Star Jones

Starlet Marie Jones Lugo, better known as Star Jones, is a distinguished American lawyer, journalist, television personality, fashion designer, author, and advocate for women and diversity. Born in Badin, North Carolina, and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, Jones graduated from Notre Dame High School in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. She earned a B.A. in Administration of Justice from American University, where she was initiated into the Lambda Zeta chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 1986 and was admitted to the New York state bar in 1987.

Jones began her legal career as a prosecutor with the Kings County District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, New York, from 1986 to 1991, rising to the position of senior assistant district attorney. In 1991, she was recruited by Court TV as a commentator for the William Kennedy Smith rape trial, and she later served as a legal correspondent for NBC’s Today and NBC Nightly News.

In 1994, Jones became the first Black person to preside over a court show with “Jones & Jury,” and subsequently served as the chief legal analyst on Inside Edition, where she covered the O.J. Simpson murder case and secured an exclusive interview with Simpson during his civil trial.

Jones is best known for her role as one of the original co-hosts on ABC’s “The View,” where she appeared for nine seasons from 1997 to 2006. She also competed in the fourth season of “The Celebrity Apprentice” in 2011, finishing in fifth place.

In addition to her television career, Jones has worked as a red-carpet host for E! and as the executive editor of daytime programming for truTV. She is set to become the judge on “Divorce Court” starting in its 40th season in September 2022. An accomplished author, Jones published “You Have to Stand for Something, or You’ll Fall for Anything” in 1998. She serves as the President of the National Association of Professional Women (NAPW) and was appointed

by President Joe Biden in 2022 to chair the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad.

Star Jones married Ricardo Lugo on March 25, 2018, in a ceremony aboard a cruise ship in the Bahamas, marking yet another joyous milestone in her dynamic and influential life.