Tavis Smiley on Being 1 of 10 Kids After Mom Adopted His 4 Cousins When Aunt Was Killed (Part 1)

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Tavis Smiley came through for his first VladTV interview, where he started off speaking about the staff at his station, KBLA Talk 1580, reacting positively to him coming on VladTV. From there, Tavis started off speaking about his growing up in as one of 10 kids in a “meager” household. Tavis then explained that his mother had him when she was very young, and he only met his father a few times, and Tavis went on to speak about taking his stepfather’s last name at his insistence. Tavis added that he “hated” his name growing up, but he admits that his unique name became a blessing when he got a career in media. Moving along, Tavis spoke about how his four cousins came to live with his family after his aunt passed away, and he explained how he’s always looked at them as his siblings.

Later in the clip, Tavis Smiley spoke about his father, Emory Smiley, and growing up in a religious household, which Tavis said led to him not being allowed to listen to certain music and watch some TV shows. Tavis explained that he was raised Pentecostal, and he added that his father is his hero. Tavis then spoke about reading the transcript of the court records of his father speaking about him during the procedure of changing Tavis’ last name to his, which Tavis said made him feel so valued. Tavis added that his father also accepted his four cousins and his wife’s mother into his house to care for them while Tavis was growing up. To hear more, including Tavis speaking about his faith, hit the above clip.

Interview by: Shawn Prez

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