Kenya Yee Barris, commonly known as Kenya Barris, was born in Los Angeles, California, on August 9, 1974. He is a producer, writer, and crew member of the Miscellaneous group.
He is usually known for creating the show called “Black-ish” in 2014, “Girls Trip” in 2017, and “Grown-ish” in 2018.
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Life and Career
Barris was born in Inglewood, California. He has 4 siblings. He got the name Kenya from his father who visited the country several times.
When Barris was only 5 years old, his parents divorced. According to his mother, she was physically abused by his father. That’s why she left.
Barris is also an alumnus of Clark Atlanta University.
Barris has made a couple of TV shows. This includes the critically acclaimed Black-ish. He also created two spin-offs from this TV show. The spin-offs are called Mixed-ish and Grown-ish. According to reports, he is also creating another spin-off called Old-ish.
Aside from producing shows, Kenya Barris is also a writer. He was a writer for a couple of hows. This includes Soul Food, Girlfriends, and The Game.
Furthermore, Barris produced and co-created America’s Next Top Model with Tyra Banks. Barris wrote the movie Girls Trip as well.
In 2019, Barris co-produced the movie called Little. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the theatrical release of Shaft in 2019.
Barris made his acting debut in 2020 in the show called BlackAF. It is a TV show he produced for Netflix. His co-stars are Iman Benson and Rashida Jones.
Barris also announced in October 2020 that he will direct, produce, and write a biopic on Richard Pryor, a comedian, for MGM. As of today, his Khabako Ink Society company is trying to make a deal with ViacomCBS.
According to reports, Barris is also trying to work on another potential TV show called Brown-ish with Eva Longoria.
Kenya Barris is married to Rainbow Edwards-Barris, a doctor. Dr. Rainbow is an anesthesiologist by profession.
Kenya and Rainbow meet during their high school days. They happen to be high school sweethearts who ended up marrying each other.
Kenya and Rainbow have been married together for around 20 years. They got married on December 3, 1999.
The couple has 6 kids. This includes 3 sons named Brooklyn, Kass, and Beau, and 3 daughters named Lola, Leya, and Kaleigh.
Unfortunately, the couple’s relationship was going through an extremely difficult phase back in 2019. That is why he filed for divorce on August 9, 2019. He also demanded joint custody of all of his kids.
Despite filing for divorce, Kenya Barris opts to not continue with the process. Because of this, he requested to withdraw the divorce that he filed.
Today, Barris is still waiting for the court to cancel his petition.
Personal Life
Kenya Barris was born on August 9, 1974, in Inglewood California. He is of British ethnicity. His parents got separated when he was 5 years old.
According to his mother, the relationship with his father was abusive. She decided to file a divorce petition.
After the court accepted the petition, Barris was raised by his single mother along with his 3 siblings.
According to Barris, their family had a rough life. He recalled his mother doing different weird jobs to raise them. However, she never accepted welfare. That is why he is very proud of his mom, calling her a survivor.
During that period, his family went through a very rough stage of their life. This includes losing his little brother to leukemia, losing their home in a fire, and much more.
Kenya Barris graduated from Clark Atlanta University. He finished his high school education at Daniel Murphy High School.
Nominations and Awards
Kenya Barris has won a couple of awards for his TV shows and films. In 2018, his TV show “Black-ish” won the NAACP Image Awards big prize.
The show claimed the “Best Comedy Series” award and Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross took acting honors.
Black-ish won another award in 2016. The show was the winner of the Entertainment and Children’s Peabody Award.
Black-ish and Kenya Barris won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series in 2017. He was also nominated for the same award in 2018.
In 2016, Barris was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series and a Gold Derby Outstanding Producer of Episodic TV Comedy. In 2014, he was nominated for a PGA Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic TV comedy.
Barris won the Rod Serling Award for Advancing Social Justice via Popular Media in 2016.
Where Does He Get His Money?
Barris earned most of his money from producing various TV shows and films. He also co-wrote several shows, such as the comedy Girls Trip that grossed more than $140 million worldwide.
Barris also created and wrote the comedy series on Hulu called The Start-Up and We Got Next.
Barris signed a 3-year overall deal in 2018 with Netflix. The deal was worth $100 million. According to reports, he will produce a TV show that is only exclusive to the streaming service.
Barris produced the Astronomy Club under his deal on Netflix. He also created the comedy series and sketch show BlackAF.
Barris will also be releasing his book this September 2021. Barris is also the founder of the Khalabo Ink Society.
Kenya Barris Total Net Worth
According to reports, Barris is one of the wealthiest screenwriters in the United States. As of 2021, he has a net worth of around $75 million.
His net worth comes from his successful career as a screenwriter and a TV show producer. After several years of working in the entertainment industry, Barris has contributed several TV series and films.
This includes Black-ish (2014), Mixed-ish (2019), Shaft (2019), Barbershop: The Next Cut (2016), The Game (2006), Girlfriends (2005), Family (2003), and many more.