Star Jones

Starlet Marie "Star" Jones is an American lawyer, journalist, television personality, fashion designer, author, and advocate for women and diversity. Born on March 24, 1962, she is best known as one of the original co-hosts of the ABC morning talk show The View, on which she appeared for nine seasons from 1997 through 2006. She has also served as a legal analyst, court show judge, talk show host, and contestant on The Celebrity Apprentice. She currently hosts the syndicated program Divorce Court.

Jones was born in Badin, North Carolina, and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, by her mother, a human services administrator, and her stepfather, a municipal security chief. She graduated from Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Administration of Justice from American University, where she joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, followed by a Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center in 1986. She was admitted to the New York state bar in 1987.

From 1986 to 1991, Jones served as a prosecutor in the Kings County District Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, New York, before being promoted to senior assistant district attorney in 1992. Court TV recruited her in 1991 to comment on the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, leading to roles as a legal correspondent for NBC's Today and NBC Nightly News. In 1994, she hosted Jones & Jury, becoming the first Black person and the first female to preside over an arbitration-based reality court show. She subsequently served as chief legal analyst for Inside Edition, covering the O. J. Simpson murder case.

In 1997, Jones joined The View as an original co-host. During her nine-season run, she underwent gastric bypass surgery in 2003, losing 160 pounds. In 2004, she married investment banker Al Reynolds in a lavish ceremony that drew criticism for product promotions mentioned on the show. ABC decided not to renew her contract in 2006, resulting in a public dispute after Jones announced her departure on air ahead of the network's planned timeline. She returned to the show as a guest in 2012.

Following her exit from The View, Jones hosted the live talk show Star Jones on truTV from 2007 to 2008. Her other media credits include hosting red-carpet coverage for E!, guest-hosting House Hunters in New York City, acting in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Drop Dead Diva, and competing on season four of The Celebrity Apprentice in 2011, where she finished in fifth place. In September 2022, she assumed the role of presiding judge on Divorce Court.

Jones has written three books: the autobiographical collection You Have to Stand for Something, or You'll Fall for Anything (1998); Shine (2006); and the novel Satan's Sisters (2011). Satan's Sisters was adapted into the 2017 VH1 series Daytime Divas, which Jones executive produced.

In addition to media projects, Jones is the president of the National Association of Professional Women and the president and board member of Professional Diversity Network. In 2022, President Joe Biden named her chair of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad. Following her 2008 divorce from Al Reynolds, Jones underwent cardiac surgery in 2010 and married Ricardo Lugo in 2018.