- 7 weeks ago
Join us for an exciting conversation with trailblazing media legend Jayne Kennedy as she discusses her highly anticipated memoir Plain Jayne with Shari’ Nycole, host of ESSENCE’s Black Women in Sports franchise. As the first Black woman to host The NFL Today, the first Black Miss Ohio USA, the only woman to ever host Greatest Sports Legends, and a pioneer of the fitness industry with her groundbreaking Love Your Body exercise videos – one of the first to star a woman of color – Jayne Kennedy has shattered countless glass ceilings. She has never gone on the record about her personal experiences and the joys and scars that resulted thereof—until now. In this special Fireside Chat, Kennedy will discuss breaking barriers in sports journalism, her experience recording her memoir, and how her pioneering achievements opened doors for Black women in media today.
Plain Jayne is out September 2nd, exclusively available in audio on Audible. Pre-order now!
Plain Jayne is out September 2nd, exclusively available in audio on Audible. Pre-order now!
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00:00Good afternoon everybody. Thank you guys for being, come on now. It's the first day of Essence Fest
00:062025. There we go. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Is everybody having a good time so far?
00:12Okay, you're gonna have any better time. Thank you guys for being here. My name is Sherina Cole.
00:16I am the host and lead producer for Essence Black Women in Sports. Welcome to the author stage. I'm
00:21going to engage in an incredible conversation slash fireside chat presented by Audible. Now
00:27sometimes when I do interviews with people, I give a little short intro and we start talking.
00:31But because I'm interviewing an icon today, I'm going to give her her flowers and I want you guys
00:35to do the same thing. Deal? Okay, all right. So today we have the extraordinary privilege of celebrating a
00:42true trailblazer whose groundbreaking career opened doors for generations of women like myself in sports,
00:49media, and entertainment. I'm beyond thrilled to be joined today by the legendary, the iconic
00:55Jane Kennedy, as she prepares to share her remarkable life story in her own words. For the first time in
01:02her upcoming memoir, it's called Plain Janes. Our conversation today will give you guys just a
01:08taste of the powerful journey she recounts in the book, a story of resilience, barrier-breaking
01:13achievements, and unwavering determination. Here's the fun part. The memoir releases on September
01:20the 2nd, but don't worry. You can pre-order right now on Audible, just like I did. It takes two seconds.
01:27So make sure you do that. And also, Audible has a very special treat for everybody because you can get a
01:32first preview listen of the audio right here at Essence Fest at the Audible jukebox in our Essence author
01:38space right here. So make sure you guys do that after this interview, okay? Jane's list of firsts is truly astounding.
01:44From becoming the first black woman to win Miss Ohio USA, to her groundbreaking work as a sports
01:52broadcaster on CBS's Emmy award-winning show, The NFL Today. She has consistently shattered glass
01:59ceilings throughout her career. As the only woman to ever host the long-running syndicated show,
02:06Greatest Sports Legends, and a pioneer in the fitness industry with her revolutionary Love Your Body
02:11exercise videos, Jane's impact on American culture and her role in advancing representation cannot be
02:18overstated. Without further ado, guys, I want to introduce none other than the iconic, the legendary
02:24Miss Jane Kennedy. Give her a round of applause, everybody.
02:28One more time. One more time for the iconic. There's your mic right here, Miss Jane.
02:47We'll cut it on. There we go. All right. So I'm so grateful that the good Lord gave me the
02:53unction to wear a suit today. I haven't put a suit on in a while. We did not do this
02:58on purpose. This is divine timing. Divine timing. So, so Miss Jane Kennedy, I first of all, again,
03:03want to thank you for being here. It's an honor to sit across from you. Thank you. It's my honor.
03:08And we talk about divine timing, and I want to kind of dive right into plain jank. For you,
03:13you've done a lot of things over the course of your career. You're a trailblazer nonetheless,
03:18but the timing of this book couldn't be more divine. For you, why was now the time for you to
03:22share your story? Actually, I started writing this journey 25 years ago. So I didn't know when it was
03:31going to be released, but that was in God's hands. And so when the time was right, it was today. And so
03:37my book will be coming out this fall on Audible and on Disney's Enscape in print. And it was important
03:45to me to write the book at all, just because I wanted to share my journey in my own words. I've
03:53had so many people tell my story and they've gotten it wrong. They've gotten it twisted. They don't know
03:59what they're talking about. So I wanted to tell my own story and it was important to tell it in my
04:05words, which is why I was so happy to land the agreement with Audible. You mentioned about people
04:11telling parts of your story or your entire story wrong. How did you handle that? How does one sit
04:17and watch or listen to people get it wrong over and over again and still be able to move forward
04:22in the greatness that you have? Well, you know, sometimes, unfortunately, back in the days when
04:28I was working, which was, what, 50 years ago, we didn't know. We didn't know there was no internet.
04:36There was no YouTube. There was no way to find out what other people were saying, except in Jet
04:43Magazine and Johnson Publishing. And that was it. And the Johnson family took me in and they were such
04:49a blessing in so many ways. But, you know, to be able to find yourself and know who you are is what
04:56I rested on. And it didn't matter to me what other people said about me. It was that I wanted to be true
05:02to myself. When I left home, I said that if I ever go to become a star, I still want to be Jane Harrison
05:10from Wycliffe, Ohio. And that was important to me. That's what I strove for. What's the side of you
05:16that you're really, really excited for people to see in this book? Because you mentioned, you've said
05:23before, I'm just plain Jane. People see all the accomplishments. They see the beauty. They see
05:28everything else. What is one thing you're really, really excited about people getting to dive into with
05:32this book about you that they may not have otherwise known? I'd like for people to see the real me.
05:39And, you know, there's so many thoughts about, you know, like in my first marriage about how,
05:44you know, I was controlled, which was not true. There were things that happened in my life that so
05:50many people projected about me that weren't true. And they, I mean, even the things about simple things
05:57like, you know, she was the first black to be crowned Miss Ohio. Well, that's not true. I mean,
06:05it's such a simple thing like that. Because the previously, the first winner of the Miss Ohio crown,
06:14she was reneged or, you know, something happened that she had to give up her crown the very next day.
06:21And then the second runner up was a black woman. And she began, she began, became Miss USA. I mean,
06:28Miss Ohio. And so I'm the second one to win the Miss Ohio title. But little things like that,
06:35you know, and then there are major things, major things that people get wrong. When I was fired from
06:41CBS, you know, everybody said, Oh, she quit. She quit. What's wrong with you? She quit that show.
06:47You let down black people. The Chicago defender said, she let down the entire country in terms of
06:54how black people see themselves and the possibilities when she closed that door. And that's not what
07:00happened at all. Actually, I was fired. I was doing my job right. But they wanted Phyllis George back.
07:09And so they found a way. They fired me three times. They fired me the first time. And I said,
07:16well, that's not true. Because I had signed to do a show with NBC. I said, that's not true. I came to
07:24the president of CBS Sports. And I asked him if I could. And he gave me a handwritten permission.
07:30So when I turned that permission in, they hired me back. Wow. And then the second time they fired me,
07:37they said, well, she can't do the job if she's doing two jobs all at once. And I said, well,
07:42that's not true. Brent Busburger is doing two jobs at once. So are you saying that a man can do it,
07:49but a woman can't? So they hired me back. And then the third time it was so generic. I didn't have an
07:59option. And so they ended up paying out me the end of my contract, which was ridiculous. Ridiculous
08:06compared to what so many other people were making in that, in this world of sports journalism at that
08:11time. And, um, you know, people don't know those stories unless I tell it.
08:18I have to ask you, Ms. Jane, and I'm listening to you say they fired me, but I went back and I said,
08:25no, wait a minute. They fired me again. I went back and I said, no, hold on a minute.
08:29As a black woman, sometimes it's very difficult, or at least we feel that it's a little bit
08:33challenging to challenge the systems that we're in. Whether we may have a financial need,
08:38whether we're just fearful in general, where have you been able to dig the courage from to be able
08:46to go and speak truth to power like you have over the course of your entire career?
08:50Well, that's very true. And I've had, I have had courage to do many crazy things,
08:56unbelievable things. And it's because I believed in myself. Um, and it, that became a part of me
09:02because of my family, my mom and my dad. Um, they told me to never stop dreaming.
09:08When I told my mom that I was going to move to Hollywood, I really thought that I was going to
09:14have an issue with the family because I was only 17. And, um, you know, I just, I just know it was
09:21going to break their heart. And, um, back then you didn't have communication that you do today.
09:27A telephone call could cost you $5. We didn't have $5 to be spending on telephone calls.
09:35But, um, my mom said to me, Jane, she said, you're meant to be here for a reason.
09:43You're here to do great things. And that is not going to happen in Cleveland.
09:47And if you have to go, then you have to go.
09:50And that was it. That was it. That was the only response that I got, you know, and they were happy.
09:56They sent me off. Um, and, you know, they've been able to benefit in a lot of the things that I've
10:01gone. When I was a Dean Martin Ding-a-ling sister and I would travel the country doing shows,
10:08they would come to the shows. They would come to the shows. My dad at his job was called Ding-a-ling
10:14Daddy. So, I mean, the whole family benefited. And, um, I remember my brother, um, who was only
10:23six years old when I left Ohio. And, uh, that was so hard because he was so sad one night, the night
10:31before I left. And he said, can we go for a walk? And we went to the end of the road. It's a dead-end
10:37street. We went to the end of the street and neither one of us was talking. And I could tell he was sad.
10:43I was sad. And we got to the end of the street and we just stood there and looked at each
10:49other. And finally, he had his hand in his pocket. Finally, he pulled out a penny. And
10:56he said, I want you to have this so that you'll never go broke when you get to Hollywood.
11:02And my family is everything for me. I've gone back to see them many times. I've invited
11:08them. My mom was with, um, oh gosh, what's his name? Um, uh, he used to co-host for the
11:16Johnny Carson show, Ed McMahon. Ed McMahon did a Mother's Day special and invited my mom
11:21of the special. Hey, it didn't matter what I did after that. Mom was on television
11:27watching Ed McMahon, who she used to watch from her little TV from her hometown of Wycliffe, Ohio.
11:34I think that's amazing that your parents, your brother even gave you permission to dream.
11:41I think sometimes, you know, we don't all have that story and we're trying to pull from other,
11:46other people or other things to give us the courage enough to go after it. That's also why I love your
11:51book, Plain Jane, that's coming out audible September 2nd, pre-order now, shameless plug,
11:57but worth, worth the plug as well. Um, but with that said, I feel like this is your opportunity for
12:02those who don't have a parent or a loved one to push them out the door and say, go do your thing,
12:08gives them permission to have that same courage that you've had your whole life.
12:13So as you've listened to your voice come through, um, in this book via audible and this project,
12:20what, how cathartic was it for you to hear back your own story? Was there something new you learned
12:25about yourself in the process? That was an interesting experience with everything I've
12:31done in my career, because I used to be the person that they say, you can't do that. You can't do that.
12:36You're not going to be taken seriously. If you're an act, want to be an actress, you can't go and
12:41dance. You can't do this again. And I've never listened to any of that. That's the only don't that
12:45I did. And so I was always the one that was out there trying to make things happen,
12:50trying to do something different, trying to advance my career. So, you know, to be able to
12:56then turn all that around and see all the different things that I've done and then to be able to write
13:03it into a book form, which I never imagined that I would ever do. And then I look at it
13:09and audible says, you're going to do the recording.
13:13I'd never done a book before. Of all the things that I've done, I'd never read a book before on
13:23audible. And I said, okay, God, you're taking over on this one.
13:32I showed up at the studio and I was so excited the very first day, but I have to tell you, it was a
13:38process. I was very nervous the first two days. Then I started getting the swing of it. Then by
13:44the end, I said, we got to go back and redo the first two chapters because I know I can do better.
13:50But, you know, there were, there were times that I laughed. There were times that I cried.
13:54There were times when I was angry and those words came through and they came through in my voice.
14:00They came through in my voice. No one was taking charge of me anymore. This was my story
14:17in my voice. And I hope that, I hope that you see that. I hope that you feel that.
14:27I hope that you hear my heart. I hope that you hear my hesitations. I hope that you hear
14:34the terrible things that happened and how that impacted me. I hope that you hear the joy.
14:42I write about the whole fourth, third quarters about my family, my girls, my two girls, Copperjoy
14:49and Zahir, Alia are here. And that's how we are. We support one another in everything that we do.
14:56My other two daughters, Cheyenne and, um, Cheyenne and Savannah Ray. Savannah lives in Dallas,
15:03Cheyenne in Los Angeles. But we are a family. And family means everything to me. And that's why
15:10you didn't see me for a long time. Because I wanted to be there for my children.
15:15I remember the last year that I worked full time. And I was the only home 27 days of the year.
15:24And that was not a way to raise a family. And I decided then and there.
15:29Got some tissue coming for you.
15:30Thank you. Thank you, sweetie. That's when I decided then and there that I wanted to be
15:36a mom because I wanted to have the most amazing children that I could. I don't care what field,
15:44I don't care how. I don't, I just wanted them to be confident, intelligent, and supportive
15:51with each other and know that they are sure of who they were. That was important to me.
15:57And so in, in also the benefit of doing audible in my own voice is now they have the opportunity
16:05to see and hear my story, maybe things that they've never known about me before.
16:14Let's give it up for that. You're trying to make everybody cry in here, Ms. Cheyenne.
16:19I do want to stick on motherhood for just a moment because I'm not a mother yet, but I hope to be at
16:26one point. But a lot of the women in my life that are mothers, they say there's no, there's no book
16:30for it. You learn as you go. You figure it out as you go. Mommy guilt is a real thing. Raise your
16:36hand if you experience, look at all these hands. So with that being said, I do want to give you an
16:42opportunity to kind of give yourself a pat on the back. Is there something about you being able to
16:48be a mom to your beautiful girls that you are so incredibly proud of, especially as you kind of
16:53reflect and you think about all that this book encompasses as well? Can you repeat that?
17:00Absolutely. Just thinking about where you are in your life, thinking about Plain Jane, this amazing
17:04book that's coming out and thinking about the mother that you've been to your daughters. Is there
17:08one thing that you're most proud of in terms of how you've mothered? One thing.
17:14One thing. Because I know it's, I know it's hard sometimes for moms or parents to sit back and say,
17:20I'm a great mom. I, I did this. I, they're in the back saying one thing, mom, don't, don't do a whole
17:25bunch. But this is your moment too. So if you got more than one, it's okay. I can't, I can't say a
17:31moment about Copper, Zaire, Cheyenne or Savannah because then it would be four things.
17:39But the one thing that I feel that I did right was I was part of a family that knows what a family
17:47is, a family that has trust in, in each other, a family that has a lot of love. We talk to each
17:55other at least 20 times a day, whether text or voice or whatever, you know, but we're in touch.
18:03I remember, I remember when Zaire was on a study abroad and she was in, in Brazil and she,
18:13after four or five months, she was like, we could tell she was really sad and Thanksgiving was coming
18:19up. The rest of my daughters jumped on a plane and went to stay with her for 10 days and get her
18:27note, let her know that, Hey, we are here for you. And that's what we all have to do as a community too.
18:33We have to let each other know that we are here for each other. And that's what I feel that's part of
18:39my, my driven purpose. Because so many times we find, we feel that we are all alone. I have felt
18:46all alone many, many times. Some of them are in the book. Some of them are not because they were
18:52too hard to tell. Um, but you know, those feelings of being alienated, we don't, we don't grow from
18:59those, those. So, you know, if I can, if my family can be an example for other families, I think that
19:06that is an incredible gift that I can give to way more people than just one or two. And that's
19:13important to me. You mentioned that there are truths that will get in the book. You mentioned
19:18that there are truths that we won't. And being someone like yourself, who's been in the spotlight
19:23and experienced so many ups and downs in your life, first part, both personally and professionally.
19:28What do you do with those truths that you can't tell? How do you maintain your mental health,
19:34especially as you continue to move through your life in this particular stage?
19:37I call my girls because Bill don't want to hear it.
19:45I call my girls and then I told, and then I call my therapist and then I go that night, I pray to God.
19:54That's it. That sounds good. That sounds like a great strategy to me. I want to turn the table a
19:59little bit, turn the corner. Let's talk a little black women in sports. Um, we think about just all
20:03the trails you've blazed in that respect. And we look at it now, we look at women like Taylor Rooks
20:08and Erin Andrews. I got to throw Kimberly Martin in there with ESPN and Pam Oliver. And you've seen
20:13these women kind of come behind you and do great things. First of all, how does that feel for you to
20:18know that you've been a huge part of them being able to walk out their dreams? And also,
20:25is there something that you would like to see change in that regard for black women to get more
20:30opportunities in the sports space? Okay. I have to first start with, you know, in the beginning,
20:37um, there was no one that was my mentor because there were no other women in sports doing the job
20:43that I was doing. And then fortunately, a lot of people say all the time, she's the first black woman
20:49to do sports broadcasting. But I was the second woman to do sports broadcasting ever. So white, black,
20:58brown, green, whatever, it was just the two of us. Give her a round. Can you all please clap it up for
21:03that? It's huge. It was just the two of us. And, um, since then, when Phyllis left, I think it was
21:131983. And there has never been a female on the desk of the NFL today since then. So we were the only two
21:23women to do that show. And now we have a lot of other shows coming up, but still in that type of
21:29a format, there still has been no one that has the, has the, had the experience that the NFL today did
21:36and the impact that that show did. And Brent, I remember him because, you know, like I was going
21:42into the interview and I said, I begged my, um, I begged my agents to submit me because I knew I could
21:48do the job and I loved sports. So he said, no, they're not looking for a black woman. I said,
21:54but I can do this job. And so he wouldn't submit me. He submitted three separate lists,
22:00got turned down each time, still would not submit me. So I went and said, I'm going to find my own
22:05way. So we called Jim Brown and Jim called, um, Bob Stenner, who was a field producer for CBS Sports.
22:12And he said, go call, um, George Wallach, who was the manager of Bruce Jenner, Caitlyn Jenner. And, um,
22:22I met her. She came to Los Angeles. She said, you'd be perfect for this job.
22:27Wow.
22:28And she said, I'm bringing you to New York. And so we get to New York and there are 16 people there.
22:34And out of, they said it was the greatest talent hunt since Scarlett O'Hara.
22:38They had interviewed so many people. They ended up with the 16 that they brought to New York.
22:45So we're in the, in the room and we're trying to figure out, you know, like who I'm, there's no way
22:51I'm going to get this job. They were all blonde. The other 15 were all blonde. I said, this isn't,
22:57this isn't going to happen. So anyway, I ended up kicking back and we didn't know who we were going
23:04to be interviewed. It was going to be a segment with the Brent Musburger, a segment on delivering
23:10teleprompter and a segment with an athlete, but we didn't know who that athlete would be
23:14until the night before. No Google, no Instagram libraries were closed. So you were on your own.
23:22So a friend that told me, you know, just make sure that you become a friend because you're
23:28intimidating Jane. Interesting word, interesting word to use. So he said, you have to just let this
23:37person know you're a friend. So we get to the, the audition and all the girls are in hair and makeup
23:42and they're, they get ready to leave and the three guys walk in. So they rush all three and I'm sitting
23:47there watching. I didn't rush them. So they all get their little quotes and they go to their dressing
23:52rooms. And so then I walk up to the guy that I was supposed to be interviewing. And I said,
23:57do you play backgammon? And he said, yeah, because I'd seen a board in the corner of the room.
24:03And I said, I love backgammon. Would you like to play a game before we go on? He said, absolutely.
24:08We played for about an hour. And by the time we got on set, we were old friends,
24:16just like the guy told me to do, become a friend. So when Brent Musburger finished the interview,
24:24he got up and he said, it's Jane or nobody. He said, it's Jane or nobody. The athletes love her.
24:30She knows how to listen. It's Jane or nobody.
24:34I want to, you're such a great storyteller. I find myself getting caught like, what else?
24:41And I'm trying to cut myself off saying, no, don't tell the rest. You are literally one of the most
24:46challenging people to interview because you tell such great stories. As we kind of round this thing
24:51out, I do want to move back to, to the book, Plain Jane. And actually, no, I want to do this.
24:58Advice. We have a lot of young black women who are going to descend on this city this weekend to
25:05enjoy Essence Fest. We have women who have grown up watching you, who are standing here in awe that
25:11they're even able to see you on this stage. As black women, we all have a set of our own set of
25:15challenges. We have our own set of choices that we have to make. For you, what advice would you give
25:21to black women today who are trying to break into any field where they're still underrepresented,
25:28sports or otherwise?
25:29I think it's really important to find a mentor, someone who's your ride or die,
25:34that no matter what happens to you, that you're, you're can still hang on because
25:39when you're on your own, it can be self-defeating. And that's, that's extremely important that you
25:46find someone. Unfortunately, in that time, there was no one in, in my capacity where I could go to.
25:54The only person that actually reached out to me to assist me was Marla Gibbs. And that was in the
26:00mid-1970s. And that was before I started on the NFL today. And Marla Gibbs, she tells great stories.
26:08And one of them, I, it's, it's off track. It's off track. And then ask me the question again,
26:13because I don't want to forget.
26:14No worries. I got you.
26:15But Marla Gibbs, Marla Gibbs tells a story about, she went into the, the rehearsal and she went up
26:23to Roxy Roker and she said, how much do you make? And she said, I think that's kind of personal.
26:30Why would you want to know how much I make? She says, well, because I just thought you might want
26:35to know, I just went in to negotiate, renegotiate my contract. And, and I got a lot more money.
26:41Thought you might want to know. And Roxy Roker, she took off to the production office.
26:49But that's what we need. We need that kindred ship. We need that. We need that support. But,
26:55you know, it was very difficult to find that in the seventies and in the eighties. And then people
27:00today, they're talking about as if it's, you know, when I did a show called, um, a seat
27:06at the table for TNT just a couple of months ago, and it was with Taylor Rooks, um, Pam Oliver
27:12and Stephanie Reddy. It was a generational event. And so we had the four of us, me being the first
27:20and then a Pam Oliver and then Stephanie Reddy. And then the last one being Taylor Rooks. And, um,
27:27it was very interesting because we were telling our stories and Taylor Rooks looks at me and she
27:32says, I didn't know any of these stories. And she's the youngest one there. She said, I didn't
27:38know any of these stories. I wasn't aware that any of these happened. I thought that, you know,
27:43I can go through my career and this is just normal. I didn't realize the fight to get to where I am
27:48today. So that's why it's important to tell our stories. And your, your question was,
27:54and it's interesting because you answered it. You said mentorship was important and your
27:59daughters are signing off on the back. You said mentorship was important. We have to advocate
28:04for ourselves. We have to educate ourselves. We have to know our history and know who blazed
28:09trails before us. And we have to be willing to reach out and bring others behind. And I'm,
28:16I'm totally willing to do that. I'm hoping that Plain Jane will do that. Absolutely. And I'm hoping
28:21that people will see that anything is possible. All you have to do is believe in yourself and find
28:27someone who can support you when you are down and you don't believe in yourself and they need
28:33to kick you in the butt and say, you know, come on, step up. Yeah. Step up. You can do this.
28:41What an amazing way to wrap that up. You wrap that up for me.
28:44The only thing I have to say is make sure you guys pre-order Plain Jane on Audible. I've done so.
28:52I'm a huge Audible fan. It literally takes five to 10 seconds. Make sure you do that. You'll be able
28:57to access the book on September 2nd. One more time for the icon herself. It's Jane Kennedy.
29:05Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys so very much.
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