Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Tabitha Soren

What became of MTV news reporter Tabitha Soren? She seems to be one of those victims of popular culture condemned to be forgotten by virtue of her chosen profession. As a new reporter for a music station, she released no video cassettes or compact discs, meaning that there is no product or accumulation of her work that can be viewed or later discovered. She came and went in the years prior to the Internet, so there are no contemporary fan pages or tributes to her on the Internets, as no one used the Internets when she was at her most popular.

Really, then, she is mostly remembered by those Generation Xers who watched MTV in the early 1990s, who remember her reports about music news or her attempts to report on politics at the two national political conventions in 1992. (She also committed a gaffe of sorts when she asked, after overhearing Bill Clinton profess a fondness for Thelonious Monk, "Who is The Loneliest Monk?"). These days, it appears that she is a photographer married to author Michael Lewis (who wrote The Blind Side, which became the Sandra Bullock film that I can't bring myself to see); she now goes by the name Tabitha Lee Lewis.

Back in 1986, she had a brief appearance in the music video for the Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right (To Party)." In the early 1990s, Soren also appeared in the music video for "Down with MTV," an early parody of Naughty By Nature's "O.P.P." Sigh.

What became of her? This site is not the first one to ask that question. In 2007, Mike Reino of the SC6 blog wondered what became of Ms. Soren. Said Reino at that time: "Back in the old days of MTV - when they played videos, had good game shows like Remote Control and Singled Out, and The Real World actually tried to accomplish something (aside from hook-ups) - there was Tabitha, the little red-headed pixie, trying to be a serious journalist. While no one took her too seriously, at least she tried, and she looked pretty good doing it. Yes, I have a soft spot for redheads. She interviewed everyone, although he was tougher on George Bush than Bill Clinton, so I guess there was some legitimacy to it all. Then, POOF! Gone."

And she was gone forever.


Above: Tabitha Soren interviews Trixter in one of her first MTV appearances, likely in 1990 or early 1991. MTV news anchor and old fossil (even then!) Kurt Loder introduces her as "the newest addition to our MTV News team." Surely you remember Trixter.

8 comments:

Thoroughbred 401k said...

Thanks for mentioning my visionary thinking, and concern for attractive redheads everywhere, Chron Snob. I like the blog...

Jennifer said...

Hey all!

She's actually quite the photographer and is one of the judges for Snapshot Scholar, a fusion of photography, gaming and social networking from Hor Shot Media. Everyone has had lovely things to say about her and we're proud to have her on board! Take a look at one of the photos she 'Fast Tracked' to the finals here:

http://ht.ly/32WKJ

Cheers,
Jennifer
Snapshot Scholar Outreach Team
http://snapshotscholar.com
http://facebook.com/snapshotscholar
http://twitter.com/snapshotscholar
jennifer@hotshotmedia.com

Jesse Kampf said...

Don't forget that an MTV intern reportedly walked in on Alice in Chains' Layne Staley in the act of putting a pencil up Soren's anus. (Unsharpened, one hopes.) When it comes to this incident, Google is not Soren's friend.

pogue said...

I think Tabitha will most be remembered now for her interview w/ Tupac Shakur and the end result of it being in the film "Tupac Resurrection".

But, I was browsing through Youtube for clips and a stumbled across a BRAND NEW clip of her (as of April 2011!). Apparently she is getting back in the game on Blomberg news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW6kJWlDvDM

Anonymous said...

I just heard her take the place of Linda Hunt in City Arts and Lectures, interviewing Clive Owen (broadcast August 17, 2011). I thought she was a horrible, horrible interviewer, and I was embarrassed for all Americans, for some reason, for her vacuous questions and her very self-aware way of posing questions. She was a very poor subsitute for Linda Hunt. She drove me crazy!!!! She really does seem of the MTV generation.

Anonymous said...

I worked with her on a couple stories for some MTV feature show or another in like '91. She was one insufferable bitch. I'll never forget her foot-stomping tantrum on the sidewalk out in front of one of the locations. I used to have a DAT recording of the flip-out but lost it in a move. If you ever read this Tabitha, you suck.

Footkisser said...

I wanted to kiss her feet back then, and I'd still do it today. :-)

Anonymous said...

You neglected to mention she got her start in journaliasm for now-defunct Channel 22 News in Burlington Vermonta terrible little disaster of aTV station that deserved to die. But Tabitha was a real pro, a good reporter, and a very nice classy bright person, and MTV brilliantly scooped her up and she was a hit. She earned it.