Alfred Joseph Benza is an American

gossip columnist A gossip columnist is someone who writes a gossip column in a newspaper or magazine, especially a gossip magazine. Gossip columns are material written in a light, informal style, which relates the gossip columnist's opinions about the personal li ...

and

television host A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garner ...

Early life

Benza was born in

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22nd ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, though he moved with his family to

West Islip, New York West Islip is a hamlet and CDP founded roughly in 1683, located in the Town of Islip in Suffolk County, New York, United States. Situated on the South Shore of Long Island, the population of the CDP was 27,048 at the time of the 2020 census. ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

shortly after his birth. He has two sisters, Rosalie and Lorraine. After graduating from

West Islip High School West Islip High School is a public high school in the town of West Islip, in Suffolk County, New York on the South Shore of Long Island. It is part of the West Islip Union Free School District. Curriculum The curriculum at West Islip High Sc ...

in 1980, Benza majored in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

C.W. Post College LIU Post (formally, the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, and often referred to as C.W. Post) is a private university in Brookville, New York. It is the largest campus of the private Long Island University system. The campus is nam ...

on Long Island.

Career

During college Benza began writing for ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' and was soon hired full-time as a gossip columnist for that paper and eventually for the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

''. It was as a gossip columnist that he began appearing on

E! Entertainment Television E! (an initialism for Entertainment Television) is an American basic cable channel which primarily focuses on pop culture, celebrity focused reality shows, and movies, owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of NBCUniversa ...

's ''The Gossip Show'' in the mid-1990s. This led to appearances on talk shows such as '' Geraldo'', ''

Hard Copy ''Hard Copy'' is an American tabloid television show that ran in syndication from 1989 to 1999. ''Hard Copy'' was aggressive in its use of questionable material on television, including gratuitous violence. The original hosts of ''Hard Copy'' ...

'', ''

The Montel Williams Show ''The Montel Williams Show'' (also known as ''Montel'') is an American syndicated tabloid talk show, hosted by Montel Williams, which ran from 1991 to 2008. On January 30, 2008, the end of production of new episodes of ''The Montel Williams Sh ...

'', ''

The Maury Povich Show ''Maury'', originally titled ''The Maury Povich Show'', is an American tabloid talk show hosted by Maury Povich that ran in first-run syndication from 1991 to 2022. The series premiered in 1991 as ''The Maury Povich Show'' and was produced by ...

'', and various other television

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

s. He was later fired from the ''New York Daily News'' by editor

Pete Hamill Pete Hamill (born William Peter Hamill; June 24, 1935August 5, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, essayist and editor. During his career as a New York City journalist, he was described as "the author of columns that sought to capture th ...

Relationship with E!

Soon after leaving the paper, Benza was offered a job hosting ''

Mysteries and Scandals ''Mysteries and Scandals'' (also known as ''Mysteries & Scandals'') is an American television program hosted by A.J. Benza. The series was originally broadcast on the E! network from March 1998 until February 2001. Synopsis The series detailed ...

'', a program detailing

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 per ...

s and scandals involving celebrities, which necessitated a move to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. It was on this show that Benza popularized the catchphrase "Fame, ain't it a bitch," which later became the title of his autobiography. The show ran for three seasons between 1998 and 2000. In 2001, Benza had a short-lived late-night E! talk show known as ''

A. J. After Hours ''A. J. After Hours'' is a television program aired on the E! cable network in 2001. The talk show, hosted by gossip columnist A. J. Benza, was described as a show that "mixes interviews with comedy sketches and man-on-the-street segments, and whi ...

''; it was cancelled after low viewership and critical disdain. In the same year during an appearance on ''

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...

'', Benza punched Stern staffer "Stuttering John" Melendez in the face, alleging Melendez was screening out positive listener calls about him. Melendez then made a prank call making fun of the failure of ''After Hours'', provoking Benza further. The incident resulted in a temporary ban for Benza from Stern's show direct from WXRK general manager

Tom Chiusano Throughout its run spanning four decades and multiple media, ''The Howard Stern Show'' has been home to a number of staff members and contributors. Current staff These staffers currently work for and appear on the show on a regular, if not ...

. He appeared again in October 2004. In 2002, he starred in ''P.S. Your Cat is Dead!'', a comedy film, starring and directed by

Steve Guttenberg Steven Robert Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for his lead roles in Hollywood films of the 1980s and 1990s, including '' Cocoon'', ''Police Academy'', ''Three Men a ...

Recent appearances

In 2006, Benza hosted the reality show ''Cold Turkey II'' on

ION Television Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented enter ...

. He appeared as a co-host on the first five seasons of ''

High Stakes Poker ''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran fr ...

'' (along with

Gabe Kaplan Gabriel Weston Kaplan (born March 31, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, and professional poker player. He played the eponymous teacher in the 1970s sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter''. He later became a professional poker player and a commenta ...

) on the GSN. He was replaced by poker pro

Kara Scott Kara Scott is a Canadian British TV personality, journalist and poker player. Born in northern Alberta, Canada, Scott moved to the United Kingdom in 1999 and worked in the UK media until 2009 when she moved to California. Having trained in Mu ...

for the show's sixth season. He wrote an open letter expressing his discontent with network executives at GSN in a post on his blog titled "Flop, A Turn, and a River of Shit". In 2020,

PokerGO PokerGO is an over-the-top content platform based in Las Vegas, Nevada. PokerGO was launched in 2017 as a subscription-based streaming service offering poker centric online streaming. The content offered on PokerGO includes poker tournaments, ...

relaunched ''

'' and paired Kaplan and Benza in the commentary booth for the first time since Season 5. Benza also had an acting role as L.C. Luco in the 2006 film ''

Rocky Balboa Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name The Italian Stallion), is a fictional title character and the protagonist of the ''Rocky'' film series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in all eigh ...

''. Benza appeared on the sixth season of ''

Celebrity Fit Club ''Celebrity Fit Club'' is a reality television series that follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight for charity. Split into two competing teams of four, each week teams are given different physical challenges, and weighed t ...

'' on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

, where he lost 12 lbs. In 2008, Benza appeared in '' Gimme My Reality Show'', a reality competition series on

Fox Reality Fox Reality Channel was an American pay television channel. It was launched on May 24, 2005, and was owned by the Fox Entertainment Group. It featured many shows that were originally on the Fox network (or produced by Fox). The channel also featu ...

that followed a group of D-list celebrities with previous reality credentials as they battle for their chance to shine with their own show. But, midway through the show, he walked away from production. He cited not wanting to have his young children subjected to cameras inside their home. In 2015, Benza's second book, ''74 and Sunny''—a memoir about his childhood on Long Island—was published by Simon & Schuster. George Gallo is attached to direct the picture, with Benza credited as screenwriter. The following year Benza turned his energies to film and executive produced ''So B. It'', a film based on the award-winning YA book by Sarah Weeks. The movie premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival in the summer. That same year he struck a deal with ReelzChannel to host ''Demons in the City of Angels'' and ''Case Closed with A.J. Benza''. In 2020, Benza guest starred in the

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

series "Gravesend". Benza writes columns for ''Star Magazine'' and RadarOnline. His daily podcast, ''Fame Is A Bitch''—a mix of Hollywood gossip and personal stories, airs on PodcastOne. He is currently married and living in Los Angeles, CA, with his wife and two kids, Roxy and Rocco.

Controversy

Harvey Weinstein allegations

In 2003, Benza became aware of

Harvey Weinstein Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films inclu ...

's affair with

Georgina Chapman Georgina Rose Chapman (born 14 April 1976) is an English fashion designer and actress. She was a regular cast member on ''Project Runway All Stars'' and, together with Keren Craig, is a co-founder of the fashion label Marchesa. Chapman was marri ...

while he was married to his first wife. Upon discovering this information, Benza offered to provide Weinstein with gossip that would draw attention away from his affair. This was the beginning of a partnership between the two to preserve Weinstein's name. When sexual harassment allegations against Weinstein began reaching the press in 2017, Weinstein reached out to Benza asking for his help. He discussed paying Benza "up to $20,000 a month" to investigate the claims made against him. Weinstein did not follow up on this offer.

Bibliography

* '' Fame, Ain't it a Bitch'', Miramax Books: May 2, 2001. * '' '74 and Sunny'', Gallery Books: July 2015.

References

External links

*
Online interview at The Black Table

Q&A with fans from E!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benza, A. J. American infotainers American autobiographers LIU Post alumni Living people Writers from Brooklyn Poker commentators Participants in American reality television series People from West Islip, New York People from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Year of birth missing (living people)