Donald Jay Deutsch (born November 22, 1957)[1] is an American branding and marketing professional, television personality, and former chairman of advertising firm Deutsch Inc. He joined his father's advertising firm, David Deutsch Associates, in 1983. In 1989, his father handed full control of the agency to Donny (the firm changed its name to Deutsch Inc.).
Deutsch was also an anchor on MSNBC in 2010, but was removed from the position as a result of a segment where he seemed to criticize his co-worker Keith Olbermann.[12]
In April 2013, Deutsch's prime-time CNN talk show (Get to) The Point was cancelled after just one week after the Nielsen Company said the show attracted just 268,000 viewers. The show was also mocked by comedian Jon Stewart on his Comedy Central show.[14] In 2015, the USA Network announced a new television show with Deutsch that premiered in November called simply Donny!, a comedy with Deutsch playing a fictional version of himself.[15] In August, 2016, USA network announced the series would not be renewed for a second season.[16]
In May 2019, it was announced Deutsch would be hosting his own show, Saturday Night Politics with Donny Deutsch on MSNBC filling the network's vacant 8 PM time-slot on Saturdays. The show began airing on Saturday, May 4, 2019, and received sluggish viewership during the first few weeks. In its first eight weeks, the show averaged just 74,000 viewers in the 25-54 demographic bracket.[20][21] The show ended on August 13, 2019, after 13 episodes.[22] Responding to the cancellation of the show on Twitter, Deutsch said, "I'm beyond grateful for all of your help in making it @MSNBC ’s highest rated Saturday night program EVER!"[23]
During a January 25, 2022 interview with Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC about Tucker Carlson's comments regarding the possibility of U.S. involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war, Deutsch called Carlson a ratings whore. During his commentary he said, "He's a ratings whore. That's it. It's a game. Let's stop saying – performance art." and "He's a ratings whore. That's what this is. Period."[24]
Controversies
In 2014, Deutsch was ordered to pay a real estate broker a four percent commission for the 2010 sale of his $30 million home in the Hamptons area of New York. He was ordered by the New York Supreme Court to pay $1.2 million to Sotheby's for his breach of contract with broker Edward Petrie.[25]
On August 14, 2020, on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Deutsch said that one in three Americans are racist for trusting President Trump. While referencing a NPR-PBS-Marist Poll he said, "how do one in three Americans still believe this man about corona or anything?" "The answer is only one thing: One in three Americans are racists," Deutsch said. "One in three Americans are terrified that this country, by the year 2040, is not going to be majority white. That the black man or brown man or the yellow man or woman are going to come and take their jobs and take away their suburbs and scare them".[26] Deutsch, later in the show, apologized for using the ethnic slur, "yellow man", saying "[I] was just trying to make a point and I apologize if I offended anybody. People know me, know that -- where my heart is".[27]
Personal life
Deutsch has been married and divorced twice; he has three daughters.[28] His first wife was Jodi Stievelman Deutsch.[6][29] In 2001, he married Stacy Josloff;[6] they divorced in 2005.[citation needed]
Deutsch purchased a five-story property in New York City for $21 million and reportedly spent another $20 million on renovations in 2006.[30]
On February 25, 2013, on Piers Morgan Tonight, Deutsch declared that he is a member of the Democratic Party;[31] he has also described himself as a feminist.[32]
Writing
He has published several books, including a business motivation book, Often Wrong, Never in Doubt — Unleash the Business Rebel Within (2005), written with co-author Peter Knobler. The book received mixed reviews with a Publishers Weekly review saying: 'In the chapter "It All Comes Back to Babes" he delivers this new low for the business genre: "I'm not going to fuck somebody for business... unless she's really hot. Why not? I'd fuck her if we weren't doing business.'[33]
Deutsch, Donny; Whitney, Catherine (2008), The Big Idea: How to Make Your Entrepreneurial Dreams Come True, From the Aha Moment to Your First Million. New York City, New York: Hyperion Books. ISBN1401323219
^Bennetts, Leslie (November 18, 2016). "Donny Deutsch's House in New York City". Architectural Digest. Despite an Ivy League degree and a self-made fortune, he still talks like the "Jewish kid from Queens" he grew up as, and he often feels like that guy as well.
^Fox, Emily Jane (November 3, 2015). "Donny Deutsch's Life Was a Sitcom Waiting to Happen". Vanity Fair. There were calls about marriage—into which he's entered and exited twice. There were calls about children—of which he has three, daughters ages 28, 12, and 8.
