Jonathan Van Ness

A hairstylist by trade turned personality, writer, comedian, and entertainer by life, Jonathan Van Ness is seeking to celebrate authenticity and uniqueness within the beauty and entertainment industry. As an HIV+ nonbinary truth teller, Van Ness is determined to make this world a better, more equitable yet funnier place. As a true multi-hyphenate, Van Ness is doing the most with his time by performing his sold-out stand up comedy on tour, being an award-winning television personality, starting a sustainable haircare brand, being a New York Times best-selling author, practicing his gymnastics and figure skating skills, and having a podcast. There’s also the garden, chickens, cats, and dogs that he takes care of with his husband Mark, whom he married in 2020.

Always a story-teller, Van Ness first stepped in front of the camera in 2013, while doing his friend, actress and director Erin Gibson’s hair, an impromptu recap of the television show Game Of Thrones sparked the idea for what soon became the hit web series Gay of Thrones for web comedy outlet Funny or Die. The series later went on to be nominated three times for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series. In 2015, Van Ness took his constant curiosities about the world and turned them into a podcast, "Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness," which has grown to amass over 250 episodes covering topics ranging from oceanography, hair science and the environment to comedy, Olympics and more. It has also won multiple awards but honestly who’s counting?

As of 2018, Van Ness has been a member of the new Fab Five in Netflix’s reboot of "Queer Eye" as the show’s grooming expert. "Queer Eye" has won Outstanding Structured Reality Program at the Primetime Emmy Awards four years in a row, been twice nominated for Outstanding Host of A Reality or Competition show. Also in 2021, Van Ness took his lifetime of beauty expertise and launched his brand, JVN. It introduces a sustainable, cruelty-free line of haircare products with a non-gendered approach, built for every person and all hair types, expanding on his platform of acceptance and equality. Van Ness hosts and executive produces his first solo network series, "Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness" on Netflix, which premiered in January 28, 2022.

Van Ness is passionate about issues that impact intersectional communities. From LGBTQIA+ liberation, to inclusive beauty, defunding the police, expanding the HIV social safety net, sustainably, environmental causes, and animal welfare. With such an expansive world, Van Ness loves supporting a multitude of mutual aid and impact organizations like some of these mentioned here.