Soul Train Awards 2022: Who Is Deon Cole? Get to Know This Year’s Host
Comedian and actor Deon Cole will be hosting this year’s Soul Train Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada. The funnyman, who’s best known for his appearance in the award-winning television series Black-ish, is expected to bring the laughs during soul and r&b’s biggest night of unforgettable performances, special surprise guests, and of course, a night of major wins. Ahead of the annual ceremony, get to know our host.
He became a comedian off a bet
Deon had a unique introduction to comedy. The actor began his career doing stand-up after a friend bet him $50 that he would go up on stage and fire off a few jokes. Deon ultimately accepted the challenge; as they say, the rest was history.
He’s a degree-earning actor
Deon is a multi-talented star, but he’s long had an interest in acting. He earned a degree in acting from Philander Smith College in Arkansas. In 2013, he gave a shout out to his old school in a tweet. “S/O 2 my old school Philander Smith College in Little Rock, AR. a lot of crazy memories!” the funnyman wrote before adding, “To the…, “ and a since-deleted Instagram post.
He credits comedy with saving his life
While talking to Forbes, Deon said he was involved in some really “dumb s**t” stuff before he started doing comedy, “It gave me purpose. It gave me purpose when I wasn't even aware I was doing. I was really, really on some dumb shit at the time,” he told the publication. “The transition from the dumb s**t I was doing for comedy was very hard within itself. I was really into some really bad stuff in Chicago.”
He added, “When I got on TV, I would be out at the gas station grabbing the juice or something, and somebody would roll up on me and be like, ‘Hey!’ and I would run. I didn't know if it was somebody coming after me. But they honestly was like, ‘I just wanted to shake your hand.’”
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He also viewed his gig on Blackish life-changing
Talking to Shadow and Act, Deon told reporters, “Black-ish has changed my life totally,” admitted that “we knew we had something special, but we just didn’t know how people were going to gravitate to it. And how the world would embrace it for what it is and see our vision.”
He added, “Kenya [Barris’] vision, Anthony [Anderson’s] vision, and our vision and the way we play our characters is an honor and a humbling experience. We are going to keep carrying that torch and doing what we can do.”
The Soul Train Awards 2022 premieres Saturday, November 26 at 8 pm ET/PT on BET and BET Her.
