna sing say that. But most
recently you were in um Games People Play, bech Um.
Is that something that you want to continue now that
you're this big executive. I'm you know, waiting to find
(25:00):
in a corner office somewhere above Wilshire. But you know,
I just did a scene. I just taped the scene
for tape. I just filmed a scene for Games People Play.
I'm Chris Kensington, this media mogul for Games People Play
on BT. So that's been like a really fun role
for me. And I've done a number of acting roles.
(25:22):
This is one of the first times, and I've had
other opportunities to play like against Usually I'm just the anchor,
you know, and I'm doing my anchor thing, and I
don't want to do that anymore. I like roles where
I can, um, you know, expand and and show my skills,
whatever skills those are. But yeah, that's why this one
(25:42):
has been fun for me and my girlfriend Tracy Edmonds,
who I'm actually, um, it's probably premature, but I'm actually
doing another movie with at Lifetime. But I'll tell you
about that later. But anyway, she's the executive producer of
Games People Play and she had called me up one
day and she said, hey, we've got this for you.
I said, I said, if it's an anchor roll, I
(26:03):
don't want it. She said nope, she said it's not
an anchor roll. I was like, okay, cool. Yeah. So yeah,
so that's been fun. Let's talk a little bit about
the philanthropic side. You mentioned it, but you have been
um heading the Sean Sean Foundation for many years now,
and I'm curious how you how you got into it.
I mean, you have been a staunch supporter of girls
(26:27):
and women, particularly those who are underrepresented and underserved. Give
me a sense of how that started for you. So
you know, my my parents, my grandparents, ed always taught
me that if God gives you a platform, use it
to get back to others. And um, I tell the
story about just how my my parents were always into uh,
(26:49):
some type of philanthropic work in various ways. So um,
that's always been instilled in me. You know, I can
accomplish as as I can be on every red carpet,
I can be in every movie, whatever, but it always
comes down to what am I doing for other people.
(27:10):
So after I left Access Holly whatever sixteen years I
started the Shawn Foundation for Girls and UM it we
focus on and when I say we am me me,
we focus on UM helping, leveling. You hear me saying
leveling the playing field for girls in five different areas UH.
(27:32):
And those areas are represented by the acronym of my
name A S H A U N. So AS is
for stem science, technology, during a math, it is health,
a AS, arts, US, unity, and and its neighborhood. So
if there's a nonprofit, small nonprofit that is working directly
with girls in those areas, we would be a resource
for them even given possibly giving them a grant or
(27:56):
helping them with an initiative. So we've done a lot
of We've given a number of grants to incredible organizations.
And one of the most recent things we did we
did a series of UH sex trafficking prevention workshops in
We did one in Detroit, we did one on the
(28:18):
campus of Spellman, we did one at Texas Southern. And
I was able to do these with a grant from
the Forward Fund, which I'm very very grateful for. So
it was it's been very UM, it's been very rewarding.
And that's not the only thing we do. We do
a lot of things, but but for me and right now,
my foundation is working on a documentary about implicit bias
(28:41):
towards African American girls, and for me, it is important
to as we especially as we talk today about UM,
you know, shifting the narrative, UH, when it comes to
marginalized groups. UM. African American girls have a have a
(29:02):
unique journey in our society in America, and we're focusing
on that and how we all as adults UM carry
these biases against them, and how we need to change
those views because it really affects their self esteem and
their chances for success. I should note that I'd be
(29:22):
remiss if I at least didn't bring this up. If
you weren't busy enough. You also host you don't where
I'm going ninety days, which don't don't don't pretend you
I haven't. But you know, my family represents it because
my daughter never misses it. Taylor, Yeah, that's my girl.
(29:44):
Taylor's my girl. So ninety Day Fiance. Uh, TLC had
come to me. This was I I used to host
reunion shows for t LC, like even when I was
back at Access Hollywood. So it was after I left
Acts to Hollywood. TLC came to me and said, hey,
we have this show called ninety Day Fiance. We'd like
for you to host the reunion show. I was like,
(30:06):
what what is that? Nine D Fiance? So they sent
me some clips and I was like, okay, I said,
it'll probably be like a one off. The show probably
be canceled after a few seasons. And so I did
the reunion show and that was in I think two
thousand I think it was in two thousand fifteen, and
I had no idea that this would grow to become
(30:34):
probably the most successful docuseries in the history of television.
I mean it's currently it's seen in a hundred and
sixty eight countries and territories. So my d m s
are like, I get d ms from every single country
(30:56):
in the world asking how they can be on ninety
Day Fiance, say, I mean, it's it's crazy. I haven't
I it was crazy. So we did the first show
that we did in quarantine. I think, um, you know
I was thinking to myself it was all virtual. I
was thinking, Oh, I said, nobody's gonna watch this and
(31:17):
quarantine all this. It ended up it ended up being
the number one show in the country, beating out like
all the networks and everything, and it's um, it's got
a fan base that it was your daughter, Taylor. You know,
so there are a lot of people who watched the show,
and my mother is addicted also. Well listen, I am
(31:41):
so proud of you and all that you are doing. UM.
But you know, it comes as no surprise because I
know how focused and how committed you have been to
your career. So this is just part of the payoff.
And I wanted once again thank you publicly for the
role that you have taken in um, just being a
mentor to my little baby and you know all that
(32:02):
you've done there. Yeah, Taylor is such an extraordinary young lady.
I mean, she is going to go so far. You
have raised her so well. Uh she's not only you know,
smart and beautiful, but just very kind and caring and um.
You know, so when you know she came out here
and you're like, okay, you know, watch over her as
(32:24):
her big sister, I'm you know, I'm doing just that.
And she has helped me along with her you know,
good friend Katherine as they have helped me with my foundation,
help me put on a few events, and so I'm
really grateful for her being in my life. And then
thanks to Sewan, we ended as we began. Does Taylor
(32:47):
know that when you were in school that you won
like best what was the best movie? I think you're
I think your publicist is telling us we're running out.
I don't think so. Ed one was the class cute
or class handsome beautiful? Was it? Yes? It was. It
(33:07):
was one of those you won. So listen, I'm gonna
say again. The girls were like so proud of you.
You were like one of People Magazine's best looking, most
handsome people. I remember, But in high school you didn't
talk to me. We're not even We're not even gonna
pretend that was the case. I'm just gonna call you later.
(33:29):
I love you, Sean, I love you too, my friend. Okay, bye.
Remember Lust A seven Deadly Sinned story, premieres tomorrow, Saturday,
April t at a p m. Eastern and Pacific, and
then the next in the series, Envy, premieres next week. Saturday,
(33:50):
April seventeenth, at eight p m. Eastern and Pacific. One
hundred is produced by ed Gordon Media and distributed by Media.
Carol Johnson Green and Sharie Weldon are our bookers. Our
editor is Lance Patton. Gerald Albright composed and performed our theme.
(34:10):
Please join me on Twitter and Instagram at ed L
Gordon and on Facebook at ed Gordon Media
Welcome to the latest edition of one hundred The Ed
Gordon Podcast. Today a conversation with broadcaster and producer Sean Robinson.
Sean was a fixture as an anchor reporter for Access
Hollywood for sixteen years. She's now started a new part
of her career as she debuts as an executive producer
(00:42):
for the upcoming Lifetime original movies Lust and Envy. Both
are in the Seven Deadly Sins story series. Tomorrow is
my wedding day, and I'm about to make the biggest
mistake of my life because this man isn't my future husband.
(01:04):
This man is my weakness. I know it's wrong, but
I can't stop. My desire for this man consumes me.
It overrides reason, worlds everything. This is Lust. Lust is
the first of two movies to air on the network
starting this weekend. Shawn's success is no surprise to me.
(01:27):
We both hail from the Motor City and have known
each other for decades. It's been since high school. Since
high school, but since I was an underclassman, you never
spoke to me. So but you know, but I totally
over that now. I'm glad. Yes, growing up in Detroit,
(01:49):
I tell people for me, growing up in Detroit gave
you an extra sense of confidence because when we grew up,
the mayor was black, all of the city council we're black.
You had black doctors, and well, you was that a
part of you know, your confidence. Was that something Detroit
gave you, you know at uh. You know, it's so interesting, um,
(02:11):
the conversations that the conversations that we are having today
about black lives matter and white allies and the issue
of white centrality. And when we were growing up, we
saw leaders who look like us. We saw teachers and
(02:34):
professionals who all look like us. And you know, coming
out into the world after you know, we graduated into
Spellman College and all girls school in Atlanta, and you know,
going into this world where you know, those those faces
became fewer and fewer in the businesses that we were in. So,
(02:57):
you know, we had that foundation. I believe I had
that foundation growing up in Detroit because we knew that
we could accomplish anything. We knew that we could be
doctors and lawyers, we knew that we could be heads
of corporations. We knew that, um, that the sky was
the limit for us. UM. And also growing up in Detroit.
(03:20):
It gives you a sense of how uh of the
importance of work, of being hard working, because we came
from you know, all of our our parents were you know,
came from working class backgrounds. So we didn't take that
for granted. We certainly did not take education for granted because, um,
(03:42):
most we probably had all of us had parents who
instilled in us the value of education and the fact that, um,
even though we we we saw these leaders around us,
we saw what we can accomplish. The only way we
were going to do that is if we applied ourselves,
getting a good education and really working hard. Let me
(04:04):
ask you this. I don't think I've ever asked you this,
And I mean you and I have talked about careers forever. Um,
we still do. We still get a chance to go
to lunch and talk about where we sit right now.
But was this something you always wanted to do? Did
you always want to be a reporter and anchor, et cetera. Well,
I always felt I was some type of performer. Okay,
(04:27):
you might remember back in cast although you didn't speak
to me back then, But um, when we were at
cast Or High school, I was in performing arts. I
was in the performing arts curriculum. So you know, I
was a Wilhelmina and Count Dracula. We put on plays
even before that, when I was little, I remember I
used to write plays, Like when I was like about
(04:48):
six or seven, I would write plays and I would
perform all the parts for my parents and my grandparents,
and so I was always one. I think it was
destined to do some type of of something in front
of the camera, just because that was sort of you know,
the path I gravitated towards. Um. But also I as
(05:15):
a as a reporter, I learned early on how to
produce in addition to being on camera, and you as
a journalist also what that producing was also in our
genes and we that was something we had to learn
how to do. So um, yeah, I think that it
was always going to be something where I was, you know,
(05:37):
I was giving people information, I was performing in front
of people. UM. But also I knew that I felt
that I was a bit of a creative even early on. Well,
most people know you from the entertainment side. I mean,
you were on Access Hollywood for many, many many years, um.
But the truth of the matter is you started in news.
(05:57):
You did the traditional kind of local news, bouncing around
from city to city as you climb the ladder. Um,
what made the change for you? And do you ever
at all miss news? Well, well, I don't think anybody
really misses news right now because of what we see
on new the news every single day. I'm glad I'm
(06:21):
not in that in it that way, UM, but you're right.
And just a little bit about my background. UM, when
I was at Spellman, between my junior and senior year,
I started working at Channel sixty two in Detroit. UM.
Back then it was the only I think and you
(06:41):
probably know this information. Also, I think it was the
only black owned radio and television station in the country.
It may have been definitely one of very few. And
I remembered, uh, you know, I went there and I
started an internship. Up. I wasn't internships back then. You
(07:03):
weren't paid, you weren't giving food, launch nothing. You just
went to work. So back then I started learning how
to UM, to write, to report, to edit. UM we edited.
Sometimes we're editing our own stories. UM, definitely, you know,
(07:23):
producing our own stories. And after I graduated, I went
back to UM into Detroit and I interned again and
I got a I got a temporary job being a secretary,
and then I worked at the television station until they
put me on the payroll. UM. From there. From Detroit,
(07:44):
I went to Flint, Michigan h W I think it
was w E y I. I was there for two
and a half months. Uh. And that's when the news
director told me I wouldn't make it in TV, and
so he told me he was letting me go. UH.
And so I there used to be remember those those
(08:05):
those I think it was like broadcasting and cable magazines.
They would have reporting jobs in the back of the magazine.
And so what I would do I would look on
the back of the magazine see where the reporting jobs were.
And I found one in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So I went
and interviewed for that, and I was I started off
(08:25):
as the health reporter, UH, then anchor, a weekend anchor,
and I also hosted a talk show in Milwaukee. UM.
From Milwaukee, I went to Austin, Texas as an anchor reporter,
then Miami as an anchor reporter. And then I got tired.
I said, I want to do something different. I want
to show my personality a little bit more. I got
(08:47):
tired of the car crashes and the murderers and the
fires and all of that, and I the Access Hollywood
saw a tape of mine. Back then, it was a tape.
It wasn't like a link to any think. It was
a tape. Um, And they called me out for an interview.
And then I was there for sixteen years and somebody
(09:08):
told me, I was I've been on a national entertainment
show longer than any one national entertainment show, longer than
anybody other than Mary Hart. Somebody just told me that.
So what was it like to cover entertainment for you?
It is not you know, people see the glamour and
all the other stuff, but it's not an easy business.
(09:29):
It can be an ugly business sometimes. Um. What was
it like for you to try to kind of do
it with some dignity and keep your head above war
because you can get caught in all kind of mess. Well, yeah,
you know, Um, back then things were very different. I
remember I came to Access Hollywood in that was before Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, anything,
(09:54):
before social media even existed. So I was one of
the very few black faces on the red carpet. Listen.
It was a fantastic job. I mean, it was you know,
being uh an African American woman and anchoring this at
that time, national show meant national show. It it was
(10:16):
different than it is today where we're in this global society.
But you know, to be on this show was history making, UM.
And you know, allowed my parents to see what I
was doing and I could you know, wave to them sometime,
and so it was, you know, it was it was
an extraordinary time back then. It was so different because
back then Access Hollywood. There were only really two games
(10:40):
in town, Access Hollywood and Entertainment Tonight. And so when
stars had to when starts had a new album, a movie,
a television show, they came to us. We were one
of the places, very few places that they came to.
You know, they also came to you know, some of
the morning shows and also you know, like Johnny Carson
and whatnot. But um, it was so it was a
(11:00):
lot different. It was a friendlier, more celebrity friendly, UM
atmosphere and time and entertainment UM. And then the chif
came when you know, you had um, you know, you
(11:21):
had some of the tabloids come on the scene and
we there was a time when we would never ever, ever,
in a million years show paparazzi video, you know, celebrities
coming out of a bar drunk or whatnot. We would
never ever ever show that in a million years. And
(11:43):
then when the some of the tabloids shows came on
and they would send these kids out with these cameras
and let them hang out at the bar, and they
get somebody, you know that who was known coming out
of a you know, stumbling out of a bar. Um.
That changed the game for everybody. Everybody all of a sudden,
(12:08):
shows like Access and ET had to compete with the
ratings that these other shows were getting, and so those
shows started to become more tabloid um more less celebrity
from So that for me, that was a shift that
what I was very uncomfortable with because that wasn't the
(12:29):
type of news that I wanted to do. Um you know,
I it was you know, it was just a shift.
It was a big shift in in in our culture
and it continues today. And when you asked do I
miss news, I don't miss the type of news that
I would have to cover today. Another shift was not
(12:53):
to be a one trick pony in the industry. Sean
wanted to find other ways to channel her talents when
you I were growing up in the business that we were.
You know, we were always loyal to one station. We
did one thing. We the word diversify or diversification we
did we did that didn't exist for us. And I
(13:16):
knew that I had more to contribute than what I
was doing. I mean, I had, you know, a great time, UM.
So often I felt like I was I was. It
was like groundhog Day. I would wake up and I'm like, Okay,
I'm covering the same story every single day, same award shows.
Said you know, I covered like sixteen award shows or
(13:37):
sixteen Oscar sixteen and the sixteen Grammys, And like after
a while, you know, I said, Okay, what what else
is there? Wouldn't we come back? Sean takes on that question.
She would find the answer in the pages of a
series of books and a partnership with one of America's
(13:58):
biggest preachers. After being in front of the camera as
a reporter and anchor at Access Hollywood for sixteen years,
(14:21):
Sean would depart and seek other opportunities, including those on
the other side of the camera. I felt I was
always a creator, UM and a producer at heart, and
so I just started looking for different UM properties, looking
for different content. And so what happened was one day
and I pitched a number of shows. I developed, created
(14:43):
a number of shows and pitched them around town and
things got so close so many times. It's just how
the business of Hollywood is. But a friend of mine,
Patrick Henry Bass, he used to be the books editor
at Essence Magazine, he called me one day and he said, Shawn,
I just got a galley for this book Lust by
(15:03):
Victoria Christopher Murray, who was a very prominent author in
the African American community. And I know Victoria, and he said,
you should call her up. Tell her that you want
to option not only this book, but the entire series
that she is doing. She's doing the Seven Deadly Sins
story UM and this the entire series. And so I
(15:24):
called her up and I said, Hey, I'd like to
try to pitch these as movies, and so she said great,
and so we did this deal, and I started pitching them,
and I had pitched to a number of places, including Lifetime,
including other networks, and everybody was like, oh, this is great,
but the time just wasn't right. Then T. D. Jakes
(15:45):
did a you know deal at Lifetime when you know,
he did he had done a movie at Lifetime that
did very well, um, and they wanted more content from him.
So his people called me and they said, hey, do
you still have that Seven Deadly sins Um you know
(16:08):
book series? And this had been months and months, this
is almost like a year after I had pitched it
to them, and I said, yeah, I still have it.
And he said, well, TD Jake's is interested in producing
it with you. Would you would you like to have
that partnership. I'm like, uh yeah, uh huh. And so
(16:30):
then then we started. We started with the scripts and
we started, you know, getting the writers and all that,
and things moved very first. Things we're moving quickly. Then
the pandemic hits and then everything comes to a stand still.
I'm like no, no, So you know, it slowed down
(16:52):
as everything did, and then it quickly picked back up.
Lifetime said hey, we want to do this and we
want to do it fast, um, and so we just
picked up steam and we just started the entire process.
And now my movies are coming on uh this weekend
and next weekend, and it has been a really long road.
(17:14):
But when I see ed, when I see the words
executive producer underneth my name. If you hear a scream,
that's me. Okay, that's gonna be me. So I'm really
excited about it. I watched Villa not anymore. I knew
you was up to no good, but going after your
(17:35):
own sister, shame on, shame on you. What you're talking crazy?
Look Benna is a liar. You can't trust it and
thinks she says you know not what you ask me
(17:57):
is that you mama. Great sense of accomplishment for you.
But what it also does as an executive producers, it
allows you to give others employment and and opportunities, particularly
for people of color. Yes, yes, and so many. Um.
(18:18):
When we were looking at we had a fantastic casting director,
Burn Champion, and we were looking at all of the
um the actors and actresses that were available and interested
in the roles for both lust and envy. And as
I was looking at them at it's just pages and pages,
(18:41):
people and reels and everything, I was thinking, Um, a
number of these people I had interviewed on the Red
Carpet when I was you know, covering different you know,
shows on the Red Carpet. And there were people that
I had never met before, but I had admired their work.
And then there were people I knew that hadn't worked
(19:02):
in a while, and I was like, I am in
the position to help somebody help you know, talent, These
talented people get work okay, and especially during a pandemic,
of course, everybody's you know, nobody had an abundance of work.
And so it was it was an amazing feeling to
(19:25):
be able to say I can help somebody. I can
help somebody get a shot, I can help somebody get
their next job, because once they get this, you know,
other jobs may come. And that's that's what it's about.
For me. It's always about you know, as you know
that I've always had a philanthropic herd. You know, I
have my own UH foundation, and I'm always about leveling
(19:49):
the playing field and helping other people get opportunities. So
that is one of the fantastic things for me as
an executive producer UH, somebody who's spent all of their
time in front of the camera, this is my chance
to help somebody else have an opportunity to shine and
to show their work. Let me ask you, as we
(20:11):
look at being able to have these opportunities a lot
of conversation going on about African Americans and people of
color in Hollywood and the opportunities that either come or
don't come because of your color. Right now, we see
an uptick, many people believe it much like corporate America
is kind of the aftermath of what we've been going
(20:32):
through over the last two years or so. UM do
you see this as UM an uptick that's going to stay?
Is it too early to tell? Where do you sit
on that? I mean, I know you have this opportunity
now we all have to be reasonable and and and
realistic about We've seen upticks before that kind of leveled
(20:53):
off after a while. Yeah, I don't think this is
going to level off. I think the expect he san
now is UM diversity. You know, I think the words
diversity and inclusion, you know, didn't hold much substance before
(21:15):
this time in our in our in our culture. I think,
you know, one of the things that I love about,
you know, being with Lifetime is that you know, they
you know, really put their money where their mouths are.
I mean, you know, to be able to UM give
a first time UM, you know, first time executive producer
(21:39):
like myself, the opportunity to not only have this title,
but to have not one, but two movies out. I
mean that is quite an accomplishment. And hopefully seven movies,
because we know there are seven deadly sins. But I
mean that's um you know, that is saying that we
are we are in this and and I know that
(22:01):
there are other people who are getting opportunities like this,
and I hope that other networks will start to, um, well,
we'll start to follow suit and also increase that, you know,
increase the people not only in front of but behind
the camera, as it's one thing to you know, put
some you know, make your on camera diverse. Be who
(22:25):
are the decision makers that is that is very important
to have decision makers that are people of color and
that understand that the world doesn't look like how it's
been presented for these last many, many many years. So
hopefully that we are now seeing a shift, um in
(22:48):
in how Hollywood is doing business. Another shift in the
way Hollywood is doing business is that more and more
there is a cross pollination of talent. There is a
blurring of the lines as singers, rappers, and social media
stars are being cast alongside actors. These movies follow that blueprint.
(23:10):
Kerry Hilson, Candy Burris, and Tank, who all started in
music star in these movies. Well, you know that definitely
is a benefit. And Candy is actually an Envy She's
in our second movie. We have Tank, Uh, Tobias and
Carrie Hillson Um and LaToya Luckett in Lust great great
(23:33):
cast Soriah who was on Power Uh is in Envy. Um. Addition,
in addition to DC Young Fly who's like that guy's
like a social media in Powerhouse. Um. But yeah, that definitely,
that definitely is a benefit. Um. None of them sing
(23:55):
in the movie, so we don't have their music in
the movie. But um, it's yeah. And what you say, obviously,
what you see now is you see a lot of artists,
um moving into the acting world and and vice versa.
You have actors who are you know, singing, you know,
showing off their music skills. But definitely you're seeing a
(24:18):
lot more artist Um. Look listen, we just had um
what Cynthia Revo. I mean, you know, you you talk
about somebody who's able to who's showing her acting chops
and her singing chops. I mean, you know, it is
a great combination to be able to have. What does
that do for you? Um? You know you have sometimes
(24:39):
put your toe on the water for for acting. Oh,
I was gonna say, I know you weren't gonna say singing.
I know you aren't gonna sing say that. But most
recently you were in um Games People Play, bech Um.
Is that something that you want to continue now that
you're this big executive. I'm you know, waiting to find
(25:00):
in a corner office somewhere above Wilshire. But you know,
I just did a scene. I just taped the scene
for tape. I just filmed a scene for Games People Play.
I'm Chris Kensington, this media mogul for Games People Play
on BT. So that's been like a really fun role
for me. And I've done a number of acting roles.
(25:22):
This is one of the first times, and I've had
other opportunities to play like against Usually I'm just the anchor,
you know, and I'm doing my anchor thing, and I
don't want to do that anymore. I like roles where
I can, um, you know, expand and and show my skills,
whatever skills those are. But yeah, that's why this one
(25:42):
has been fun for me and my girlfriend Tracy Edmonds,
who I'm actually, um, it's probably premature, but I'm actually
doing another movie with at Lifetime. But I'll tell you
about that later. But anyway, she's the executive producer of
Games People Play and she had called me up one
day and she said, hey, we've got this for you.
I said, I said, if it's an anchor roll, I
(26:03):
don't want it. She said nope, she said it's not
an anchor roll. I was like, okay, cool. Yeah. So yeah,
so that's been fun. Let's talk a little bit about
the philanthropic side. You mentioned it, but you have been
um heading the Sean Sean Foundation for many years now,
and I'm curious how you how you got into it.
I mean, you have been a staunch supporter of girls
(26:27):
and women, particularly those who are underrepresented and underserved. Give
me a sense of how that started for you. So
you know, my my parents, my grandparents, ed always taught
me that if God gives you a platform, use it
to get back to others. And um, I tell the
story about just how my my parents were always into uh,
(26:49):
some type of philanthropic work in various ways. So um,
that's always been instilled in me. You know, I can
accomplish as as I can be on every red carpet,
I can be in every movie, whatever, but it always
comes down to what am I doing for other people.
(27:10):
So after I left Access Holly whatever sixteen years I
started the Shawn Foundation for Girls and UM it we
focus on and when I say we am me me,
we focus on UM helping, leveling. You hear me saying
leveling the playing field for girls in five different areas UH.
(27:32):
And those areas are represented by the acronym of my
name A S H A U N. So AS is
for stem science, technology, during a math, it is health,
a AS, arts, US, unity, and and its neighborhood. So
if there's a nonprofit, small nonprofit that is working directly
with girls in those areas, we would be a resource
for them even given possibly giving them a grant or
(27:56):
helping them with an initiative. So we've done a lot
of We've given a number of grants to incredible organizations.
And one of the most recent things we did we
did a series of UH sex trafficking prevention workshops in
We did one in Detroit, we did one on the
(28:18):
campus of Spellman, we did one at Texas Southern. And
I was able to do these with a grant from
the Forward Fund, which I'm very very grateful for. So
it was it's been very UM, it's been very rewarding.
And that's not the only thing we do. We do
a lot of things, but but for me and right now,
my foundation is working on a documentary about implicit bias
(28:41):
towards African American girls, and for me, it is important
to as we especially as we talk today about UM,
you know, shifting the narrative, UH, when it comes to
marginalized groups. UM. African American girls have a have a
(29:02):
unique journey in our society in America, and we're focusing
on that and how we all as adults UM carry
these biases against them, and how we need to change
those views because it really affects their self esteem and
their chances for success. I should note that I'd be
(29:22):
remiss if I at least didn't bring this up. If
you weren't busy enough. You also host you don't where
I'm going ninety days, which don't don't don't pretend you
I haven't. But you know, my family represents it because
my daughter never misses it. Taylor, Yeah, that's my girl.
(29:44):
Taylor's my girl. So ninety Day Fiance. Uh, TLC had
come to me. This was I I used to host
reunion shows for t LC, like even when I was
back at Access Hollywood. So it was after I left
Acts to Hollywood. TLC came to me and said, hey,
we have this show called ninety Day Fiance. We'd like
for you to host the reunion show. I was like,
(30:06):
what what is that? Nine D Fiance? So they sent
me some clips and I was like, okay, I said,
it'll probably be like a one off. The show probably
be canceled after a few seasons. And so I did
the reunion show and that was in I think two
thousand I think it was in two thousand fifteen, and
I had no idea that this would grow to become
(30:34):
probably the most successful docuseries in the history of television.
I mean it's currently it's seen in a hundred and
sixty eight countries and territories. So my d m s
are like, I get d ms from every single country
(30:56):
in the world asking how they can be on ninety
Day Fiance, say, I mean, it's it's crazy. I haven't
I it was crazy. So we did the first show
that we did in quarantine. I think, um, you know
I was thinking to myself it was all virtual. I
was thinking, Oh, I said, nobody's gonna watch this and
(31:17):
quarantine all this. It ended up it ended up being
the number one show in the country, beating out like
all the networks and everything, and it's um, it's got
a fan base that it was your daughter, Taylor. You know,
so there are a lot of people who watched the show,
and my mother is addicted also. Well listen, I am
(31:41):
so proud of you and all that you are doing. UM.
But you know, it comes as no surprise because I
know how focused and how committed you have been to
your career. So this is just part of the payoff.
And I wanted once again thank you publicly for the
role that you have taken in um, just being a
mentor to my little baby and you know all that
(32:02):
you've done there. Yeah, Taylor is such an extraordinary young lady.
I mean, she is going to go so far. You
have raised her so well. Uh she's not only you know,
smart and beautiful, but just very kind and caring and um.
You know, so when you know she came out here
and you're like, okay, you know, watch over her as
(32:24):
her big sister, I'm you know, I'm doing just that.
And she has helped me along with her you know,
good friend Katherine as they have helped me with my foundation,
help me put on a few events, and so I'm
really grateful for her being in my life. And then
thanks to Sewan, we ended as we began. Does Taylor
(32:47):
know that when you were in school that you won
like best what was the best movie? I think you're
I think your publicist is telling us we're running out.
I don't think so. Ed one was the class cute
or class handsome beautiful? Was it? Yes? It was. It
(33:07):
was one of those you won. So listen, I'm gonna
say again. The girls were like so proud of you.
You were like one of People Magazine's best looking, most
handsome people. I remember, But in high school you didn't
talk to me. We're not even We're not even gonna
pretend that was the case. I'm just gonna call you later.
(33:29):
I love you, Sean, I love you too, my friend. Okay, bye.
Remember Lust A seven Deadly Sinned story, premieres tomorrow, Saturday,
April t at a p m. Eastern and Pacific, and
then the next in the series, Envy, premieres next week. Saturday,
(33:50):
April seventeenth, at eight p m. Eastern and Pacific. One
hundred is produced by ed Gordon Media and distributed by Media.
Carol Johnson Green and Sharie Weldon are our bookers. Our
editor is Lance Patton. Gerald Albright composed and performed our theme.
(34:10):
Please join me on Twitter and Instagram at ed L
Gordon and on Facebook at ed Gordon Media
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