JASON Lee is the founder of Hollywood Unlocked and holds a seat on Stockton City Council.
The star won his seat on the night of the American Presidential Election 2024 and hopes to use his new job as the District 6 councilman to create positive change.
A difficult childhood
Jason Lee was born on August 16, 1977, in Stockton, California.
According to his City Council campaign website, his mother was a drug addict and his father was absent which led him to enter the foster-care system.
He survived a drive-by shooting at the age of 15 and witnessed the murder of his brother at his own going away party, at the age of 19.
When he was 18-years-old, Jason had his first romantic experience with a man when a close friendship blossomed into something more.
Jason later moved to Los Angeles in 2006 and became a labour union director until 2009, before appearing on the hit TV show Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood.
Hollywood Unlocked
While he was building a career in LA, Lee’s eponymous website exploded in popularity which led him to launch his own podcast.
He started Hollywood Unlocked with Jason Lee in 2015 and soon celebrities including Floyd Mayweather, Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Hart started appearing on the show.
In 2022, he made the controversial comment that Queen Elizabeth II had passed away months before news broke of the beloved monarch’s actual death in September.
Despite his controversial statement, his career continued to grow and he eventually launched The Jason Lee Show on Revolt TV.
From March 2022 until October that same year, Jason worked Head of Media and Partnerships for Ye, a company run by controversial rapper Kanye West.
A tense city council race
In 2024, Jason Lee successfully ran for his home-city Stockton’s City Council.
He ran his campaign on the basis that he has worked as a former union member and is active in his community.
Jason’s campaign website says that he hopes to fight homelessness, reduce crime and empower young people.
He won the race for the city council seat on November 5, on the day of the nail-biting American Presidential Election which saw Kamala Harris lose to Donald Trump.
When Jason won his District 6 seat, he posted: “Deeply honored to have earned the support and trust of my neighbors, the voters of my hometown, and you.
“Now I begin the work of creating safer and stronger communities, improving our quality of life and charting our next chapter.
“Heck, forget the next chapter. We will write a whole new book!”
