Charlamagne tha God, best known for radio show The Breakfast Club, has joined Comedy Central with his new show, Tha God’s Honest Truth.
Lenard McKelvey, also known as Charlamagne tha God, is no stranger to television. In 2011, Charlamagne joined the cast of MTV2’s Guy Code, a comedy reality tv show about the code of conduct men follow. In 2015, he starred on the MTV2 show Uncommon Sense with Charlamagne, which eventually became Charlamagne & Friends. He has had cameos on shows such as Catfish, Empire, and Dave, often as himself (though not always).
But in September 2021, Comedy Central debuted Charlamagne’s latest television feature: Tha God’s Honest Truth with Lenard “Charlamagne” McKelvey. Partnered with Stephen Colbert, returning to Comedy Central for the first time since the end of The Colbert Report in 2014, Charlamagne takes on social issues, politics, and current events with his classic unfiltered approach. About their collaboration on the show, Colbert said, “I look forward to all the ways in which the fearless, peerless Charlamagne is going to change the game.”
The show’s first episode, which premiered on September 17th, hit the ground running with a segment on “decrackafication,” or, as defined by tha God’s honest dictionary as, “the act of ridding a system of its tired ass, racist ass, white supremacists bullshit.” Charlamagne brought his blunt, straight-talking style to the show, using post-WWII Germany’s denazification as a lens to look at the relationship between the United States and its Confederate generals today. The broadcast-style of the show had Charlamagne interacting with other characters, throwing out some quick zings, and speaking frankly to get to the heart of the issue, and the combination of comedy, history, and commentary worked together to create a show that, while clearly influenced by Colbert and other collaborators, is quintessentially Charlamagne.
Since the premier, other topics featured on the show have been the racism present in the FBI’s treatment of Black people and communities, critical race theory, mental health and generational trauma, and the toxic effects of social media. The show has featured celebrity cameos such as Ja Rule and Michelle Williams, and has also featured experts on the topics featured in each episodes, including Resmaa Menakem, Dr. Rheeda Walker, Cal Newport, and Tristan Harris.
Brutally honest, bitingly funny, and potentially polarizing commentary is nothing new for Charlamagne. The multimedia mogul made a name for himself with the radio show The Breakfast Club. He became a co-host of the show in 2010, along with DJ Envy and Angela Yee. Once he joined the show, Charlamagne labeled himself the “Prime Minister of Pissing People Off, the Architect of Aggravation, and the Ruler of Rubbing People the Wrong Way,” and has been labeled by Rolling Stone as “hip-hop’s Howard Stern.” The radio show boasts over 8 million monthly listeners, and has received recognition as one of the most influential talk radio shows by Talkers magazine. Charlamagne, along with his co-hosts, were inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2020.
2020 was a big year for Charlamagne. He founded the Black Effect Podcast Network in partnership with iHeart Media. The network is “the first podcast network specifically built for Black listeners” and aims to feature prominent Black voices in conversations on culture, current events, politics, and more. Charlamagne also co-hosts his own podcast, The Brilliant Idiots, with co-host Andrew Schulz.
Also in 2020, Charlamagne announced Black Privilege publishing, a partnership with Atria Books at Simon & Schuster, as well as a partnership with Kevin Hart and Audible for a multi-year, multi-project development, production, and audio licensing deal.
Charlamagne doing so much in the publishing space comes as no surprise. In addition to his experiences in radio, podcasting, and television, Charlamagne is the author of two books: New York Times bestseller Black Privilege: Opportunity Comes to Those Who Create It and Shook One: Anxiety Playing Tricks on Me. His second book, Shook One, is a vulnerable, frank, and honest look at mental health, and its publication was followed by Charlamagne’s founding of the Mental Wealth Alliance (MWA), an organization that provides mental health treatment and support to Black people and communities.
Tha God’s Honest Truth has episodes that premier weekly, with the next episode coming out on October 29th. You can watch the show on Comedy Central.