LZ Granderson

Last updated

LZ Granderson
LZ Granderson on New America.jpg
Granderson moderates a discussion for New America in 2015
Born
Elzie Lee Granderson [1]

(1972-03-11) March 11, 1972 (age 52)
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Western Michigan University
Occupation Columnist
Spouse
Steve Huesing
​
(m. 2016)​
Children1

Elzie Lee "LZ" Granderson (born March 11, 1972) [2] is an American journalist and former actor, currently writing for the Los Angeles Times as a sports and culture columnist. He was a senior writer and columnist for ESPN The Magazine , a co-host of SportsNation on ESPN , afternoon co-host at ESPN LA 710 and a columnist for CNN. [3] Granderson was named the Los Angeles Times Sports and Culture Columnist in January 2019. [4]

Contents

Granderson has contributed to the channel's SportsCenter , Outside the Lines , Around the Horn , and ESPN's First Take and commentates for ESPN's coverage of the US Open tennis tournament. [5] He has also hosted the web-based ESPN360 talk show GameNight . Granderson has appeared as a color commentator for CBS Sports during their coverage of World TeamTennis. [6]

Granderson is a former fellow of the Institute of Politics at the University of Chicago and the Hechinger Institute at Columbia University, as well as a columnist for ABC News. [7]

Early life and education

Granderson was born and raised in Detroit, where he developed a passion for basketball and the National Basketball Association. He graduated from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Career

Granderson acted in the 1992 movie Zebrahead , which was set in his hometown of Detroit, playing the supporting role of Larry. He also played the supporting role of Arch Carrouthers in the 1996 Sidney Poitier TV movie To Sir, with Love II . [8]

He was a co-host on the talk show pilot Joan Rivers' Straight Talk. Before he moved to ESPN and Page 2, he was a sportswriter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a columnist at The Grand Rapids Press . [9] [10] [11]

Granderson's writings for Page 2 usually center on the social and human aspects of sports. He writes about his own personal struggles, the life of athletes, and occasionally provides social commentary. In June 2015, he joined ABC News as a contributor in a variety of programming across the ABC News platform. [12]

On April 18, 2012, Granderson wrote an opinion article titled "Ted Nugent should be in jail" for the online CNN website, accusing rock musician Ted Nugent of threatening the life of President of the United States Barack Obama, based on comments from a speech Nugent gave. [13] On June 27, 2012, Granderson published a controversial [14] [15] [16] opinion article titled "Don't be nosy about Fast and Furious" for CNN's website, accusing the American public of being too nosy about the way their government functions, saluting disgraced Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North for "taking one for the team" in his role in the Iran–Contra affair, and suggesting that illegal acts by government officials taken in the name of protecting the public should be hidden from public and legal scrutiny. [17]

In 2013, he defended NBA center Jason Collins' decision to announce himself as the first openly gay male professional athlete in a major North American sport. [18]

On January 28, 2016, Granderson made his debut on the ESPN program Around the Horn , losing in the "Showdown" portion of the episode to Jackie MacMullan. [19]

In January 2019, Granderson was named the Los Angeles Times' Sports and Culture Columnist. [20] This role was created for him and will exemplify the "sectionality of sports and society [and] politics and culture." [21]

Awards and recognition

Granderson was the 2009 winner of the GLAAD Award for online journalism and was nominated for the award again in 2010. He received a GLAAD Award in 2022 for his ABC News podcast, Life Out Loud with LZ Granderson. [22]

He is also a 2008 and 2010 honoree of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for column writing, and a member of the Advisory Board for You Can Play, a campaign dedicated to fighting homophobia in sports. [23] Granderson is also on the Board for Los Angeles–based company LGBTQ Loyalty. [24]

Personal life

In a 2012 column for CNN.com, Granderson openly stated that he was gay. [25] Granderson has one son, Isaiah, from his previous marriage to a woman. [26]

Granderson's husband Steve Huesing is PetSmart's VP of Planning and interim president of Chicago's Marriage Equality USA. [27] When the two were married in 2016, ESPN showed pictures of his wedding on SportsNation , the show on which he was a co-host. [28] Granderson spoke about this moment on the LGBTQ&A podcast saying, "I really don't recall anyone else at ESPN who married their same-sex partner having those pictures up on the network prior to that day...I had to believe that there was a queer kid out there working in a bar, maybe not even having the volume on, glancing up and seeing that on ESPN. I know what that would've done for me." [29]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilson Cruz</span> American actor

Wilson Cruz is an American actor known for playing Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life, Dr. Hugh Culber on Star Trek: Discovery, and the recurring character Junito on Noah's Arc. As a gay man of Afro-Puerto Rican ancestry, he has served as an advocate for gay youth, especially gay minorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtis Granderson</span> American baseball player (born 1981)

Curtis Granderson Jr., nicknamed "the Grandyman", is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Milwaukee Brewers, and Miami Marlins.

15th Annual GLAAD Media Awards (2004) were presented at three separate ceremonies: March 27 in Los Angeles; April 12 in New York City and June 5 in San Francisco. The awards were presented to honor "fair, accurate and inclusive" representations of gay individuals in the media.

The 14th Annual GLAAD Media Awards (2003) were presented at three separate ceremonies: April 7 in New York ; April 26 in Los Angeles; and May 31 in San Francisco. The awards were presented to honor "fair, accurate and inclusive" representations of gay individuals in the media.

The 16th Annual GLAAD Media Awards (2005) were presented at three separate ceremonies: March 28 in New York; April 30 in Los Angeles; and June 11 in San Francisco. The awards were presented to honor "fair, accurate and inclusive" representations of gay individuals in the media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">KSPN (AM)</span> ESPN radio station in Los Angeles, California

KSPN is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and serving the Greater Los Angeles Area. Owned by Good Karma Brands, the station airs a sports radio format as the market's ESPN Radio affiliate. KSPN's studios are located at the ESPN Los Angeles Studios at L.A. Live in Downtown Los Angeles, while the transmitter resides in Irwindale. In addition to a standard analog transmission, KSPN is also licensed to broadcast in the HD Radio (hybrid) format, although the station is not currently broadcasting in HD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jussie Smollett</span> American actor (born 1982)

Jussie Smollett is an American actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1991 debuting in The Mighty Ducks (1992). From 2015 to 2019, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series Empire.

17th Annual GLAAD Media Awards (2006) were presented at four separate ceremonies: March 27 in New York City; April 8 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles; May 25 in Miami; and June 10 in San Francisco. The awards honor films, television shows, musicians and works of journalism that fairly, accurately and inclusively represent the LGBT community and issues relevant to the community.

Jorge Sedano is an American sports broadcaster and talk show host. He began his career in 1999 and is currently a radio and television personality at ESPN.

18th Annual GLAAD Media Awards (2007) were presented at four separate ceremonies: March 26 in New York City; April 14 in Los Angeles; April 28 in San Francisco; and May 10 in Miami. The awards were presented to honor "fair, accurate and inclusive" representations of gay individuals in the media.

<i>The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz</i> U.S. sports talk radio show

The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz is a syndicated sports talk show hosted by Dan Le Batard and Jon "Stugotz" Weiner broadcast out of Miami. It was also carried on many ESPN Radio Network affiliates nationwide and simulcast nationally on various ESPN platforms until the show's departure from ESPN in January 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Sheng</span> American artist and photographer (born 2010)

Jeff Sheng is an American artist and photographer. He was a visiting guest professor of photography at Harvard University in 2011. He taught as a visiting assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara for the departments of Studio Art and Asian American studies between 2007 and 2012. He is a recipient of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">19th GLAAD Media Awards</span>

The GLAAD Media Awards were created in 1990 by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) to "recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community and the issues that affect their deads."

The 20th GLAAD Media Awards took place in 2009. They are given out by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation each year to recognize and honor the mainstream media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the LGBT community and the issues that affect their lives. Events were held at the Marriott Marquis in New York City on March 28, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles on April 18, and at the Hilton Towers in San Francisco on May 9, 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st GLAAD Media Awards</span>

The 21st GLAAD Media Awards was the 2010 annual presentation of the media awards presented by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The awards seek to honor films, television shows, musicians and works of journalism that fairly and accurately represent the LGBT community and issues relevant to the community. The 21st annual award ceremony included 116 nominees in 24 English-language categories, and 36 Spanish-language nominees in eight categories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reggie Bullock</span> American basketball player (born 1991)

Reginald Ryedell Bullock Jr. is an American professional basketball player for the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels before being selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft with the 25th overall pick. Bullock has also played for the Phoenix Suns, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, and Dallas Mavericks.

The 22nd GLAAD Media Awards was the 2011 annual presentation of the GLAAD Media Awards presented by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The awards seek to honor films, television shows, musicians and works of journalism that fairly and accurately represent the LGBT community and issues relevant to the community. The 22nd annual award ceremonies included 114 nominees in 23 English-language categories and 33 nominees in 9 Spanish-language categories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athlete Ally</span> American LGBTQ athletic advocacy group

Athlete Ally is a nonprofit LGBTQ athletic advocacy group based in the United States. They focus on making athletic communities more inclusive and less discriminatory and helping athletes to advocate for LGBTQ equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homosexuality in American football</span> LGBTQ history in American Football

There has been only one player who has publicly come out as gay or bisexual while being an active player in the National Football League (NFL): Carl Nassib, who revealed himself as gay on June 21, 2021. He later became the first openly gay player in an NFL playoff game on January 15, 2022. Six former NFL players have come out publicly after they retired. In the 2014 NFL draft, the St. Louis Rams drafted Michael Sam in the seventh round, the 249th of 256 players selected, which made him the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL. However, on August 30, St. Louis released Sam as part of a final round of cuts to reduce their roster to the league-mandated 53 players before the start of the regular season. In 2015, he became the first publicly gay player to play in the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Netflix has contributed substantially to LGBTQ representation in animation. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual and transgender characters have appeared in various animated series, and some animated films, on the streaming platform. GLAAD described Netflix as a company taking "impressive strides in viewership and impact," when it came to LGBTQ representation. Scholars have stated that LGBTQ characters on streaming services, such as Netflix, "made more displays of affection" than on broadcast networks.

References

  1. ↑ "Class Descriptions - Northwestern University".
  2. ↑ "Profile: ESPN, CNN journalist LZ Granderson". Grand Rapids Press. January 8, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2014. LZ is a shortened version of a family name that goes back several generations: Elzie.
  3. ↑ Granderson, L. Z. (February 18, 2019). "Struggling to make sense of the Jussie Smollett story". CNN. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  4. ↑ "Los Angeles Times Names LZ Granderson Sports and Culture Columnist". Los Angeles Times. January 8, 2009. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  5. ↑ Dickey, Jack (April 13, 2012). "ESPN Is Shuttering Page 2". Deadspin. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  6. ↑ "CBS To Air Star-Studded Philadelphia Freedoms vs. Vegas Rollers Match Live July 21, 4-6 PM ET". World TeamTennis. May 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  7. ↑ Granderson, L. Z. (February 18, 2019). "Struggling to make sense of the Jussie Smollett story". CNN. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  8. ↑ "L.Z. Granderson - IMDb". IMDb . Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  9. ↑ Tcheyan, Max (November 18, 2008). "The B/R Interview: LZ Granderson". Bleacher Report. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  10. ↑ Granderson, LZ (May 14, 2010). "The late Gary Bond, friend and mentor". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
  11. ↑ Granderson, LZ (February 8, 2007). "Another ex-athlete comes out? Not impressed". ESPN . Retrieved June 11, 2009.
  12. ↑ "LZ Granderson Joins ABC News - ABC News". ABC News .
  13. ↑ Granderson, LZ (April 18, 2012). "Ted Nugent should be in jail". CNN.com. Retrieved April 28, 2012.
  14. ↑ Limbaugh, Rush (June 27, 2012). "LZ Granderson and David Brooks: Don't Be Nosy, Just Shut Up and Follow Obama". rushlimbaugh.com. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  15. ↑ Rothman, Noah (June 27, 2012). "CNN Contributor LZ Granderson: 'Don't Be Nosy About Fast And Furious'". mediaite.com. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  16. ↑ Benson, Kris (June 27, 2012). "CNN Typist LZ Granderson Simply Does Not Care for Investigative Reporting". wonkette.com. Retrieved July 5, 2012.
  17. ↑ Granderson, LZ (June 27, 2012). "Don't be nosy about Fast and Furious". CNN.com. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
  18. ↑ "Jason Collins says he's gay". ESPN. April 29, 2013. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  19. ↑ LZ Granderson [@Locs_n_Laughs] (January 28, 2016). "Thanks all for the support, had a great time on @AroundtheHorn despite Jackie's beat down. See ya mañana @TonyReali" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ↑ Zeigler, Cyd (January 8, 2019). "LZ Granderson is new sports columnist for the Los Angeles Times". OutSports. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  21. ↑ Jones, Tom (January 9, 2019). "LA Times snags LZ Granderson as new sports and culture columnist". Poynter. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  22. ↑ "The Nominees for the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards". GLAAD. September 15, 2021. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Staff and Board". You Can Play Project. Retrieved June 22, 2012.
  24. ↑ "Board of Directors". LGBTQ Loyalty.
  25. ↑ Granderson, LZ (June 8, 2012). "No Contradiction: I'm Black and Gay". CNN. Retrieved June 8, 2012.
  26. ↑ "Profile: ESPN, CNN journalist LZ Granderson". January 8, 2012.
  27. ↑ "Steve Huesing, Interim President - Chicago, IL".
  28. ↑ "Thanks everyone for all of the well wishes. #married". www.instagram.com. Retrieved January 26, 2022.
  29. ↑ "LZ Granderson: The Sports World Is (Slowly) Becoming More Inclusive". www.advocate.com. February 1, 2022. Retrieved March 19, 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.