Access Hollywood - Celebrity News, Photos & Videos

 

Nancy O'Dell

One of the country's most respected and leading entertainment journalists, Nancy O'Dell serves as the co-anchor of "Access Hollywood," and is the only anchor who has been a part of the show since its inception. O'Dell's reputation and relationships amongst the Hollywood community has been a successful asset to the daily entertainment newsmagazine, which is in its 13th season of providing the most comprehensive coverage of entertainment news and personalities on television. O'Dell was part of "Access Hollywood's" on-air team when the show launched in 1996, serving as weekend co-anchor and weekday correspondent. In January 1999, O'Dell was promoted to co-anchor and has since been named as one of Television Week's 10 Most Bankable Stars in Syndication.

In addition to her on-air duties at "Access Hollywood," O'Dell has contributed reports to both NBC News "Today" show and "Dateline NBC." Beyond covering events such as The Oscars, The Emmys, The Grammys and The Golden Globe Awards, O'Dell has been chosen by NBC for the last eight years to host two of their big annual network broadcasts, The Golden Globes Arrivals Special and The Tournament of Roses Parade. She has also hosted The Emmys Pre-Show for NBC (2006), ABC (2000) and Fox (1999). A member of the Academy of Country Music, she was the original host and consulting producer of USA Network's "Nashville Star." O'Dell appeared in the film "Thank You For Smoking" in 2006 and was seen in a recurring role as herself on the FX show "Dirt" from 2006 - 2008. In 2003 and 2004, she co-hosted ESPN's ESPY Awards Red Carpet Show. In 2004, she also co-hosted NBC's broadcast of Christmas in Rockefeller Center. Since 2004, O'Dell has co-hosted the Miss USA Pageant for NBC and co-hosted Miss Universe for the network in 2005 and 2006. Recently, O'Dell hosted the 2008 Prism Awards on the FX channel.

An award-winning journalist, O'Dell has been honored with three Associated Press Awards, two Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Awards, and is a seven-time Emmy Award nominee. In addition, she was nominated two years in a row (1999 and 2000) for the ICG Publicists Guild Press Award, recognizing excellence in entertainment reporting.

O'Dell began her broadcast career as a reporter and anchor at WPDE-TV in Myrtle Beach, S.C. She later worked as morning news anchor and crime reporter at WCBD-TV in Charleston, S.C. Before joining "Access Hollywood," she served as co-anchor and investigative reporter for NBC's Miami station, WTVJ-TV.

O'Dell has been featured as a guest and host on a number of programs including "The View," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Larry King Live," "Dancing with the Stars," "Project Runway," "Martha Stewart," CBS's "The Late, Late Show," "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch," "Fox & Friends," "Scarborough Country," and "Isaac Mizrahi." Additional films and television series in which she has appeared in the past include "Scream 2," "Scream 3," "Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat," "Ally McBeal," "Just Shoot Me," "Third Watch," "Charmed," "Joey," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Melrose Place," "General Hospital" and "Days of Our Lives." O'Dell is also featured as the spokesperson in the national commercial campaign for Johnson & Johnson's Acuvue products as well as appeared on behalf of Dial's Pure & Natural.

Although O'Dell maintains a busy work schedule, she regularly makes time for philanthropic endeavors. O'Dell, a National Vice President of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and ALS Division Celebrity Ambassador, has been working with the ALS division since her mother Betty was diagnosed with and recently passed away from complications relating to ALS. In February 2002, she was inducted into the American Red Cross's National Celebrity Cabinet, and she also serves as a national spokesperson for the March of Dimes. In addition, she acts as an international board member for Best Buddies, a non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. In June 2002, Best Buddies honored O'Dell with the organization's Spirit of Leadership Award. This honor has previously been bestowed upon Muhammad Ali, Maria Shriver and Olympian Carl Lewis. O'Dell also currently serves on the HollyRod charity advisory board and is also a Celebrity Ambassador for Childhelp.

A native of South Carolina, O'Dell received a great honor when that state's governor declared Feb. 1, 2006 Nancy O'Dell Day in the entire state. Additionally, she was inducted into South Carolina's Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame in 1998 as the youngest member ever in recognition of her journalistic success. In 2008 O'Dell was presented with a "Key to the City of Myrtle Beach," in honor of her career achievements and the pride she holds for her hometown. O'Dell is a summa cum laude honors graduate of Clemson University.

She resides in the Los Angeles area with her husband, Keith Zubchevich, vice president of technology company Conviva, their daughter, Ashby, and two stepsons, Tyler and Carson.

Follow Nancy on Twitter at NancyODell!

Check out more of Nancy on AccessHollywood.com, HERE!

 

Billy Bush

Named as one of Esquire magazine's "10 Men," Billy Bush is the co-anchor of "Access Hollywood," the daily entertainment newsmagazine currently in its14th season of providing the most comprehensive coverage of entertainment news and personalities on television. Bush joined the program as East Coast correspondent in December 2001, and was promoted to co-anchor in June 2004. In 2007, Bush hosted the popular NBC talent competition show "Grease - You're the One That I Want" and the network's remake of the classic "Let's Make a Deal."

Through his role at "Access Hollywood," Bush has covered countless high-profile red carpet events including the Golden Globes, Grammys, and Academy Awards as well as hosted ABC's live pre-show for the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Academy Awards and "2006 Emmy Red Carpet Special." In addition, he reported for NBC at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece, hosted "Access Hollywood's" coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Bush also hosted the Miss USA and Miss Universe competitions in 2003, 2004, 2005 and most recently 2009.

Bush began his career hosting the afternoon radio drive show on WLKZ-FM in New Hampshire, later moving to Washington, D.C., where he hosted the midday show on WARW-FM. In March of 1997, Bush brought his award-winning talent for entertainment and humor to WWZZ-FM (Z104) in D.C., as host of "Billy Bush and the Bush League Morning Show," which aired until January 2001. Before joining "Access Hollywood," Bush was a correspondent for WNBC-TV's "Today in New York" morning show.

Bush returned to his roots in April 2008, with the launch of "The Billy Bush Show," a nationally syndicated talk and music radio show with Westwood One, which he and "Access Hollywood" Executive Producer Rob Silverstein co-produce. The show, which airs evenings Monday-Friday, focuses on the top entertainment stories and personalities in the news and features celebrity guests and listener calls. Billy Bush's Weekend Countdown is also on the airwaves, counting down the week's top 30 songs in a four-hour segment. In addition to radio, Westwood One is home to Billy Bush's official Web site, BillyBushShow.com, a fully interactive digital space offering a host of features surrounding the show, including: premium services, live streams; hands on fan interaction through listener blogs; exclusive audio content and podcasts to download; and more.

Although Bush maintains a busy work schedule, he regularly makes time for philanthropic endeavors. He has served on Operation Smile's Board of Governors for over four years, a non-profit organization whose mission is to repair childhood facial deformities, while building public and private partnerships that advocate for sustainable healthcare systems for children and families. In addition, Bush also proudly serves on the Board of Directors for the Lollipop Theater Network, a non-profit organization that arranges private screenings of newly released movies for children suffering from debilitating illnesses. These children are usually confined to hospitals or other secluded environments, preventing them from going to movie theaters.

Bush earned a bachelor's degree in international studies and government at Colby College in Maine, where he was a two-time captain of the men's lacrosse team. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Sydney, and their three daughters.

Follow Billy on Twitter at BillyBush!

Check out more of Billy on AccessHollywood.com, HERE!

 

Tony Potts

Tony Potts is the weekend co-anchor and correspondent for "Access Hollywood," the daily entertainment newsmagazine show in its 14th season of providing the most comprehensive coverage of entertainment news and personalities on television. Tony joined "Access Hollywood" in April 1999, coming to the show after 12 years in television news and sports. In addition to his duties at "Access Hollywood," Tony also contributes to the "Today" show, MSNBC and CNBC. Tony also hosted the 2007 - 2008 season of "Celebrity Expose" on MyNetworkTV. Tony has also filled-in for legendary Larry King on CNN's "Larry King Live" in addition to his frequent guest spots on on the show.

During his tenure at "Access Hollywood," Tony has covered many high profile events, including the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, the Emmys, and the Grammys. He has also covered some of the top breaking entertainment news stories, including the tragic and complex Anna Nicole Smith story on location from Florida as well as the Bahamas. He's also traveled across the globe to interview the biggest stars in film, music and television including an exclusive interview with Julia Roberts when she made her Broadway debut.

Tony has covered Italy's Venice Film Festival, France's Cannes Film Festival and Deauxville Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and the Park City's Sundance Film Festival.

Tony also traveled to the jungles of Borneo for the first taping of "Survivor," and to the Australian outback for the second season of the popular television series. He met up with the "Today" show's Matt Lauer in Paris and then again in the South of France for the morning show's "Where in the World is Matt Lauer" series.

Prior to joining "Access Hollywood," Tony co-hosted Fox's "Good Day New York" and anchored the "Fox News at Noon" where he covered New York City's biggest news stories. This included hosting Fox's live broadcast of the Pope's historic mass in Central Park. In addition, Tony broke a story regarding corrupt cab drivers and owners, which resulted in the overhaul of New York's Taxi and Limousine Commission's procedures.

Tony has a couple of film and television credits to his name, including appearances in the Mel Gibson film, "Ransom," the 2002-2003 season finale of the CBS hit show "CSI: Miami," plus a number of episodes of Courtney Cox's show, "Dirt."

Tony has won an Emmy Award for feature reporting, two Associated Press Awards and one Society of Professional Journalists Award. The Seattle-native also won the 2006 NBA Celebrity All-Star Game MVP Award in Las Vegas, NV.

Tony is proud to be the National Spokesperson for the Michael Hoefflin Foundation for Children's Cancer. The MFH provides financial and emotional support to children and their families. MHF strives to educate the public and provide grant funding for innovative research to accelerate progress in the fight against pediatric cancer. (mhf.org). He also has worked with Haven Hills for a number of years, which provides safety and support to victims of domestic violence while working to break the cycle of abuse. (HavenHills.org) Tony also works closely with The Amberwatch Foundation. The Amberwatch Foundation is dedicated to the prevention of child abduction and molestation. Tony will also be part of a soon-to-be-announced groundbreaking mobile phone intiative that will not only help save our children from possible abduction and molestation, but will provide peace of mind to parents (Amberwatchfoundation.org.). The Santa Clarita Valley Youth Project is another organization Tony supports and they facilitate programs and provide services such as mentoring, pregnancy prevention, and alcohol and drug abuse prevention and rehabilitation.

Follow Tony on Twitter at TheeTonyPotts!

Check out more of Tony on AccessHollywood.com, HERE!

 

Shaun Robinson

Shaun Robinson is the weekend co-anchor and correspondent for "Access Hollywood," the daily entertainment newsmagazine show currently in its 14th season of providing the most comprehensive coverage of entertainment news and personalities on television.

Robinson is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and author. She has interviewed the top stars in Hollywood and has co-hosted the Official Pre-Shows for the Academy Awards (2008, 2006, 2005, and 2003) and Golden Globes (2007, 2006, 2002). Robinson co-hosted NBC's "Miss Teen USA Pageant" (2006), anchored NBC's coverage of the "Tournament of Roses Parade" (2004) and was co-host of the ShoWest Awards (2005). She has served as a presenter for the Latin Grammy's, "Soul Train Music Awards," "Stellar Gospel Awards," "Lady of Soul Awards" and the UNCF "An Evening of Stars" celebration. In addition, Shaun recently co-hosted "Access Hollywood's" coverage of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Robinson has also been seen as a guest co-host on "The View" and has contributed reports for NBC News "Today" show, MSNBC, CNN, "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams" and served as a panel guest on "Larry King Live." Robinson's live coverage of "A Grand Night in Harlem" for the Black Sports and Entertainment Hall of Fame, garnered her an Emmy Award.

Robinson has been featured in the pages of In Style, Self, Us Weekly, Essence and Ebony, Precious Times and Life & Style magazines. She has been a featured columnist in Cosmo magazine and in Essence magazine's online edition.

Robinson has been able to show her acting skills on both television and film. Her credits include "Bruce Almighty," "America's Sweethearts," "Dr. Dolittle 2," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Everybody Hates Chris," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," "DIRT," "Charmed," "She Spies," "The Parkers," "The Proud Family," "Half & Half," "Days of our Lives," and "Any Day Now."

Robinson was also the premier host of "TV One Access" from 2004 to 2007. "TV One Access" is a monthly hour-long show that brings viewers behind the velvet rope for an inside look at who's who in Black Hollywood and covers important issues affecting Black America.

She began her professional career in the Midwest as a medical reporter and weekend anchor for WISN-TV in Milwaukee, Wisc., where her series on "Women and Cancer" garnered her an Associated Press Award. Before joining "Access Hollywood," Robinson was a reporter and anchor for WSVN-TV in Miami, Fla.

Off the red carpet, Robinson devotes her time to fulfilling her role as the Los Angeles County spokesperson for the "Share Your Heart, Share Your Home" program, which helps to find permanent homes for African-American children waiting for adoption. Robinson is a successful author, whose book on 'Girls and Self Esteem' called "Exactly As I Am," with the Ballantine Publishing Group division of Random House, Inc. debuted in Spring 2009. In addition, Robinson was the Los Angeles representative for the JumpStart Coalition's Read for the Record campaign to help bring more awareness to the powerful learning relationships between caring adults and children.

Robinson is a native of Detroit, Mich., and a graduate of Spelman College in Atlanta.

For more information about Shaun, visit her Web site at ShaunRobinson.com.

And for more information on TV One, visit TVOneonline.com.

Follow Shaun on Twitter at ShaunsSanctuary!

Check out more of Shaun on AccessHollywood.com, HERE!

 

Maria Menounos

Maria Menounos is a special correspondent for "Access Hollywood," the daily entertainment newsmagazine show in its 13th season of providing the most comprehensive coverage of entertainment news and personalities on television.

In 2005, Maria joined the NBC Universal family in an overall deal to serve as the West Coast Contributor for "Today", to report for "Access Hollywood," and more recently, to correspond for "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams." Maria is also the host of "Hollywood Green with Maria Menounos" on Planet Green.

As a journalist, Maria holds the distinct honor of having conducted the only interview with the entire Obama family. The interview was touted by political experts as one of the defining moments to Obama's victory.

"We've always been huge fans of Maria and believe she has the skills, attitude and style that fits 'Access Hollywood' perfectly," says "Access Hollywood" executive producer Rob K. Silverstein. "She's current, a unique talent, someone that cuts through, and definitely stands out in a crowd. We could not be more pleased with Maria joining the most credible entertainment newsmagazine in the world."

"Maria's wide-ranging experience is a tremendous asset for "Today," said "Today" executive producer Jim Bell. "Her enthusiasm and energy for her work will be invaluable to our coverage - she's a welcome addition to our roster of strong contributors."

"I'm so thrilled to be part of the NBC family," said Maria. "To be working at such a cutting-edge show like 'Access,' and having the opportunity to be a part of the #1 morning news program and #1 evening news program on television is so exciting. My thanks to Jeff Zucker, Rob Silverstein, Jim Bell, Steve Capus, Alex Wallace, Bob Epstein and Brian Williams for all of their support and encouragement."

Maria's achievements have thus far set industry milestones. Her ground-breaking conversational style of reporting led her, at the age of 22, to become the youngest person ever to host "Entertainment Tonight." She later became the youngest to do the same for "Access Hollywood." But the milestones don't end there. Maria is the first to do all this along with starring in films and on TV as an actress as well as being a filmmaker, spokesperson and activist.

On the big screen, Maria starred in the romantic comedy "Kickin It Old Skool" opposite Jamie Kennedy and played herself in the Ben Stiller comedy "Tropic of Thunder." She also appeared in the 20th Century Fox Sci Fi/Action movie "Fantastic Four." Her small screen acting endeavors include guest roles on CBS's "Without a Trace," NBC's "Scrubs" and HBO's "Entourage" as well as a recurring role on the CW's "One Tree Hill." While at "Entertainment Tonight," Maria hosted "ET on MTV" and "ET on VH-1," both of which soared to number-one weekend ratings on their respective networks.

Maria is the international spokesperson and face of PANTENE hair care products. She has been one of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful' and bested Charlize Theron and Jessica Alba for "Cyber Vixen of the Year Award" at the Spike Video Game Awards. Maria starred opposite Sir Sean Connery in the video game "James Bond 007: From Russia With Love" and personally bestowed the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award to Connery. She has been in the top five of the askmen.com poll for "the girl men most want to marry" along with the likes of Angelina Jolie and Charlize Theron and was first runner up in "the Best Damn Sports Show's" annual Sweet Sixteen of Beauties competition. Maria hosted and sang at the annual 2006 Eurovision Music Competition Awards in Athens, Greece to a European audience of 600 million viewers.

As a filmmaker, Maria has directed and produced several films, which have played most of the major film festivals including Tribeca, South-by-South West, Hollywood, Palm Springs, Boston and Cinevegas.

Maria attended Boston's Emerson College, where she double-majored in broadcast journalism and film. At Emerson, she became the first freshman in the school's 125-year history to garner the prestigious EVVY award for best newscaster. After her junior year, Maria became an international correspondent for Channel One News - launch pad to such reporters as Anderson Cooper. At Channel One, Maria interviewed President George W. Bush and travelled the globe reporting on world affairs. Her coverage of the AIDS virus in South Africa inspired her to dedicate herself to charity work and to create the non-profit, Take Action Hollywood! (TAH!).

TAH! ia a charity whose mission is to utilize the power of the entertainment industry and the production medium to educate, empower and raise social awareness. Maria and TAH! have teamed up with various organizations such as The Weinstein Company, Tide, Channel One News, the Entertainment Industry Foundation, Nike, and Cosmo Magazine. TAH! has helped raise awareness for Diabetes, pet adoption, women's suffering, MS, racism and countless others. Maria and TAH! helped secure distribution for the award nominated Miramax holocaust documentary 'Paperclips." Maria and TAH! created the "Take Action-One Cup", a competition via Channel One designed to empower students and communities nationwide to confront social issues. Maria and TAH! teamed with NIKE for their "Let Me Play" initiative to refurbish national neighborhood playgrounds. Maria and TAH! created the annual "Day of Beauty" at LA children's hospital where Hollywood stylists and other celebrities apply makeovers to terminally ill children. As a Diabetes Awareness Ambassador for Entertainment Industry Foundation, Maria has spoken on Capitol Hill and is working with lobbyists on improving treatment for the disease, worldwide.

Maria's career has been groundbreaking and will no doubt be emulated by many to come. Incredibly, Maria's career remains in relative infancy and has much more room to blossom. A girl who did not speak English till the third grade and one who worked as a janitor cleaning Boston nightclubs throughout her adolescence, Maria is proof that you can come from nothing and succeed. She is proof that you can do it all. Most importantly, she is proof that you can do all of the above and remain true to yourself and humble in the process.

Follow Maria on Twitter at YourOmegaGirl!

Check out more of Maria on AccessHollywood.com, HERE!

 

Laura Saltman

Laura Saltman is a correspondent for AccessHollywood.com and a senior field producer for "Access Hollywood," the daily entertainment newsmagazine currently in its 12th season of providing the most comprehensive coverage of entertainment news.

Saltman joined "Access Hollywood" in its first season in 1996 as one of the youngest field producers on the team, writing scripts and producing day-of-air and feature stories for news, fashion, music, film and television departments. Saltman left in 2002 to work as a producer for NBC's "Today" show (Producer), "The Sharon Osbourne Show" (Talent Producer) and "On-Air With Ryan Seacrest"(Special Projects Producer). She returned to "Access Hollywood" in 2004 as a senior field producer and her love for "American Idol" and behind-the-scenes knowledge in television has allowed her to expand her duties at the show to working with AccessHollywood.com hosting video segments on-camera and writing a popular daily blog called "Dish of Salt."

Saltman is also a regular contributor to MSNBC and CNN's "Showbiz Tonight" where she shares the latest inside information on breaking entertainment news stories. In addition, Saltman is a frequent guest on E!’s "Chelsea Lately," the late-night comedy talk show that talks about celebrities and pop culture.

Saltman, who has always had a passion for television, was working in production even before her first job with a major television show. She got a crash course in editing, writing, storytelling and budgeting working on infomercials, which helped her prepare for success in the television industry at the national level.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Saltman attended Ohio State University for two years as a communication major and transferred to Temple University where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.

Follow Laura on Twitter at DishOfSalt!

Check out more of Laura on AccessHollywood.com, HERE!

 

Tatyana Ali

Actress, singer and graduate of Harvard University, Tatyana Ali is the host for "TV One Access," the monthly hour-long entertainment newsmagazine show that takes viewers inside Black Hollywood with a unique and comprehensive perspective. Ali joined "TV One Access" as the host in 2008.

Made famous by playing Will Smith's cousin, Ashley Banks, on the hit sitcom, "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air", Ali has been a household name the world over for more than 15 years. Ali has appeared in multiple films, including: Paramount Pictures's "Kiss the Girls", starring Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd; Sony Pictures's "The Brothers", with D.L. Hughley and Gabrielle Union; famed Japanese director Takeshi Kitano's English-language gangster film, "Brother", a Sony Pictures Classics film; and Jerry Bruckheimer's "Glory Road", which won the 2006 Espy award for "Best Sports Film".

Ali's voice hit the airwaves in 1998 when she recorded her debut album, "Kiss the Sky". The hit single, "Daydreamin'", earned Ali a gold record and secured her the coveted opening act spot for both *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys on their world tours. In 1999, Ali paid homage to "Sesame Street," the kids show that propelled her television career, by recording "Precious Wings" for "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland" soundtrack. The recording won the Grammy for "Best Musical Album for Children".

Additional honors awarded to Ali include: an NAACP Image Award for "Outstanding Youth Actor", two Hollywood Reporter Young Star Awards for "Best Actress in a Comedy Series", and the Educating Young Minds "Youth Inspiration Award".

In 2007, Ali appeared in Steven Spielberg and Jerry Bruckheimer's reality show, "On the Lot". Ali can also be seen in "Nora's Hair Salon 2", which she co-produced and stars in alongside Mekhi Phifer and Stacey Dash. She has also just completed filming two independent projects, "Privileged" and the highly anticipated, "Hotel California", with Erik Palladino and Tyson Beckford, both due out later this year. Besides hitting the big screen Ali still stays true to her roots and appears on the small screen in the recurring role of Roxanne on CBS's "The Young and the Restless."

Ali will also be releasing her follow up album to 1998's "Kiss the Sky." Ali also joined will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) in a song called "Yes We Can" to promote Barack Obama's campaign. Other celebrities who collaborated with them included Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, Kate Walsh, Herbie Hancock, Common, Nick Cannon and Aisha Tyler.

A native New Yorker and the eldest of three sisters, Ali credits her culturally diverse upbringing (her mother is from Panama, her father from Trinidad) with instilling in her some of the qualities necessary to succeed as an actress and singer. "Being exposed to the different customs from both my parents allowed me to see things in many different ways," she says, "which I think is an important aspect of being a performer."

Follow Tatyana on Twitter at TatyanaMAli!

Check out more of Tatyana on AccessHollywood.com, HERE!

 

Quddus

While Quddus is recognized mostly for his work as a VJ on MTV, he recently was named a correspondent for "TV One Access," the monthly hour-long entertainment newsmagazine show that takes viewers inside Black Hollywood with a unique and comprehensive perspective.

Quddus made his prime time acting debut as Xander on the CW show "Girlfriends" and he is also the host of a brand new show on Nickelodeon called "Dance on Sunset." Quddus is currently developing music artists and getting them signed with his new position as an A&R consultant for MySpace/Interscope Records.

Hired by MTV in May of 2001, Quddus became one of the top VJ's for "Total Request Live" and even got nominated in the favorite personality category at the 2003 Teen Choice Awards. He's often been a part of MTV's biggest events, the annual Video Music Awards and New Year's Eve Bash. Quddus is so renowned for his interviews that when multi-platinum selling artist Usher did a concert special for Showtime, he specifically requested that Quddus host the show. The widely-respected, Grammy-winner Common stated, "Quddus helped keep 'TRL' important to artists like me while giving it more credibility in the hip hop community."

TV Guide named Quddus one of the "Hottest New Stars" in 2005, USA TODAY included him among their 26 "Sizzling Young Hunks Worth Watching in 2004," and Teen People called him one of the "50 Sexiest Men Ever." Ebony also tapped his understanding of pop culture to explain Kanye West's influence but even though Quddus has the kind of notoriety that led him to cameos on major network shows such as "CSI: Miami" in 2003, he is also involved with various charities. Quddus has mediated forums for AIDS awareness, spoken at summits to promote literacy and visited schools in underprivileged areas like Compton to read to kids for the cause. He helped with Hurricane Katrina victims by building houses with Habitat for Humanity and recently served as spokesperson for Keep the Drive.

Quddus' career actually started behind the turntables. While he was studying philosophy at the University of Ottawa, he co-hosted and spun for the campus radio station, CHUO 89.1 fm on a show called "Breakdown" that gave exposure to underground hip hop. In 1999, Quddus left school to sign with Elite Model Management, which brought him back to his birthplace of Toronto. Within a year, he got his first break in television as a co-host and writer of TV Ontario's youth culture program "VOX," which would go on to win a Gemini-award, which is the Canadian equivalent of an Emmy.

Follow Quddus on Twitter at iamquddus!

Check out more of Quddus on AccessHollywood.com, HERE!

 

Rob Silverstein

Rob Silverstein is the executive producer of Access Hollywood, the daily entertainment newsmagazine currently in its 12th season of providing the most comprehensive coverage of entertainment news and personalities on television.

Silverstein joined the program in 1996 as a weekend producer, rose up to senior broadcast producer in 1997, and was named executive producer in 1999.

A three-time sports Emmy Award winner, Silverstein started his career as an executive sports producer at KMOX-AM in St. Louis. He went on to join CBS Sports in New York as chief researcher, then as a producer in 1990. In 1993, Silverstein moved to Los Angeles to serve as broadcast producer of Fox News’ “Front Page.” In addition, he also worked for CBS as a producer for both the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France and the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Before joining Access Hollywood, Silverstein served as senior producer of “American Gladiators.”

A native of New York, Silverstein is a graduate of the University of Maryland. He resides with his wife and four children in Los Angeles.

Follow Rob on Twitter at RobSilverstein!