SHIFT OF GAB
Radio mainstay Charlamagne is ready to conquer TV
HE’S on a divine mission. Radio personality Charlamagne tha God, née Lenard McKelvey, is making the jump to the world of late-night television with a weekly half-hour talk show called “Tha God’s Honest Truth with Lenard ‘Charlamagne’ McKelvey,” which debuts tonight at 10 p.m. on Comedy Central.
“It’s my God’s honest truth about the society we live in,” McKelvey, 43, told The Post.
“We’ll be focusing on one [socially relevant] topic per episode,” he said of the show, which is executive produced by Stephen Colbert. “That topic will be dissected by me, and we’ll be doing some dope sketches and social experiments that will help reinforce its significance.”
McKelvey will dedicate each show to trending themes like homophobia, injustices against black women and the importance of mental health.
“These are topics I’m interested in, and that I’m not afraid to address head-on,” said the nationally syndicated radio host.
He’s been dishing out daily doses of his unapologetic slant on hot-button issues on NYC’s morning radio show “The Breakfast Club” — covering everything from the contentious presidential elections to Drake and Kanye West’s ongoing music war — since he was tapped to cohost the Power 105.1 broadcast alongside Angela Yee, 45, and DJ Envy, 44, in 2010.
And now, McKelvey is eager to heat up late-night TV with his unique brand of fire.
“I’m addressing these social and cultural concepts my way,” he said, noting that he’s one of very few black, citybased nighttime television hosts. In fact, he considers his small-screen production a “weekly letter to America” that’s conveyed through a “very black lens.”
The topic of white supremacy will color the canvas of his first episode.
“We’ll definitely be tackling white supremacy in a real way,” said the Moncks Corner, SC, native.
“And we’re not just presenting the problem,” he continued. “We’re giving America some real solutions.
“I want to encourage my new TV audience to have grace and empathy with others, but more importantly with themselves,” he added.
But before he was able to help viewers confront their demons, McKelvey had to conquer his own.
“I couldn’t have done this show five years ago,” said the 2020 Radio Hall of Fame inductee, who worked on air alongside Wendy Williams, 57, from 2006 to 2008.
“And I damn sure couldn’t have done it 10 years ago,” he added, noting his past controversial comments about women and the LGBTQ community.
But McKelvey credits his newfound sense of confidence to therapy; his wife of seven years, Jessica Gadsden, 39; and their three young daughters.
“[It’s thanks to] the work I’ve done on myself from a spiritual and psychological perspective,” he added.
A key psychological hurdle he cleared was the trauma he sustained after being molested by his cousin’s ex-wife at the age of 8. “I didn’t realize the impact [being molested] had on me until much later in life,” he said.
“I remember, years later, watching Tyler Perry tell Oprah about a woman who molested him [as a child],” he said of Perry, 52, who discussed his past on Winfrey’s talk show in 2010. “That’s when I realized I’d been molested, too, and that I had to begin working through that trauma.”
At the time of his revelation, McKelvey had been arrested several times on drugrelated charges, was failing at a career in music under the rap alias “Dizzy Van Winkle” and had been fired from four different radio stations as a broadcaster.
But he was committed to pressing on toward mental health and professional success.
“Despite everything I’ve been through, I never gave up on myself because I knew God wouldn’t give up on me,” he said. “None of my pain has been wasted. Every struggle has helped me grow into the man I am today.”