“It feels really not real. I can’t believe I just talk to people and make stupid jokes all day long, and I get paid to do that,” Jesse Kelly said of his renewed contract with Premiere Networks.
His unfiltered opinion and humor reach millions of people nationwide both on air and through streaming. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe I wanted to keep me here. I’ll take it. I’m honored to be here for sure,” the host of The Jesse Kelly Show told Barrett News Media over a Zoom call.
Growing up in the Ohio Rust Belt, Kelly never planned to work in media. He served as a Marine, one of the many pieces in his life that he believes helped prepare him for his media endeavor. “Anytime you go through anything hard in life, it gives you a better perspective on everything. I was in the Marines just for four years, a grunt marine. But you see a lot of the world. We see a lot of the ugly side and the wonderful side. It’s not all bad, but it does give you a real good perspective on the rest of your life.”
Kelly was honorably discharged and later picked up several jobs including in construction and RV sales. While working, driving, and “living a normal life” he often listened to talk radio… and talked to himself.
“My wife, she loves to give me crap about it. We’ll be in there just getting ready to go out on a date or something. I’ll be sitting at the mirror, and I don’t do it on purpose, but I’ll be sitting there and I’ll have some thoughts going through my head, and I’ll start mouthing them, and I’ll start whispering them. And all of a sudden she’s out here saying ‘Talking to yourself again?’”
Today, he’s not just talking to himself but “doing life” with his listeners, which is something he loves. “When people email in, (or) they call in, you find out that you cook with them every evening. You make dinner with the kids with them, you work out with them, you mow the lawn with them, you drive to work, you’re sitting in traffic, you’re at work with them. I love that it’s fun. It’s fun being able to ride along with people.”
Calling himself a “big sappy weenie,” Kelly noted some of the more touching letters from fans he’s received. “I’ve had letters before from kids who listen without their parents because they have rough home situations. It helps put them to sleep at night. That makes my whole day. That makes my whole life.”
Another moving note he received, “Jesse. I’ve been sober now for three years. Your show is one of the things that keeps me sober. I just wanted to let you know.”
He said of the notes, “Helping anyone, [even] one person, in even the smallest way, makes the entire thing worth it. It’s better than the flights and the fancy trips to New York. When you got to meet with the suits or the paycheck or anything else, having meaning behind a job. That’s dumb, right? I’m talking for a living, but having [my show] means something to someone, it means a lot.”
Jesse Kelly is more than just a radio host. He also has his show, I’m Right with Jesse Kelly on The First TV. All those years of driving listening to talk radio, and talking to himself, have aided his natural ability to be a great storyteller.
“Entertain me. Tell me a story. Make me feel it. Put me there. Make me feel it. That’s what keeps you in the car. When you get to where you’re going, it’s time to run into the gas station and get some Doritos. But no, I have to be right here because I have to see how this story ends.”
This story, however, is just the beginning for Kelly. Along with his successful TV and radio show, his book The Anti-Communist Manifesto is being published globally. “It was the best-selling political book in the country last July it went international. They’re buying it in Turkey at this point in time. It’s really weird to me.”
Kelly noted it’s hard to believe people like the book because there isn’t an audience giving you immediate feedback. “No one’s cheering you on. You don’t see anybody laughing in his truck as you make a joke. You don’t know, you put out the book and it stuck. And so it turned out that people loved it.”
It took years of convincing from several people to get Jesse Kelly to write his first book. However, he wants everyone to know it’s not going to be a series. “I don’t have any plans to write another. I’m certainly no author. I wouldn’t consider myself an author, but I’m glad I wrote that one. And it is cool that my parents have my book on the shelf. My boys, my oldest son reads it. I walked in and he’s sitting there reading my book.”
His advice for those looking to follow in his media foot steps is simple, live life first. “You should aspire to be a lot better than I ever am or ever will be. That’s for one. For two, and I’m not judging how anyone chooses to try to make a career — especially as a young person, it’s hard to make it out there — people who want to go into a career in media in my opinion, go into it way too early.”
Kelly believes his success is because he’s lived a “normal life” for most of his life.
“I’ve struggled to pay the bills. I’ve lived it. I worked in construction. I’ve needed time-and-a-half in order to pay my mortgage this month. I’ve got to make a sale, I’ve got to get my kid to school. I’m out of gas. I can’t afford to repair my car. This is life… Live life first. Come to this later.”
Krystina Alarcon Carroll is a news media columnist and features writer for Barrett Media. She has experience in almost every facet of the industry including: digital and print news; live, streamed, and syndicated TV; documentary and film productions. Her prior employers have included NY1 and Fox News Digital and the Law & Crime Network. You can find Krystina on X (formerly twitter) @KrystinaAlaCarr.
