When Gerrick Kennedy (@GerrickKennedy) sits down for an interview he’s usually chopping it up with the hottest names in music. But last month Kennedy was the one fielding questions when he sat down with a group of aspiring journalists at Stony Brook University.
Kennedy covers entertainment news for The Los Angeles Times and shared some of his experiences with students via Skype from his west coast home. The morning was a rare opportunity to speak with a professional writer from a major newspaper for many students that seek careers in journalism after graduation.
The conversation included some valuable professional advice and discussions on the quirks of journalistic etiquette. But the highlights of the day came in the form of several encounters Kennedy recalled with big name artists like Lil Wayne and Bill Cosby.
“Lil Wayne is a quite dude. He’s going to give you one-word answers so you have to push him a little bit,” said Kennedy. He described some of his own techniques to a young audience that wondered how one “pushes” one of the biggest rockstars of their generation.
But Kennedy hasn’t always gotten what he wanted out of stars.
“I was supposed to interview Big Sean the same day the story came out about his alleged sexual assault of a fan,” he recalled.
“Obviously his camp said no.”
It was unfortunate for Kennedy, who takes special pride in breaking talented new artists. The Detroit rapper, one of the first artists Kanye West signed to his G.O.O.D. Music label, was one of the most buzzed about names in hip hop on the verge of his first major album.
And while students hung on every word about Sean, Wayne, and other A-list stars, it was Kennedy’s chance encounter with a less glamorous name that perhaps proved most memorable: Bill Cosby.
Kennedy described the restaurant scene where he first met Cosby with noticeable emotion. Cosby, who is often hesitant to speak with reporters, picked Kennedy out of a crowd and sat down for an interview.
“Here I was talking to Bill Cosby, and I could see the flashing lights from cameras outside the window, just watching us and taking pictures.”
The experience felt surreal for a kid from Ohio that spent most his career on the other side of the glass. Cosby then stood up, pulling Kennedy aside, and said something that would stay with him forever.
“He told me how much he truly appreciated seeing a black reporter doing what I was doing—what I loved to do,” said Kennedy.
