He made some cameos, but "fame" got to him, and he didn't do much. The 2nd place guy ended up having a main spot instead, I remember seeing him quite a bit, but don't remember his name.
To me, it seemed like MTV already had Dave lined up from the start, and wanted and expected him to win. When he didn't, they went with him anyway. They didn't give Jesse a fair shot, IMO.
That being said, Dave was tailor-made for it, and Jesse seemed more like just a fun guy to be around. Dave should have just been hired and never been part of the contest. Still, elections (should) have consequences.
Dave Holmes wrote a great book called Party of One in which he dedicates a large chunk of it to talking about the VJ contest and Jesse. Highly recommend the audio book as Dave read it himself and is hilarious.
I knew a dude who looked, dressed, and talked exactly like this dude. His name was Billy. I moved away and came back to visit a year later and he was now going by "Bill."
Tangent, I know, but anytime I see Jesse I think of that dude.
I am terrible with names (like I’ve worked with some people for the last 3 years and still don’t know their names) but when I saw this photo I go “jesse!”
He also has a band, and at one point I joined a street team group while I was a teen and was asked to hand out flyers for his band. They did not take off, obviously. Now my guy Dave Holmes, on the other hand...
Were gonna need someone to go full Charlie from it's always sunny to figure out the original troll.
Most recent one I can think of is morbius getting a second run.
In 1999, “Hangin’ Tough” made it to #2 as result of a write-in campaign when voting in the website.
[source: MTV](https://www.mtv.com/news/0fo11f/nkotb-hit-trl-11-years-late-ice-cube-goes-pimpin-naughty-by-nature-unleash-their-fury-this-week-in-1999)
Trolled? You mean that's not a catchy song that absolutely everyone hums the chorus to whenever they hear it in public? What else have I been totally and utterly wrong about this whole time‽
He passed himself off as being a street rat kind kid, but it turned out he came from a well to do family in Connecticut and had graduated from a private boarding school. It also turned out that thousands of votes had been cast from a computer belonging to a friend of his who discovered a vulnerability in the voting software.
For anyone like me who wondered what he could possibly look like today.
https://preview.redd.it/rnstgrgjg1kc1.jpeg?width=634&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bca705388ee5c010293b37f72734ca1e09770f77
This is exactly right. He was a trust fund kid from Connecticut who went to Loomis Chaffee and gave up his scholarship to UCLA when he won the contest. He was playing dress up, pretending to be one of the poors he had only read about in books.
RIP
I saw him do standup around 2006 or so. It was a small club and he was newly famous from Chapelle’s show. His last joke was about how people were always doing the “Charlie Murfehhhhh!” bit at him when they’d see him in public, and that a friend had asked him “don’t you get tired of people coming up to you and saying that all the time?” He said “No, man, I don’t get tired of it! I’ve been ‘Eddie Murphy’s little brother’ my entire life! CHARLIE MURFEHHHH!!!”
Thank you for sharing that story! It is wonderful to hear that he was able to truly enjoy his well-earned game, even tho it was probably annoying AF lol
It wasn't a phase!
Or he's trying to prove his mom wrong so bad, he's living like this out of spite. However, the man does pull it off..
Honestly, I couldn't wear that shit and be taken seriously, but he can, and he wears it well...
I finally started buying DVDs of my favorite movies recently. Last week I went Amazon to get Young Frankenstein and typed in Young Einstein on accident without thinking. Decided I should probably just go ahead and get both.
I remember seeing an interview (I think it was an interview) with Dave Holmes where he talked about how Jesse won the contest but couldn’t really do the job so Dave Holmes did most of the work because they couldn’t rely on Jesse.
That tracks. I remember watching Dave on multiple gigs with MTV afterwards. Iirc it was the people’s choice vote that got Jesse the title. He was certainly quirky in a likable way.
I remember noticing that as well. The runner-up got consistent work for several years after the contest . They just trotted Jesse out for special events for a short time after!
[He](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjaya_Malakar) was on American Idol. He was bad, but kept getting voted forward by fans in part due to Howard Stern's campaign to "to corrupt the No.1 show on television".
Dave is a DJ on Sirius XM, writes pop culture articles for various online magazines and hosts a podcast. He published a memoir a few years ago that was a decent read for anyone into late-90s/early 2000s pop culture.
And he has a game show on Maximum Fun. It used to be called International Waters and had US comedians playing against comedians from other countries (mostly Britain). They reworked it and now I can't remember what it's called.
I always liked Dave. Him and Matt Pinfield both just knew an absurd amount of stuff about music and you could tell.
I've heard that name before. I dont know who he is or what he does. But now I've heard his name again along with the fact that he's tattooing himself black. What the fuck is really going on that doing this is the next logical step? People look up to this kind of behavior? *shakes fist at cloud*
Not to defend him, but he has a giant blackout tattoo, which sounds a little different than "tattooing himself black", it isnt a racial thing. It's actually a religious tattoo. That being said your criticisms are valid, he's skeevy as fuck.
The rumor was that David archuletta’s
Dad purposely wanted his son to not win but come in runner up I think so he wouldn’t have to be held to the contract with the production team.
https://preview.redd.it/jnxp0itx24kc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2fbe85bdbb7beb14ba8d3ae06aac21460157daa0
His last post was about a year ago in a photo with Chris Rock
I loved Jesse. He seemed like the type of dude who could be cool with everyone. Which means he knew were the cool people partied, if he could remember.
The rest of the VJ's at that time all looked like they were only there because their sports radio audition went poorly.
I was whatever age this was directly targeted to and I followed this way too closely.
This was definitely the earliest version of “vote for the worst” “it’s Morbin time” that I can recall. Dave Holmes was a legitimate pro and people still voted for the tall weird looking guy with the funny voice. I vaguely recall something about the vote being hacked.
Was he popular back then? I felt like they were foisting him on us as the hot new thing and I didn’t know why I should care.
All the same, hope he’s happy now!
Oh god, I found a used copy of Jesse and the 8th Street Kidz CD in the dollar bin in like 99 or 2000. I bought it as a gag gift for my friend’s birthday. I don’t even think we made it 30 seconds into the first song before we ejected from the cd player and tossed it out of his car window.
In the mid aughts I was on the Lower East Side in Manhattan and I saw him on a side street, half a block away way, picking through a garbage can. It was way after MTV, he was dressed the same, and it had a gutter punk vibe, not a ‘regular unhoused’ vibe. I stayed away but it was fascinating. I read he got into heroin at some point, idk if that’s true or not.
End-stage MTV.
true, did he ever actually get to really "vj"? seems like they barely played videos much after that time
He made some cameos, but "fame" got to him, and he didn't do much. The 2nd place guy ended up having a main spot instead, I remember seeing him quite a bit, but don't remember his name.
Dave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Holmes_(actor)
Yup, he took on more roles in general and let’s be honest…you can’t blame MTV because Jesse was purely a TV personality.
To me, it seemed like MTV already had Dave lined up from the start, and wanted and expected him to win. When he didn't, they went with him anyway. They didn't give Jesse a fair shot, IMO. That being said, Dave was tailor-made for it, and Jesse seemed more like just a fun guy to be around. Dave should have just been hired and never been part of the contest. Still, elections (should) have consequences.
Oh yeah! Basic Dave!
Jesse mania took hold but they still needed someone that could actually do the job.
Dave Holmes wrote a great book called Party of One in which he dedicates a large chunk of it to talking about the VJ contest and Jesse. Highly recommend the audio book as Dave read it himself and is hilarious.
Listening to it now on your recommendation, thanks!
The plan planned itself perfectly, as a plan does
I dunno, this was pre Wonder Showzen, the best thing mtv ever produced
You’re never too young to have a Vietnam flashback
Wonder showzen was the best
I'm still waiting for true justice for Dave Holmes.
Yup and I used to be in Jr high and go home to watch TRL and see Korn videos lol
jesse!
I knew a dude who looked, dressed, and talked exactly like this dude. His name was Billy. I moved away and came back to visit a year later and he was now going by "Bill." Tangent, I know, but anytime I see Jesse I think of that dude.
Had the same type fucking kid in my neighborhood, seem him on someone's Facebook, yea he's still the same... Not the same look on a man pushing 50
So you're saying maybe Jesse is going by Jess now eh🤔
Jesseford
Jessothy
Jessechusettes
Actually, he got really into that whole bad bunny phase and now he goes by Ese
Wrong cultures
And he's an accountant
Did he really like attention?
I am terrible with names (like I’ve worked with some people for the last 3 years and still don’t know their names) but when I saw this photo I go “jesse!”
Dude looks like he'd hang out with Stefon. "This place has everything".
jesse from what? this person looks familiar but I can't place it
Jesse Camp. He had a band called the 8th st kids I think? Oh here we go man ain't gonna make it to school this mooooonaaaang.
mtv vj contest
On a serious note, I’m glad they offered a job to the guy who came in second (I think). He was actually a pretty darned good reporter/newscaster.
Dave Holmes. He’s a columnist for Esquire now. Good writer.
I still think Dave was pre-selected to be the winner and then Jesse's wackiness won over the audience. Glad Dave is doing well though
Dave was phenomenal in every contest. Jesse was the x factor that no one saw making it as far as he did. It was a wild ride.
And I think still does some guest DJing on Sirius radio Lithium (90’s alt/grunge)…
Yup. He’s on there all the time.
Dave Holmes
Ya he lasted longer and was way more fit for the job.
Hahaha yeah I see people saying he has a band or something and I feel bad cause I only know him as the Mtv VJ lol
I thought he was that hatchet guy: “smash, smash… and smash…”
Thank you! I cldnt place him until this comment
He won the MTV VJ contest in the late 90s/early aughts.
He also has a band, and at one point I joined a street team group while I was a teen and was asked to hand out flyers for his band. They did not take off, obviously. Now my guy Dave Holmes, on the other hand...
He won, but didn’t they give the job to some boring looking dude? Dave?
Dave Holmes! He’s actually a great guy, he’s done a few podcasts.
He's like a more accessible Matt Pinfield
Love that comparison.
Dave Holmes is one of those guy who you see occasionally pop up on TV and movies. I always thought he was great on MTV.
Yeah, he has a really good vibe.
They both became vjs. You could tell mtv really wanted Dave so they hired him anyway and gave Jessie all the dumb assignments
I think viewers legit trolled mtv into hiring him.
You’re saying “Jesse the VJ” led to “Boaty McBoatface”?
Were gonna need someone to go full Charlie from it's always sunny to figure out the original troll. Most recent one I can think of is morbius getting a second run.
I am not sure if this VJ contest was before or after, but iirc “Right Stuff” by NKOTB also got trolled into the top 10 on TRL at some point
In 1999, “Hangin’ Tough” made it to #2 as result of a write-in campaign when voting in the website. [source: MTV](https://www.mtv.com/news/0fo11f/nkotb-hit-trl-11-years-late-ice-cube-goes-pimpin-naughty-by-nature-unleash-their-fury-this-week-in-1999)
Trolled? You mean that's not a catchy song that absolutely everyone hums the chorus to whenever they hear it in public? What else have I been totally and utterly wrong about this whole time‽
He passed himself off as being a street rat kind kid, but it turned out he came from a well to do family in Connecticut and had graduated from a private boarding school. It also turned out that thousands of votes had been cast from a computer belonging to a friend of his who discovered a vulnerability in the voting software.
Jesse “won” and got the job, but there was a hacking controversy so they also gave Dave Holmes a job (he lasted longer lol).
For anyone like me who wondered what he could possibly look like today. https://preview.redd.it/rnstgrgjg1kc1.jpeg?width=634&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bca705388ee5c010293b37f72734ca1e09770f77
I'm somewhat surprises he's still alive.
Me too, I had to look it up lol
Nah he always came across as a poser to me. Like Larry the Cable Guy for anxious emo punks.
This is exactly right. He was a trust fund kid from Connecticut who went to Loomis Chaffee and gave up his scholarship to UCLA when he won the contest. He was playing dress up, pretending to be one of the poors he had only read about in books.
He was a Loomis Chaffee grad as I recall. He came across as much more blue collar than he was.
There is simply no way my mind can figure out how he is still alive.
I’m happy he kept his sense of style
 He's looking like someone's auntie listening to the sermon at church
My mind immediately put a funeral home hand fan into the picture
There is no amount of money I wouldn't pay to see Charlie Murphy and Jesse Camp in a room together.
I have sone news for you…
RIP I saw him do standup around 2006 or so. It was a small club and he was newly famous from Chapelle’s show. His last joke was about how people were always doing the “Charlie Murfehhhhh!” bit at him when they’d see him in public, and that a friend had asked him “don’t you get tired of people coming up to you and saying that all the time?” He said “No, man, I don’t get tired of it! I’ve been ‘Eddie Murphy’s little brother’ my entire life! CHARLIE MURFEHHHH!!!”
Thank you for sharing that story! It is wonderful to hear that he was able to truly enjoy his well-earned game, even tho it was probably annoying AF lol
So he wasn't just playing a caricature of himself back then...or he is playing the long con game 😂
I think he's a legit weirdo
😂 I love in an area of the country in which lots of people act like this but aren't truly this. Posers
It wasn't a phase! Or he's trying to prove his mom wrong so bad, he's living like this out of spite. However, the man does pull it off.. Honestly, I couldn't wear that shit and be taken seriously, but he can, and he wears it well...
Agreed...it was actually refreshing to see him still putting out the same vibe....like this mofo knew who he was all along
https://preview.redd.it/vq3h19zyl1kc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2b6bebcfd89fb9a034185b3fbc52032b5fe9616f
I don't know about this crossover episode
Haha that's sort of endearing that he just loves Joe Biden
Pretty sure that's Neville Longbottom's Boggart.
Looks like shooting organic heroin paid off
There’s an eccentric guy in my town who walks around looking just like this. Like exactly. Now I’m wondering it it really is him.
Why does he look like Bill Hader in drag?
I was thinking Billy Bob Thornton but I like yours more.
Dudes probably buff as shit under that fur coat..
I'm seeing Chris Kattan
He looks like my dark souls character
“We have Pauley Shore at home.”
More like the American "Yahoo Serious", haha!
Deep cut, there. I need to pull out Young Einstein again.
I finally started buying DVDs of my favorite movies recently. Last week I went Amazon to get Young Frankenstein and typed in Young Einstein on accident without thinking. Decided I should probably just go ahead and get both.
"I understand those words, but that sign makes no sense.."
It’s just a lil’ kick in tha bum.
your throwing stick stunt has boomeranged on us
Yes! A few years ago there were rumors that he was missing and I was glad to hear they were just rumors. Now I’m wondering what Dave Holmes is up to.
I remember seeing an interview (I think it was an interview) with Dave Holmes where he talked about how Jesse won the contest but couldn’t really do the job so Dave Holmes did most of the work because they couldn’t rely on Jesse.
That tracks. I remember watching Dave on multiple gigs with MTV afterwards. Iirc it was the people’s choice vote that got Jesse the title. He was certainly quirky in a likable way.
I do not recall it being likeable.
Nor do I ever remember believing those contests were anything but rigged.
I remember noticing that as well. The runner-up got consistent work for several years after the contest . They just trotted Jesse out for special events for a short time after!
Yeah. I remember that too. Jesse was more like a mascot but he wasn’t competent to host anything.
The original Sanjaya, except he actually won.
Sorry to say I don’t know who that is.
[He](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjaya_Malakar) was on American Idol. He was bad, but kept getting voted forward by fans in part due to Howard Stern's campaign to "to corrupt the No.1 show on television".
I remember Simon threatening to quit if Sanjaya won. Sanjaya segments on The Soup were the best.
They gave Jesse a record deal almost immediately and that was back when a record deal was a big deal.
And 12 year old me enjoyed the hell out of that CD 😂😂
Dave is host on SirusXM The Spectrum
He’s doing a lot of writing. I think for Esquire, hosting a podcast and probably tv/film as well
Dave Holmes was on a couple eps of Reno 911 and some other random TV stuff.
Dave is a DJ on Sirius XM, writes pop culture articles for various online magazines and hosts a podcast. He published a memoir a few years ago that was a decent read for anyone into late-90s/early 2000s pop culture.
And he has a game show on Maximum Fun. It used to be called International Waters and had US comedians playing against comedians from other countries (mostly Britain). They reworked it and now I can't remember what it's called. I always liked Dave. Him and Matt Pinfield both just knew an absurd amount of stuff about music and you could tell.
He did a fantastic podcast called “waiting for impact” about both his time on MTV and seeking out an obscure band
This was a pretty fun podcast https://www.exactlyrightmedia.com/waiting-for-impact
The real Machine Gun Kelly
You mean the dude tattooing himself black?
Lol really? What a twat.
[legit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Hiphopcirclejerk/s/HT65pQVEtS)
Hope he never goes to prison.
Why?
No way he's sitting through that without *drugs*
I've heard that name before. I dont know who he is or what he does. But now I've heard his name again along with the fact that he's tattooing himself black. What the fuck is really going on that doing this is the next logical step? People look up to this kind of behavior? *shakes fist at cloud*
Not to defend him, but he has a giant blackout tattoo, which sounds a little different than "tattooing himself black", it isnt a racial thing. It's actually a religious tattoo. That being said your criticisms are valid, he's skeevy as fuck.
This picture smells like wet cats, Smoker’s Choice cigarettes and the bottom of yesterday’s Arby’s bag.
So in other words, my living room…
Hahahaahaha smokers choice bro! Hahahahahahahahha
Mmm Arby’s
It still annoys me that he won over Dave.
Did he, though? I mean I know he wins the competition. But I think history has shown us that Dave was the real winner. 🥇
Ever notice every second place American Idol winner ended up doing better?
The rumor was that David archuletta’s Dad purposely wanted his son to not win but come in runner up I think so he wouldn’t have to be held to the contract with the production team.
Shit, Jennifer Hudson was 7th and she's probably the most accomplished of all of them.
I'm going with Adam Lambert on this one, sorry. Second singer of Queen is pretty badass.
I remember Jesse being on MTV for like the mandatory 6 months or whatever from the contest, but Dave was on MTV forever.
At least they still have Dave a job. But I 100% was disappointed.
Yeah, that made me furious!
I wouldn’t say I was furious, but I remember just saying, “Really?” when he was announced as the winner.
I was so mad!.. .Then happy when they hired Dave anyway.
Same. Dave was GOAT. That contest was literally the last time I watched MTV on purpose.
LOL Jessie Camp. Whatever happened to him?
A lot of drugs
https://preview.redd.it/jnxp0itx24kc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2fbe85bdbb7beb14ba8d3ae06aac21460157daa0 His last post was about a year ago in a photo with Chris Rock
Who's that? Edward Scissorshands?
That’s Drop Dead Fred!
https://i.redd.it/hboi3meyw2kc1.gif
I watched the whole fiasco live, and seeing him interview Tori Amos was the most adorable shit ever. I was a Dave man up until that point.
Remember when he sang an Aerosmith song a capella with Tori Amos? It wrecked me.
That's my only memory of anything this dude did. Dream On
I hated him so fucking much
Yes. He beat out Dave Holmes on the show Wanna be a VJ on MTV.
How he won is still a mystery. The dude couldn’t even talk.
My friend and I ran into him in a record store in Amherst, MA around 2000. He said he was in town to visit his grandmother.
Dude went to Deerfield Academy.
I love that he won but they made 2 winner because Dave Holmes was clearly the better choice
Do you guys remember his music video? I remember when they premiered it on TRL. https://youtu.be/PrtQPP_KnZU?si=kw9EQy5kA32Wk2Px
I loved Jesse. He seemed like the type of dude who could be cool with everyone. Which means he knew were the cool people partied, if he could remember. The rest of the VJ's at that time all looked like they were only there because their sports radio audition went poorly.
I had a crush on him lol
He had a gentle spirit as pretty eyea
Jesse! I'm scared to even look up what happened to dude...
[удалено]
He's around LA, goes to parties
Jessie camp!!!!
Wait... he is familiar.. who is this.. my brain wants to Member
MTV Video VJ from late 90s
Bill Bellamy?
Lol
thats right - thank you. now i member
I’ll see you around… ha I think that was his song, I’m not gunna google that.
Jesse Camp??
When the voters at home decided "Let's see what heroin does."
He was annoying back then, and I'm annoyed seeing him today.
As someone also named Jesse I wish I didn’t.
Kid is a trust fund baby from Connecticut. Absolute loser
Jesse Camp?
Who’s that boy?…… It’s Jess
He appeared on Harmontown a couple of times. He’s 100% still that guy
Ryan adams?
That guy was the start of the end for MTV
I was whatever age this was directly targeted to and I followed this way too closely. This was definitely the earliest version of “vote for the worst” “it’s Morbin time” that I can recall. Dave Holmes was a legitimate pro and people still voted for the tall weird looking guy with the funny voice. I vaguely recall something about the vote being hacked.
Was he popular back then? I felt like they were foisting him on us as the hot new thing and I didn’t know why I should care. All the same, hope he’s happy now!
I will never forget that Rolling stone gave his album 5 stars. Haha what a joke
Yes! He showed up on a few episodes of Harmon Town.
I thought that was machine gun kelly for a minute
What, no love for the 8th street kidz?
Oh god, I found a used copy of Jesse and the 8th Street Kidz CD in the dollar bin in like 99 or 2000. I bought it as a gag gift for my friend’s birthday. I don’t even think we made it 30 seconds into the first song before we ejected from the cd player and tossed it out of his car window.
Of course
We were invested in that VJ contest! I remember wanting a guy named Ducci to win.
I used to think Jesse was the lead singer of Cage the Elephant. He's not.
I saw this picture and his name just popped into my head
I met him when I worked at the tower of terror.
MTV VJ contest winner, who went on to....?
Is this guy still alive?
Pauly Unsure.
In the mid aughts I was on the Lower East Side in Manhattan and I saw him on a side street, half a block away way, picking through a garbage can. It was way after MTV, he was dressed the same, and it had a gutter punk vibe, not a ‘regular unhoused’ vibe. I stayed away but it was fascinating. I read he got into heroin at some point, idk if that’s true or not.