LOS ANGELES — Jason Lee would prefer that you didn't call his entertainment news destination, Hollywood Unlocked, a "gossip site."
"When I think of a gossip blogger, and then I think of my influence, and all the verticals that I'm touching, I feel like 'gossip' minimizes that," he said.
To Lee, gossip is for those on the outside looking in, and for decades, Lee has been fashioning himself as, if not yet a peer of the rich and famous, then at least their confidant. Over the past half-decade, the 44-year-old has built Hollywood Unlocked from an Instagram account into a multiplatform urban entertainment brand. A self-made entrepreneur, he's expanded the company through a podcast and a TV deal with Fox Soul, Fox's first streaming service, featuring interviews with bold-faced names like Floyd Mayweather and Tiffany Haddish.
