“On the Red Carpet” is where you can find Tanisha LaVerne Grant, a former Miss Cheyney University of Pennsylvania (1995) and a former Miss Black Pennsylvania USA (1996).
Armed with a bachelor’s degree in communication arts from Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Tanisha was able to turn her internship with Philadelphia NBC-affiliate, WCAU NBC10, into a full-time position as an assignment editor. With her experience in television news, a love of entertainment, a sharp eye for great stories, a background in acting, and her SAG/AFTRA card, Tanisha is still on the move, interviewing some of the most prolific people in film, fashion, music and politics.
On February 22, Tanisha was on the red carpet as TV ONE aired live the 45th Annual NAACP Image Awards at the Pasadena Civic Center in Pasadena, California.
A number of Hollywood power players stopped to chat with Tanisha including the owner of TV One, Cathy Hughes; media mogul, talk show host, producer and actress Oprah Winfrey; star of the critically acclaimed film “The Butler”, actor Forest Whitaker; Oscar nominated actress Lupita Nyong’o of the critically acclaimed film “Twelve Years a Slave;” legendary actor Lou Gossett Jr., who won an Oscar in 1982 for the film “An Officer and a Gentleman; late night talk show host Arsenio Hall; Congresswoman Maxine Waters and many more.
With wit and intellect Tanisha has been the official Red Carpet Correspondent and Host for many film premiers and televised events including the Broadway opening of “After Midnight,” Mercedes Benz Fashion Week, Urban World Film Festival, African American Women in Cinema Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, OWN Live Out Loud series, African American Film Critics Association.
Hightailing between New York and Los Angeles, the determined and multitalented fashionista has been serving up her own red carpet style with her iconoclastic bald head. Tanisha has begun breaking down barriers to have bald women represented in mainstream media, particularly in the capacity of on air personality.
She has been a brand ambassador for major cosmetic giants like Nars and Bobbi Brown and has been called upon to speak about “unconventional beauty” on panels and in documentaries including “Yellow Brick Road” directed by Bill Duke. In the Spring of 2013 Tanisha was chosen to part of the “Expressions in Beauty” exhibition at the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
Tanisha continues to work as a freelance entertainment and features reporter while raising awareness of the initiative to save Historical Black Colleges and Universities. Tanisha and her work can be found in the pages and on the websites of Glamour Magazine, Essence online, Ebony Magazine, Time Out New York, The Huffington Post and publications in Paris and Italy.
Tanisha LaVerne Grant is a graduate of Class of 1997.