Tavis Smiley receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

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Tavis Smiley, the polarizing PBS talk show host, received his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this week.

Smiley has been hosting his self-titled talk show for 11 years and has made headlines in recent years for his activism alongside Cornel West.

“When I was a kid, I hated my name,” said Smiley at the Walk of Fame ceremony. “Tavis Smiley. I got teased so much. It was Travis, Tayvis and Smiley became Smelly and ‘Oh, you’re Tavis Smelly.’ So I hated it as a kid. But, lo and behold, years later, you’re a TV guy and it works.”

According to Variety, Smily and Oprah Winfrey “are the only two African-American broadcasters with national and international distribution who own all their content.”

“I own everything — I raise the money, I produce the show, I pay the staff,” he says. “The good news, I say all the time, is that I own all of my content. The bad news is that I own all of my content. If my team doesn’t raise the money, then I’m not on the air.”

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