Jason Jessee
Jason Lee Jessee Martinez[1](born December 27, 1969),[2]professionally known asJason Jessee,is an Americanprofessional skateboarderand automotive designer best known for his stint withSanta Cruz Skateboardsin the late 1980s. He was identified as the 24th most influential skateboarder of all time byTransWorld SKATEboardingmagazine in 2011.[3]The feature documentaryPray for Me: The Jason Jessee Filmwas released in 2007.
Skateboarding
[edit]Jessee's first sponsor wasPowell Peraltaand laterVision Street Wear,[2]but made the move to a professional sponsorship deal withSanta Cruz Skateboardsin December 1987. He notably featured in the company's 1988 highlight videoStreets on Fire,in which he played a fictional version of himself who is arrested and jailed for illegal skateboarding.[4]After an extended period of absence from the skateboarding industry, Jessee was once again sponsored by Santa Cruz and he helped the company during its 40th-anniversary celebration in 2013.[5]
In June 2012, Converse Skateboarding posted a short video on its YouTube channel welcoming Jessee as a company ambassador, which was shot at Jessee's rural California home and featured footage of his motorcycle riding and skateboarding.[6]Jessee appeared in the 2018 filmConverse PURPLE,[7]but was then "indefinitely suspended" by Converse in May 2018—during which he also made his firstThrashermagazine cover appearance—after details of his controversial past surfaced.[8][7]
Alongside other professional skateboarders such asTony Hawkand Kevin Staab, Jessee was interviewed for the 2002 feature documentaryStoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator,about the tragedy of former professional skateboarderMark "Gator" Rogowski.[9]Jessee later described Rogowski in a June 2014 interview as a "creep".[10]
Other ventures
[edit]Jessee has additionally worked as a custom-car and motorcycle builder, and was briefly a member of Los Angeles–basedlowridercar club Dukes.[2]
Controversy
[edit]Jessee came under controversy in May 2018 when a thread on an online forum hosted bySlapmagazine alleged his past usage of racial slurs, hate speech, and Nazi imagery.[11][8][7]The thread was later deleted butVicepublished an article that month about the allegations, including details of a brawl at a skateboarding contest in 1986 between Jessee and African-American skateboarder Ned "Peanut" Brown, during which Jessee had reportedly called Brown "nigger".[12]Jessee consequently lost all of his endorsements, including that with NHS, the parental company of Santa Cruz Skateboards.[11]
Legal issues
[edit]On January 4, 2006, Jessee was removed from a flight and arrested atSan Jose International Airportafter passengers aboard the flight reported him writing in a journal that had the words "suicide bomber"written on the cover, in addition to his" acting bizarrely "and" clutching his backpack ".[2]
He was arrested in April 2019 inWatsonville,California, for possession of a stolen vehicle and an unregistered and illegally-configured assault rifle.[13][14]
References
[edit]- ^Jason Jessee | The Nine Club With Chris Roberts - Episode 135,March 4, 2019. Jessee states in the introduction that his full name is Jason Lee Jessee Martinez
- ^abcdStaff (April 20, 2006)."I've Had So Much Fun with Cops".OC Weekly.RetrievedAugust 25,2020.
- ^Blair Alley (20 December 2011)."The 30 Most Influential Skaters Of All Time".TransWorld SKATEboarding.TEN.Retrieved26 July2014.
- ^Streets on Fire(Home video).Santa Cruz Skateboards.1988.
- ^Powderkeg (5 October 2013)."Jason Jessee celebrates 40 years of Santa Cruz Skateboards"(Video upload).BNQT.USA Today Sports.Retrieved26 July2014.
- ^"Converse Skateboarding: Ambassador — Jason Jessee"(Video upload).Converse on YouTube.Google Inc. 1 June 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-15.Retrieved26 July2014.
- ^abc"Why is Thrasher Magazine Trying to Rehabilitate Jason Jessee's Reputation?".Max Dubler.30 May 2019.Retrieved2020-03-24.
- ^abMurrell, Andrew (2018-05-24)."Skateboarding Icon Jason Jessee Is Under Fire for Use of Swastikas and Racist Remarks".Vice.Retrieved2020-03-24.
- ^Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator(Motion picture). Stoked Productions. 2002.
- ^"Jason Jessee Speaks Chinese on Free Lunch"(Video upload).RIDE Channel on YouTube.Google Inc. 25 June 2014.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-12-15.Retrieved26 July2014.
- ^ab"Jason Jessee Dropped by Sponsors Amid Racism Controversy".The Berrics.25 May 2018.Retrieved2020-03-24.
- ^Kelly, Emma (January 15, 2019)."The inclusive future of skating".The Strand.RetrievedAugust 25,2020.
- ^"Jason Jessee Arrested on Stolen Car & Illegal Gun Charges".SKATE NEWSWIRE(Press release). 2019-04-26.Retrieved2020-03-24.
- ^"Watsonville man arrested for having a stolen car and illegal gun".KION.2019-04-26. Archived fromthe originalon April 26, 2019.Retrieved2020-03-24.