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Kim Stolz Takes on the News Media

Ever since she first appeared on America’s Next Top Model in 2005, Kim Stolz has given a face to a new generation of queer women. She may not have won the modeling reality show, but she’s been the success story of the series, and she also happens to be an out lesbian.

Stolz is now an MTV News Correspondent as well as a VJ for mtvU, where she hosts The Freshmen, a show about new music. (AfterEllen.com’s parent company, Logo, is owned by MTV.) She’s not only a talking head, though – she’s a reporter who interviews political candidates and writes stories for the MTV News website. She has also maintained her flair for fashion and entertainment by working on features with musicians and movie stars on and off the red carpet.

Stolz recently talked to AfterEllen.com about her career, her odd relationship with Tyra Banks, and her plan to have no plan at all.

AfterEllen.com: You’ve been doing a lot of political writing for MTV News. Is that something you wanted to do when you first started out at MTV? Kim Stolz: Absolutely. My major at Wesleyan was government and international politics. Politics is really something I want to be involved with, and definitely something that sparks my interest. For MTV News, being able to interview presidential candidates and other political figures and covering political stories, it’s been an amazing part of my experience and something I want to continue to do.

AE: Being an out lesbian, have you ever felt that anyone has thought you were trying to get across “a gay agenda”? KS: No. Honestly, I am a news correspondent so I try to report the news and serve as a bridge from who I’m interviewing to the audience, so I don’t think that I come across having an agenda simply because I don’t have one.

Photo credit: Jeff Fusco/Getty Images

AE: Are you the first out lesbian VJ on MTV that you know of? KS: Honestly, I have no idea. To my knowledge [yes], but I don’t want to offend anybody if anyone else is out there!

AE: At least in America, from what I’ve researched, I haven’t seen any others. KS: Well, I know I’m the only lesbian news correspondent in New York.

AE: It seems like your personal style has changed quite a bit since when you were on America’s Next Top Model. Is that something that you had to do to be more “camera-friendly” for MTV or something that has evolved for you? KS: I’ve always felt that my style was very versatile, and I think that at different points in my life, I’ve expressed different parts of myself. I think everybody can relate to that.

I think there’s a time and a place to wear the more androgynous clothes I wear, and there’s another time and a place, like on TRL, when I want to wear a cute dress and get in touch with my feminine side. I think that I’ve never been pushed to wear one thing or another. It certainly all comes from me, and I like to express myself different ways through my clothes.

AE: When you decided to get your new haircut, did you think that some fans might have something to say about it? It seems like you have a lot of them on the internet making comments like, “Kim has girlie hair now!” KS: Well, from the moment I stepped on the television on America’s Next Top Model, I felt like I tried to transcend stereotypes, as someone who was adverse to that. I certainly don’t want to be boxed in a haircut or a style of clothing. I don’t know, I do what I like with my hair and my clothes, and I present myself in the way that I feel and hopefully people get it.

Photo credit: Scott Gries/Getty Images

AE: Are you still with the same girlfriend you were with when you were on America’s Next Top Model? KS: No, no I’m not. That girl and I broke up over a year ago.

AE: Are you single now? KS: Well, I would say it’s complicated.

AE: When Tyra Banks had the reunion for all the past America’s Next Top Model contestants this past year, were you invited too and just chose to go as a correspondent for fun? What was your thought process behind that? KS: I was invited by America’s Next Top Model and The Tyra [Banks] Show to be one of the past contestants and go like the other girls. However, I thought it would be more fun and more relevant to my life now to go as a news correspondent. They invited MTV News to come to the event.

AE: It almost seemed like Tyra was acting kind of rude to you. Did you feel that way? KS: [laughs] I think Tyra and I have a funny banter, and I think we sort of like get along and I definitely have nothing against her, but I think that she was funny. I asked her why she never kept in touch – I mean, clearly she had no intention to. But she was sort of caught off guard.

AE: Do you still watch Top Model? KS: To be totally honest, I haven’t watched the last couple of seasons. I just don’t have that much time. But from what I’ve read, the show is still prospering and everybody’s still watching, so I understand it’s going quite well.

AE: How do you feel about your experience on the show now that a few years have passed? Obviously it was helpful to you to get where you are on television. KS: I will always look at America’s Next Top Model as a very beneficial experience for me. I learned a lot about myself, I learned a lot about the fashion industry. And to be honest, if I hadn’t been on that show, perhaps I wouldn’t have thought of having a career on television to begin with. And I am definitely thankful for that experience, because it helped me get where I am.

Stolz on America’s Next Top Model

AE: Are you still modeling now as well? KS: I’ve stopped modeling for the mean time, but I’m open to do some shoots. Like I shot something for the New York Post a couple of months ago, and I shot something for a magazine with Chris Benz, who is a very good friend and fashion designer. Right now, between MTV News and mtvU and other things I’m looking forward to, there just isn’t all that much time.

Photo credit: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images

AE: What is your typical day like at MTV? KS: It changes every single day. Like some days I’ll come in go to hair and makeup and wardrobe and get ready for my day of shooting – interviews with movie stars and political figures, or do a shoot of [what we’re] covering of those topics for MTV News, and then I’ll head down to mtvU, or the other way around. At mtvU, obviously, I do The Freshmen.

AE: Do you have any memorable pieces you’ve worked on? KS: Oh God, yeah a lot. One of my favorite things was following around Mike Huckabee and interviewing him. I’m from New York City and went to Wesleyan and have always been around very liberal people, and it was interesting to see a very young conservative movement of people following Mike Huckabee. He may not agree with my lifestyle, but being able to connect with people on a different level was an interesting experience for me.

Also, doing the pre-show for the MTV Movie Awards was very exciting. Interviewing Sarah Jessica Parker and the cast of Sex and the City [was] absolutely one of the best interviews I’ve ever done. Sara Jessica Parker is probably my favorite interview I’ve ever done. It’s great to see someone who is so successful continue to prosper and be such a wonderfully humble and nice and intelligent person.

AE: What kinds of things are you hoping to do in the future, either at MTV or elsewhere? KS: One thing that’s led me to where I am is that I’m never quite sure of a plan or where it’s going to take me. I think being a news correspondent and VJ has led me to really good places, and I think that I would like to do more political stuff and maybe in a couple of years, I’d love to be the host of a political talk show, some sort of news show of some sort.

I also really am interested in entertainment though … and I think doing something with movies and entertainment is something I’m interested in. And clearly, music and interviewing bands. I did a piece on Brooklyn bands and I like that too, so I guess I don’t totally know where I’m going, but I feel that I will figure that out at some point.

Stolz at the MTV Movie Awards Photo credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

AE: What kind of music would you recommend that you’re listening to? Or what you think is going to be big? KS: So many! MGMT, Yeasayer, the Grizzly Bear Friend EP, because they brought a bunch of wonderful bands together. Girl Talk has a great new album called Feed the Animals, which is an artist mash-up that’s doing really well right now, too. I could go on forever about that.

AE: One thing I think is really great about you is that you are into music and fashion, which is something that stereotypically lesbians are not a part of. KS: [laughs] I think that breaking stereotypes is something that happens in time. I think that right now is a really important moment for the LGBTQ community, and I am so excited to be a part of breaking down any stereotype that has existed in our community before, because just like any other group, the community is full of diverse people who have different interests. There’s no way to box our community in.

I’m interested in fashion, I’m interested in music, I’m interested in politics, and that makes me who I am – and I’m also gay, and that’s a part of me, too. If that helps the LGBTQ community break down stereotypes and if that helps younger kids see that there’s someone out on television who is standing up for them and what they believe in, then I couldn’t be happier about what I’ve done.

For more on Kim Stolz, visit her blog at vjkimblog.mtvu.com.

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