Entertainment Tonight’s Co-Executive Producer Brad Bessey is making a difference in the way we’re portrayed on television.

By Karen Ocamb

D-List diva/comedian Kathy Griffin jokes in her Bravo TV show about going to Las Vegas with “her gays” to see Cher and Bette Midler. Not revealed is the sly slice of information that included among Griffin's gays is Brad Bessey, co-executive producer of Paramount's Entertainment Tonight. Bessey is a big fan, but no sycophant. In fact, he creates the reputation-making lists that stars like Griffin crave and fear.

“I can't say enough good things about Brad,” says Griffin. “He's one of my gays and we've had many beautiful experiences together—like seeing the Cher Farewell Tour. I trust him and I know if he's going to rally the gay troops, he's going to bring me the finest of gays.”

Griffin met Bessey 12 years ago when he was taking classes with The Groundlings. “He is very funny,” she said, “and, as a comedian, I appreciate it when anyone who works in entertainment journalism has a sense of humor. When I make a joke on Entertainment Tonight, he knows to cut it as a joke and not as a serious remark. And another thing—he had this cocker spaniel and you know how when you want a dog to shake and give you his paw, you give the command ‘shake’? Well, to get Brad's dog to lift its paw, the command was not 'shake' but 'nail check.'”

Bessey was promoted to Entertainment Tonight (ET) co-executive producer last August by his friend and mentor, executive producer Linda Bell Blue. “She said to me in a parking lot, 'Hitch your wagon, my star. We're going places.'” recalls Bessey. ET, which entered its 25th season in 2005, is rated the top syndicated entertainment newsmagazine in the world.

“Because of its longevity, and because the audience is so large worldwide, Entertainment Tonight is a very powerful force in the entertainment industry,” reveals Blue. “Studio heads and major producers in Hollywood call me everyday because they know how important [ET] is. It doesn't matter how much a movie makes at the box office—it can always make more money if [ET] has done stories on it.”

Bessey is Blue's second in command. “I worked with a lot of people at [ET] and promoted a lot of people from within. Brad came to [ET] 11 years ago and quickly moved up the ranks from being head of the television department to becoming the supervising producer to co-executive producer,” recalled Blue. “What Brad has that a lot of people don't is he actually understands the audience—women 25 to 54—and what they want. He has a very keen eye and instinct for that. That's one of the reasons why he's so incredibly valuable to [ET] and to me.” And, she adds, “he's an awesome leader” of the ET family, “a good listener and a good parent, almost. He's [just] a very good man.”

Entertainment journalism was not Bessey's first career choice. Born May 25, 1961, in the Central San Joaquin Valley, Bessey was in the Future Farmers of America, serving as regional vice president during his senior year in high school. “I was very passionate about water rights in California and began meeting with my state senator and Assembly people. I even addressed a state hearing in Sacramento. I thought I would be a lobbyist. I saw the political process and I felt I was able to use my voice to make a difference.”

After two years at Cal Poly, where he majored in agri-business, Bessey came to Los Angeles where he studied communications at Cal State Northridge. “I wanted to study theater or television/film, but my parents wouldn't pay for that because there was no future in it. They wanted me to get a regular job. The closest I could get was communication.”

Meanwhile Bessey held down another job as a tour guide at Universal Studios. There, his enthusiasm for certain stars was given full expression. “Someone I worked with saw Joan Rivers eating dinner and they took the fork and brought it home to me because they knew I was big fan,” he recalled.

Bessey, a fundamentalist Christian who didn't believe in pre-martial sex, also faced a “hell of a lot of changing,” perhaps the most profound of which was coming out at 19 in 1981.

Bessey secured an internship with Freeman & Sutton Public Relations. He quickly proved to be a natural, creatively salvaging a Stress Test account when the firm had given up. Shortly thereafter, Joe Sutton hired Bessey full time “because people called for me and I'd be in class. So that started my career in an entertainment PR firm.”

While at Freeman & Sutton, Bessey worked with a number of 1980s top stars from hit TV shows such as Knots Landing and Falcon Crest. He also befriended actresses Jackee Harry and Cloris Leachman who hired him as their press agent after Bessey left the PR firm to become a celebrity booker for a game show—his first production job.

“I really loved these women,” Bessey said. “Cloris is an outspoken original and one of the best actresses I've ever met. There was something about her authenticity that I really respected. Jackee was the best girlfriend a gay guy could ever have. We had a lot of fun together.”

Eventually Bessey worked with John Tesh and Leeza Gibbons on a talk show Paramount was launching, “an odd foreshadowing of my future.” But, hired “over people with decades of experience,” he realized the company would seek “another fresh face” in five years. He needed a management job. Ironically, at the same time his friend Dan Gibson (now vice president of E! Television) was being interviewed for the job of celebrity talent and development at E! and five minutes into the interview said, “I'm not the best one for this job—my friend Brad Bessey is.”

Bessey's “crazy ideas” at E! made him controversial but also boosted ratings. One novel idea: “Wouldn't it be fun to take Joan Rivers and put her on the red carpet, face to face with the stars?” He took his idea to Rivers’ publicist, Richard Grant, and Rivers signed on. E!'s ratings tripled. “Joan is one of the most talented women I know and she's one of the true professionals,” Bessey said.

Linda Bell Blue, Bessey said, “watched me do these things and when she joined ET she said, 'I really want you on my team.'” Bessey joined her in October 1995.

At one point, Blue said, “Wow , don't you feel powerful? You've got millions of people watching your show every night, listening to what you say.” But Bessey had a different response. “I actually found it kind of humbling because I thought, if people are listening, what do I want to say?”

He decided that, with Blue, he wanted to break news; produce stories that have merit and go deeper and beyond the surface; create programming that would empower his female audience—and all that meant opening up the conversation to gay issues. ET provided such extensive coverage of Ellen DeGeneres, for instance, that one affiliate threatened not to air ET if there were any more Ellen stories. ET aired the stories anyway. And ET tackled HIV/AIDS, including a deeply moving two-part interview by correspondent Jann Carl with the late character actor Michael Jeter, who came out about his HIV status.

“I think being gay and in that situation—it was how we told the story,” Bessey said. “That's why it's important to have diversity in the workplace so everyone has a chance to have a voice and you can tell stories with sensitivity. We get to create a space where people can tell their stories. With Michael Jeter, it was a heartbreaking and honest story. He said, 'Secrets rot the soul,' and he wanted people to not feel shame. He rocked me down to my core. It's been awesome to give a voice to people.”

He also exercises his editorial muscle by editing anti-gay references, be it Brokeback Mountain jokes or slang such as “that's so gay” used by the younger generation.

Bessey says he would like to see more loving gay relationships and gay families represented on television. Indeed, he and his partner of three years, Frank Sanchez, who is studying to be a therapist, are thinking about adopting a child. “Outside of work is my life,” Bessey said. “We talk about how to include people in our lives, how to give back to the community and the world. These conversations have led us to talk about adopting. We think we'd make great parents.”