Power 105.1′s “The Breakfast Club” has officially found its new permanent co-host: Baltimore native Jessica Moore, more commonly known as Jess Hilarious.
The announcement Monday came in the form of a two-minute-long video posted to social media. In it, a camera gradually zooms in on a white, throne-like chair as audio plays of overlapping voices speaking negatively about Hilarious. “Y’all could have got somebody better than that.” “Jess, man, you got to get more going on in your career.” “I’m sorry you didn’t get the job, Less Hilarious.” Eventually, Hilarious appears, sitting on the chair, as co-hosts DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God stand beside her.
“Jess was the standout choice to join Charlamagne and DJ Envy to build upon The Breakfast Club’s legacy of entertaining, informing and enlightening the community,” said Thea Mitchem, iHeartMedia executive vice president of programming, in a press release.
“I’m confident that taking the third seat at The Breakfast Club will show people that Jess Hilarious is not just comedy, but culture,” Hilarious said in the same release. (Requests for comment for Hilarious from The Baltimore Banner were not immediately returned.)
After former “The Breakfast Club” co-host Angela Yee left the morning show at the end of 2022 to host a project of her own, Hilarious, a comedian, podcaster and actress, was one of the rotating guest hosts who filled in during the yearlong search for a new person. But the journey to Hilarious joining the show appeared to be paved with confusion.
Hilarious unofficially announced she had joined the show at a party in Baltimore in December. At the time, neither iHeartRadio nor “The Breakfast Club” confirmed her claim. Charlamagne Tha God told TMZ earlier this month that he was “unhappy” he and DJ Envy were back to being the only ones on the show even though a new host was supposed to be announced at the start of 2024.
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Hilarious called out the show’s hosts just last week on Instagram, saying they were trash for comparing SZA to Mary J. Blige on air. Clearly, they didn’t take it to heart.
“The Breakfast Club,” established in 2010, is a four-hour radio show that discusses relevant ongoing topics, plays some of the most popular songs in hip-hop and R&B, and often goes viral for some of the most famous (and many infamous) moments with big-name stars in the social media era. The show elicits strong opinions from fans, detractors and its own guests, who often push back at the hosts’ sometimes controversial remarks. But its impact is still far-reaching: In 2020, the show was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.
Hilarious, who will officially join “The Breakfast Club” on Feb. 5, was born and raised in West Baltimore, though she went to high school in Pennsylvania. After graduating, she began recording short comedic videos and posting them on her Instagram. After frequently going viral, her notoriety landed her on MTV’s “Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘n Out” and as the opening act for comedian Martin Lawrence.
Hilarious’ previous credits include several stand-up specials, her own YouTube series, “Hip Hop Squares,” “Rel” and more.
