Contessa Brewer

Contessa Brewer (born March 16, 1974) is an American freelance television journalist. She formerly hosted the MSNBC weekend program Caught on Camera and was also a correspondent for NBC News and an anchor at NBC's flagship station WNBC.

Early life and education

Brewer was born in Parsonsfield, Maine, and graduated from Sacopee Valley High School in Hiram, Maine, in 1992. She graduated magna cum laude from Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications with a B.S. in Broadcast Journalism in 1996, as well as a Certificate of Contemporary Europe following her political studies in Strasbourg, France.

Career

Brewer joined MSNBC in September 2003, after working for WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter. She has also worked for KMIR-TV in Palm Springs, California from 1997 to 1999, and KRNV-TV in Reno, Nevada. KMIR and WTMJ-TV are both owned by Journal Communications.

In spring 2005, Brewer served briefly as a news reader on the Imus in the Morning radio show, which was syndicated nationally. Her tenure was brief; she became embroiled in a public feud with Don Imus after the New York Post published a gossip item in which she was allegedly overheard disparaging the radio personality. Imus replied, on air, with his own disparaging remarks directed at Brewer. She later appeared as the news reader on Verdict with Dan Abrams before its cancellation in 2008. She and Dan Abrams would discuss the "Winners and Losers" of the day, as well as reading responses from readers. She hosted MSNBC Live weekdays at noon, until her departure on August 26, 2011.