Biography

Born in Watford, England, Sharon Carpenter dreamed of living in New York City and made that dream a reality. The first in her family to come to the US, she arrived in Manhattan to attend Pace University and earned a BBA degree in business management with top honors. After a short stint interning at a record label, then working for a magazine, Carpenter found her calling in broadcast journalism. Having built a stellar reputation, she now works as an award-winning anchor/reporter for Black Entertainment Television (BET) and is the network’s first ever British talent.

Carpenter is best known for hosting BET’s daily news briefs, reporting on and producing hard-hitting specials and making appearances on the top-rated entertainment show 106 & Park to deliver breaking news. Carpenter focuses on pop culture distilling the latest in mainstream entertainment news but she's also known for bringing to light underground trends. She covers breaking stories, financial news and politics on a regular basis.

In her live coverage of the 2008 US presidential election, Carpenter provided expert commentary and analysis from Senator John McCain's headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona.

When the sudden death of pop icon Michael Jackson shook the world, Carpenter played a lead role in the network’s coverage, delivering the details live from Los Angeles and anchoring two BET News special reports, including Forever the King: A Tribute to Michael Jackson, which garnered record ratings for BET.

Carpenter played an integral role in the 2008 launch of Black Entertainment Television in the United Kingdom and hosted the network’s London press conference. She also anchored and produced BET UK’s first news special, Beauty Blackout, a 30-minute documentary that explores discriminatory standards of beauty in the UK.

Carpenter boasts a diverse list of A-list interview subjects, including media mogul Oprah Winfrey, pop princess Rihanna, rap superstar/entrepreneur Jay-Z, Hollywood actors Will Smith and Harrison Ford and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Starting out in broadcast news as a field producer for UPN 9 News (now known as My 9 News), she quickly worked her way up to a producer position at BET Nightly News/CBS News. Before rejoining BET as an on-air correspondent and host, Carpenter made use of her expertise in business management working as a reporter for CBS MarketWatch. She also worked as a correspondent for Weekend Vibe, Vibe Magazine’s syndicated entertainment show.

Carpenter has received two awards from the New York Association of Black Journalists for her reporting. She has graced the covers of Love and Life and NV magazines and has been featured in such publications as Right On and Trace magazines and London’s Evening Standard. She was named the “Vixen” in Vibe Magazine’s top-selling “Juice issue” featuring President Barack Obama on the cover. Carpenter resides in New York City.