Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (born September 8, 1972), referred to

mononymously A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...

as Kennedy, is an American libertarian political commentator, radio personality, author, and former MTV VJ. She was the host of MTV's now-defunct daily late-night alternative-rock program ''

Alternative Nation ''Alternative Nation'' was a television show in the U.S. dedicated to alternative music. It aired on MTV from 1992 to 1997, mostly on weeknights. It was hosted by Kennedy. History ''Alternative Nation'' began airing in 1992. It was a somewh ...

'' throughout much of the 1990s. , she is the host of ''Kennedy'' on the

Fox Business Network Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenu ...

. Kennedy occasionally hosts '' Outnumbered'' on

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

, and is a frequent panelist on that network's show '' The Five''.

Early life

Lisa Kennedy Montgomery was born in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, and raised in

Lake Oswego, Oregon Lake Oswego () is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Located about south of Portland and surrounding the Oswego Lake, the town w ...

, a suburb of

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. Kennedy and her two brothers were raised by her mother. She is of

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

and Scottish descent. She attended

Lakeridge High School Lakeridge High School is a four-year public secondary school in Lake Oswego, Oregon, a suburb south of Portland. The second high school in the Lake Oswego School District, it first opened in 1971. Academics In 1987, Lakeridge High School was hon ...

. She has a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in philosophy from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA). Kennedy interned as a DJ at

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The st ...

radio in Los Angeles as a teenager. She was known on KROQ as "the Virgin Kennedy".

Career

She was an early VJ at MTV. As "Kennedy", she hosted ''

'' from 1992–1997. In 1999, Kennedy published her book ''Hey Ladies! Tales and Tips for Curious Girls'', in which she incorporated a multitude of personal experiences. That same year, she moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

to host ''The Buzz'' on

KQBZ KQBZ (96.9 FM) is a radio station licensed to Brownwood, Texas Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 at th2020 census Brownwood is located in the Northern Texas Hill Coun ...

radio; the show was a mix of news, local issues, and comedy. Montgomery left Seattle in 2001 to cohost a morning radio show with

Ahmet Zappa Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa (born May 15, 1974) is an American musician and writer, and trustee of the Zappa Family Trust. Early life Ahmet Zappa was born in Los Angeles, California, the third of four children born to musician Frank Zappa and ...

on the Comedy World Radio Network, ''The Future with Ahmet & Kennedy'', a similar mix of current events and comedy. She later co-hosted a morning show with Malibu Dan, ''The Big House''. Beginning June 3, 2002, Kennedy hosted Game Show Network's '' Friend or Foe?'', which ran for two seasons. On April 1, 2003, she guest-hosted the GSN show ''

WinTuition ''WinTuition'' is an American game show created as an original series for Game Show Network, on which it originally ran from December 9, 2002 to April 1, 2003, with repeats until January 4, 2004. The game had a school-oriented theme in w ...

'' as part of GSN's

April Fools April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may b ...

prank where hosts swap places, while the original hosts usually appear as cameos, and play as contestants in '' Lingo'' for charity. She also hosted GSN's ''Who Wants to Be Governor of California?'', a televised debate among fringe candidates in the

2003 California gubernatorial recall election The 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was a special election permitted under California state law. It resulted in voters replacing incumbent Democratic Governor Gray Davis with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger. The recall effort spa ...

, such as actors

Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. Coleman was the highest-paid child actor on television throughout the late 1970s and 1980s. He was rated first on a list of VH1's "100 Greatest Kid ...

and Mary Carey. Beginning September 23, 2005, Kennedy appeared as an occasional panelist on VH1's ''

Best Week Ever ''Best Week Ever'' is an American comedy series created and executive produced by Fred Graver. The series originally aired from January 23, 2004, to June 12, 2009, on VH1.Harris, Scott"VH1 Cancels 'Best Week Ever'". ''Inside TV''. January 13, 2 ...

'' and

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politi ...

's ''

Scarborough Country ''Scarborough Country'' is an opinion/analysis show broadcast on MSNBC Monday to Thursday at 9 P.M. ET. It was hosted by former congressman Joe Scarborough. ''Scarborough Country'' made its debut in April 2003. On average, ''Scarborough Country ...

''. In October 2005, she became host of

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 feat ...

's '' Reality Remix'' until that series ended in June 2008. In December 2007, she guest-hosted the evening show several times on

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

talk-radio Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...

station

KFI KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...

, before being hired by the station for a regular Sunday-afternoon show. In April 2008, she joined

Bryan Suits Bryan Suits (born 1966) is an American war veteran of three military conflicts in Kuwait, Bosnia, and Iraq, and has been a talk radio host for more than 10 years. He has hosted talk-shows for radio stations in Seattle, Washington: KIRO (AM) and K ...

as cohost of the ''Kennedy & Suits Show'' at that station through September 30, 2009. She hosted ''Music in the Mornings'' on

KYSR KYSR (98.7 FM) is a commercial alternative radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, serving the Greater Los Angeles area. Owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., KYSR is the flagship station of syndicated morning drive program ''The Woody Show''. T ...

in Los Angeles from 2009 until March 2014. Kennedy - 29074369537

On January 18, 2011, she began appearing as Anthony Sullivan's assistant on ''

PitchMen ''PitchMen'' (original name: ''But Wait...There's More'')Fox Business Network Fox Business (officially known as Fox Business Network, or FBN) is an American business news channel and website publication owned by the Fox News Media division of Fox Corporation. The channel broadcasts primarily from studios at 1211 Avenu ...

as a contributor in 2012. She co-hosted '' The Independents'', a current-events and political discussion show, from its debut on December 9, 2013. The show was cancelled in January 2015, but she continued as host of her own program, ''Kennedy''. ''Kennedy'' was put on hiatus March 13, 2020, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. On October 19, 2020, the program ended its seven-month hiatus. She is also a contributor to Reason.com and

Reason.tv ''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation. The magazine has a circulation of around 50,000 and was named one of the 50 best magazines in 2003 and 2004 by the ''Chicago Tribune''. History ''Reas ...

, and occasionally serves as guest host for Bill Carroll,

John and Ken ''The John and Ken Show'' is an American talk radio show, hosted by ''John Chester Kobylt'' and ''Kenneth Robertson Chiampou''. The show airs Monday thru Friday, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time on KFI AM 640, a local Southern California tal ...

, and Tim Conway Jr. on KFI. She was a correspondent on the Fox Business talk show '' Stossel'', and made occasional appearances as a panelist and guest host on

' '' Red Eye''. She has also made appearances on other Fox talk shows, such as '' Outnumbered'' and '' The Five''.

Politics

Kennedy is registered as unaffiliated. She is a supporter of same-sex marriage, and officiated at the wedding of fellow Fox contributor

Guy Benson Guy Pelham Benson (born March 7, 1985) is an American columnist, commentator, and political pundit. He is a contributor to Fox News, political editor of Townhall.com, and a conservative talk radio host. Benson served as a Fellow at the Georgetow ...

to husband Adam Wise. She also supports

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

. She opposes the "war on drugs" and bureaucratic regulation. She is critical of

neoconservatism Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and ...

. At MTV's 1993 Rock 'n' Roll Inaugural Ball for

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

, she chanted, "Nixon now! Nixon now!" whenever the Clintons went on stage. Along with being a fan of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

, she supported

Dan Quayle James Danforth Quayle (; born February 4, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, Quayle served as a U.S. ...

and Bob Dole. She was a speaker at the

1996 Republican National Convention The 1996 Republican National Convention convened at the San Diego Convention Center (SDCC) in San Diego, California, from August 12 to August 15, 1996. The convention nominated former Senator Bob Dole from Kansas, for president and former Repres ...

. She later abandoned social conservatism, saying, "Social conservatism was really bringing me down, and I realized, as time went on, that I wasn't a Bush conservative. I was really a libertarian." She was first introduced to libertarianism when

Kurt Loder Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contribute ...

Personal life

Kennedy is divorced from former professional snowboarder Dave Lee; the couple has two daughters. Kennedy dated frontman and guitarist

John Rzeznik John Joseph Theodore Rzeznik (; born December 5, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, best known as the founder, guitarist and frontman of the American rock band Goo Goo Dolls, with whom he has recorded 14 studio albums. Early life Rzeznik w ...

from the band

Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik, bassist/vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska. After starting off as a cover band and then developing a punk sou ...

. The song " Name" was written about her. She has the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

n flag

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...

ed on her left ankle, and a pink Republican elephant tattooed on her upper left thigh. In September 2012, during an appearance on '' Red Eye'', Kennedy said she had been diagnosed with

celiac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine, where individuals develop intolerance to gluten, present in foods such as wheat, rye and barle ...

, leading her to change to a more meat-based diet. Kennedy is a triathlete.

Publications

* *

References

External links

* *
Reason.tv: Kennedy on Medical Marijuana, guns, alt rock and politics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy 1972 births Living people 20th-century American people 20th-century American women 21st-century American women American game show hosts American libertarians American people of Romanian descent American people of Scottish descent American political commentators American television news anchors American female triathletes Christian libertarians Critics of neoconservatism Fox Business people Fox News people Lakeridge High School alumni LGBT rights activists from the United States People from Indianapolis People from Lake Oswego, Oregon University of California, Los Angeles alumni VJs (media personalities)