Jonathan Cheban is a self-proclaimed Foodgod, an American reality television personality, entrepreneur and former publicist. He has made appearances on the show Keeping Up with the Kardashians and its spinoffs.
Jonathan Cheban was born on February 21, 1974, in Moldova, Soviet Union. He is the only child of his parents, a diamond dealer father, and real estate mother. The family moved to the United States when Cheban was a child, and he grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey. He graduated from Fort Lee High School in 1991 and Hofstra University in 1995. His degree is in communications.
After graduating from college, Cheban went to work at Peggy Siegal’s public relations firm in New York City. Benny Medina called Siegel to work on Sean Combs’ 29th birthday party. Siegel declined the offer and Cheban accepted it, left Siegal and formed his own P.R. firm with two other publicists. In 2001, he left that company to found CommandPR, which has thrown parties for a number of rich and famous celebrities, including JLo and Janet Jackson.
He first appeared on an episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” where Kim stripped in front of Cheban to figure out whether or not he is gay. Cheban also appeared on the shows “Kourtney and Kim Take New York,” “Kourtney and Kim Take Miami,” and “Kourtney and Khloé Take The Hamptons.” In 2010, he got his own reality television series, “The Spin Crowd.” The series about Cheban and his workmates was canceled after one season due to low ratings. In 2013, Cheban appeared as a single man on the seventh season of Bravo’s “Millionaire Matchmaker.” He was also briefly on “Celebrity Big Brother.” Cheban was supposed to be a part of the cast in 2017, but that didn’t happen after he allegedly demanded more than $130,000 a day to appear on the show to go on and defend Kim Kardashian from her sex tape with Ray J.
Cheban is a foodie and, in fact, legally changed his name to foodgod. He opened Sushi MiKasa in Miami in late 2012. Then he opened a burger chain called Burger Bandit on Long Island, New York. In September 2014, he opened Sushi Couture in South Beach, Miami with the chef from Sushi MiKasa.
In late 2013, Cheban co-hosted the Coca-Cola Red Carpet LIVE pre-show for the American Music Awards.
In early 2014, he launched a protective smartphone cover that’s also an HD mirror called Glam Screen.
In July 2014, Cheban launched The Dissh (www.TheDishh.com), on which he talks about high-end luxury goods, food, trips, and the lifestyle.
In 2019 Cheban launched the podcast “Foodgod: OMFG.”
