- Born as:
- Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III
- Born:
- March 19, 1980, Covington, Louisiana, U.S. (age 46)
Theo Von
What were some of Theo Von’s early career achievements?
What is the premise of Theo Von’s podcast This Past Weekend?
What controversies has Theo Von been involved in?
Theo Von (born March 19, 1980, Covington, Louisiana, U.S.) is an American comedian, reality television star, and podcast host known for his Southern drawl and controversial commentary. Von is very popular on social media, with more than nine million followers. His podcast, This Past Weekend with Theo Von, has over five million monthly listeners.
Early life
Von was one of four children born to Roland Theodor Achilles von Kurnatowski Sr. and Gina Capitani. He grew up in the small town of Covington, Louisiana, which he has described as the “stray animal belt of southern Louisiana.” At age 14 Von was granted legal emancipation from his parents; his father died when he was a teenager. “I didn’t grow up with much,” Von told Rolling Stone magazine in 2023, “so the only thing I felt like I did have was my voice.” Von studied at multiple colleges before receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of New Orleans.
Career
Von began his career on reality television. He was cast in his first MTV show, Road Rules: Maximum Velocity Tour, in 2000. Following that, Von appeared in Battle of the Network Reality Stars (2005) and several seasons of the competition show The Challenge (2002–06), winning it twice. After his initial bout of reality TV success, Von moved to Los Angeles to pursue stand-up comedy but struggled initially because he was typecast as a reality star.
In 2006 he won the online contest “Last Comic Downloaded” held by NBC’s Last Comic Standing, earning him a spot on live television. Von also won the Comedy Central show Reality Bites Back in 2008. He appeared on episodes of the stand-up revue The Half Hour (2012), Chelsea Handler’s Chelsea Lately (2012), Amy Schumer’s Inside Amy Schumer (2013), and Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen (2013). In 2013–14 he hosted the TV series Deal With It, in which contestants performed outrageous tasks for cash rewards.
Von’s first Netflix comedy special, Theo Von: No Offense, premiered in 2016. A second special, Theo Von: Regular People, was released in 2021. Von also had a global stand-up tour called the Dark Arts Tour (2018–20); a second tour called Return of the Rat Tour began in 2021.
In 2016 Von launched the interview-style podcast This Past Weekend with Theo Von. In the podcast, conversations with guests are interspersed with rambling reflections from Von, who is open about his past issues with substance abuse. He also fields calls from listeners, offering advice on alcohol and drug addiction and musing on his relationship with religion. This Past Weekend has frequently charted among the top comedy podcasts, and in August 2026 it was ranked the eighth most popular podcast in the United States. Von has also been a guest on other podcasts, including several episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience with Joe Rogan.
Controversies and criticism
Von’s first public controversy came on MTV’s Road Rules, a spin-off of its hit The Real World that followed a small group of young adults traveling the United States in a recreational vehicle (RV). The show included an interview segment in which Von said he was against interracial dating. He later elaborated on his statement in an interview with his college newspaper, potentially foreshadowing the next several decades of his career. “I think ignorance is the funniest thing in the world,” he told the Louisiana State University Reveille. “Anything you say that can be controversial can put you in the driver’s seat.”
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Critics have struggled to decipher the seriousness or slant of Von’s politics. This Past Weekend frequently hosts right-wing figures, including political pundit Tucker Carlson, social commentator and anti-transgender rights advocate Jordan Peterson, and Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White. In 2023 Rolling Stone remarked: “It’s hard to tell when Von is being controversial or just conversational.” Von interviewed U.S. Pres. Donald Trump before the 2024 U.S. presidential election; in January 2025 he attended Trump’s inauguration and created a podcast about it. In June 2025 he interviewed Vice Pres. JD Vance. But This Past Weekend has also welcomed such figures as Democratic Sen. Bernie Sanders, actor Timothée Chalamet, and frequent Trump critic Mark Cuban, as well as a host of “regular people.” Still, Von has received criticism for repeating conservative talking points, such as transgender people using separate bathrooms from cisgender people, and for sharing conspiracy theories, such as pornography causing male homosexuality.