Lee Newton | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Newton at VidCon 2012 | |||||||
Born | Ashley Rose Newton April 13, 1985 | ||||||
Occupation(s) | Actress, comedian, web personality | ||||||
Years active | 2007 | –present||||||
Notable work | SourceFed, The Valleyfolk | ||||||
YouTube information | |||||||
Channel | |||||||
Genre | Vlog | ||||||
Subscribers | 125K [2] | ||||||
Total views | 2.6 million [2] | ||||||
| |||||||
Last updated: August 30, 2024 |
Ashley Rose Newton [3] [4] (born April 13, 1985), known professionally as Lee Newton, is an American actress, comedian and Web personality. She is a former co-host of the YouTube news channel SourceFed, as well as a regular performer of The Gym Comedy group. Newton studied theatre in college, and is an alumna of The Groundlings Sunday Company. Newton was a founding member of the production company and web-series known as The Valleyfolk, in which she was a co-host alongside fellow former SourceFed hosts Joe Bereta, Elliott Morgan, and Steve Zaragoza.
Lee Newton was raised in Coarsegold, California. [5] She believes that she is "a blend of her Father's wit and sarcasm and her Mother's absolute absurdity." [6] She also has a brother and a sister. Her brother, Jake, is a musician, and has his own YouTube channel. [7] On March 2, 2012, a video was posted to her brother Jake Newton's YouTube channel of the two singing a song cover of Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody". [8]
Newton was born with several congenital heart defects, including a ventricular septal defect, an atrial septal defect, transposition of the great vessels, and pulmonic stenosis. [9] [10] She has undergone 4 open heart surgeries between the ages of 14 days and 13 years old. [6] Due to this, Newton has often said that she is an advocate of people donating organs. [11]
Newton studied theatre in college after receiving a theatre directed scholarship. [6] [12]
Newton is a comedian who performed short skits and improv at the Gym Comedy Group. [13] [14] Newton is also known for being an alumna of The Groundlings' Sunday Company. [15] [16]
Newton first rose to prominence online as the co-host of SourceFed, a YouTube pop culture & news channel. [17] The channel was one of the first 100 YouTube premium channels. [18]
On February 6, 2012, Lee Newton's fellow co-hosts, Elliott Morgan and Joe Bereta, released a video to the SourceFed YouTube channel, concerning the list of Maxim's Hot 100, which is released every year. [19] Without Lee knowing, her co-hosts encouraged the viewers to vote for her as a 'write-in'. The decision to do this was the overwhelming response from other SourceFed videos; specifically AskMen's Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2012. [20] The feedback contained comments that thought Newton should be included in these lists. The Maxim voting website added a CAPTCHA after a flood of votes for her. [21] [22] On April 3, Maxim posted a list of the most popular 'write-in' candidates, and included Lee Newton, writing that she had 'list potential'. In result, she reached #57 in Maxim's Hot 100. [23] [24] The following year, Newton received a Maxim profile. [25]
Newton has been interviewed on two occasions by New Media Rockstars, along with her SourceFed co-hosts. [26] [27] In an interview with the online publication, Newton stated "I think we lucked out having a team of hosts that really got along very well and had Phil’s vision, and we’re able to piggyback on that really quickly because he has such a clear vision, and he knew exactly what he wanted and such a concise idea of what he wanted and then having four people who really like each other and who can write really well. It was just energy. It was a collaboration that really started to take off." [26] The statement was in response to the SourceFed YouTube channel reaching 500,000 subscribers.
In March 2013, Newton appeared alongside SourceFed co-host Steve Zaragoza and creator Philip DeFranco in a Taco Bell advertisement. [28] Later, in May, SourceFed launched a spin-off channel, "SourceFed Nerd", on which Newton also appeared. [29]
Also in May 2013, Newton appeared in an episode of the Fine Brothers's YouTubers React , alongside SourceFed co-host, Steve Zaragoza. [30] Newton would again work with the Fine Brothers as she joined the cast of MyMusic for its second season. [31] On the series, Newton played the character of Country, Idol's cousin. [32] [33] Newton also appeared in Toby Turner's Heely Cops video.
Newton made appearances on YouTube channels outside of SourceFed and Fine Brothers-related series; Newton appeared in the ninth episode of Rhett and Link's The Mythical Show, along with Bereta and Morgan. [34] Newton also voice acted as Tanya Burkowitz and Katelynn Zales in the stop-motion animated web series The Most Popular Girls in School , in 2013. [35]
On March 28, 2015, Newton appeared in her last video before her resignation from SourceFed, alongside former SourceFed host Ross Everett. [36]
In 2018, Newton along with founding SourceFed hosts Joe Bereta, Elliott Morgan, and Steve Zaragoza, launched a production company and YouTube channel entitled "The Valleyfolk". [37] The Valleyfolk features various series. Among them are The Valleycast, a podcast series, and Your Show, a variety series. [38] [39] The Valleyfolk competed on the NBC comedy competition show Bring the Funny , winning the show's first season in 2019. On September 23, 2019, the other members of The Valleyfolk voted to terminate Newton's employment with the group. [40]
Aside from online works, Newton appeared in the 2014 April Fools episode of Tosh.0 . [41] That July, Newton was announced to be included in the cast of Comedy Central's series, CC: Social Scene. [42] [43]
Newton hosted the Lip Sync Battle Preshow with Elliott Morgan for Spike. [44]
Year | Award Show | Category | Result | Recipient(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 3rd Streamy Awards | Best News and Culture Series | Nominated | SourceFed |
Best Live Series | Nominated | SourceFed: The Nation Decides 2012 | ||
Best Live Event | Nominated | SourceFed: #PDSLive 2012 Election Night Coverage | ||
Audience Choice for Series of the Year | Won | SourceFed | ||
2014 | 4th Streamy Awards | News and Current Events Series | Won | SourceFed |
Gaming | Nominated | SourceFed Nerd | ||
Show of the Year | Nominated | SourceFed |