‘The Breakfast Club’s Jess Hilarious Crashed Out Bad
The patriarchal entertainment industry is notorious for creating environments that pit women against one another. From the solo female emcees who represented hip-hop labels to the isolated sex symbols, frequently criticized for being difficult, it’s clear that women face very specific challenges in the workplace that their male counterparts don’t encounter. Comedian Jess Hilarious has been on the receiving end of workplace drama since she accepted the role of co-host on the ever-popular Breakfast Club morning show.
After a very lengthy auditioning process filled with competition, the popular comedian emerged as the victor. Before Jess could enjoy her new role, she announced she was going on maternity leave. Charlamagne tha God and DJ Envy brought in a brilliant young woman named Loren Losa. The pop culture audience was familiar with Loren from her time working as an entertainment reporter on TMZ.
DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God Played Into Pitting Jess Against Loren
Loren sat in for Jess while she focused on her new baby and transition to motherhood. Envy and Charlamagne quickly developed a repoire with Loren and the Breakfast Club audience loved her as well. Loren’s sharp news mind was the complete opposite of Jess’s over-the-top-in-your-face comedic approach. Loren’s energy was much closer to former host Angela Yee’s with her intellectual context and sharp journalistic intuition. By the time Jess returned from maternity leave, she came across as the odd man out because of the chemistry created with Loren in her absence. To make matters worse, after she returned, producers kept Loren around – creating a competitive workplace environment for both women. Jess’s situation would’ve connected with mothers who would empathize with having their jobs in jeopardy during a time that is supposed to be the happiest time of her life. Loren immediately rose to the challenge, making subtle digs and over-talking Jess whenever possible. Jess’s personality wouldn’t allow her to take a backseat to Loren’s subtle digs without a fight. Feeling left out to dry by her co-stars, Jess allowed her emotions to get the best of her and took her grievances to social media.
Jess went on an unhinged rant on her Instagram page, airing out her frustrations with Loren, Charlamagne, and the other producers. She accused Loren of constantly attempting to upstage her. She criticized the show’s production for being unprofessional, comparing it sarcastically to an alternative high school from the cult classic film, Lean on Me. “This whole show is run like East Side high, before Joe Clark got there,” she scoffed. Jess’s verbal assassinations went on for almost an hour, hitting the producers, her co-stars and her competition. She accused Charlamagne of playing both sides and encouraging her to confront Loren on air for ratings. “I told Loren to shut up because she talks too much. She’s always trying to over-talk me and that’s not going to work,” Jess complained.
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After her rant, most fans assumed Jess was going to resign from the show. The aftermath of her emotional explosion was guaranteed to alienate her from productions, Envy and Charlamagne and, of course, Loren. Jess’s breakdown left her with no allies and a workplace environment that could never be anything outside severely strained. Most fans could empathize with Jess’s grievances. If she’d handled the situation more strategically, she would’ve had an outpouring of support from fans and perhaps some of the behind-the-scenes producers. The decision to let her emotions out on social media could negatively color future collaborations and roles for her.
Executive producers looking to hire talent for television shows, movies or other projects could be hesitant to work with someone with a history of airing their professional grievances on a public platform. If she had handled the situation differently, she could’ve leveraged her position as a new mother treated unfairly on the job. During her rant, Jess explained that she was initially told the show didn’t want four co-hosts. Loren was brought in as a substitute during her maternity leave. Instead of going to Instagram with an emotional dump, Jess could’ve sat down with an attorney like Gloria Allred, who is known for fighting for women’s rights. A women’s rights advocate could’ve created a case against The Breakfast Club for reducing Jess’s role while she was out on maternity leave, which violates her rights. Allowing lawyers and advocates to fight for her position would’ve allowed Jess to maintain her position on the show until she was ready to leave. Most importantly, it wouldn’t have exhibited reckless behavior that could be seen as undesirable to future employees, sponsors or potential partners.
Jess’s crash out is another example of the dangers of social media. Before Twitter and Instagram, talent didn’t have a platform to air their emotional breakdowns on and had time to cool off before speaking with media and their fans. Celebrities and talent taking their issues to social media has proven to be an issue not just in corporate matters but in all types of situations, including friendships, and matters of the heart. Jess’s rant is not unlike Kanye West’s recent Twitter diatribe attacking everyone from his former friend Virgil Ablogh, to the Kardashians, Jay Z and Beyonce, the black community, the Jewish community and even his children. Cardi B and Offset have both taken to Instagram to sling mud at one another and years ago a disgruntled Tyrese Gibson took his grievances against his ‘Fast and Furious’ co-star The Rock to social media instead of talking with him man to man.
The temptation to seek immediate gratification for an emotionally painful situation can be attractive, but it doesn’t usually fare well for the future of personal or professional relationships. The Breakfast Club audience watched as the co-stars attempted to address Jess’s issues the following morning on the show, but instead of garnering huge numbers, the conversation was awkward and made viewers feel as though they were watching a family argument that should’ve been private. Two, three or four wrongs don’t make a right and although Jess had some valid points, the way she handled the situation was immature and irresponsible. Instead of enlisting her fans to stand behind her, it made most of us want to be taken out of The Breakfast Club group chat.
