Jason Jessee is a professional skateboarder from the United States who was identified as the 24th most influential skateboarder of all time by TransWorld SKATEboarding magazine in 2011. The feature documentary Pray for Me: The Jason Jessee Film was released in 2007.
Professional skateboarding
Jessee's first sponsor was Powell and later Vision Street Wear, but he soon made the move to a professional sponsorship deal with Santa Cruz Skateboards. After an extended period of absence from the skateboarding industry, Jessee was once again sponsored by Santa Cruz and he helped the company during its 40th anniversary celebration. To announce Jessee's new role as a Converse Skateboarding "Ambassador"—alongside other professional skateboarders such as Kenny Anderson and Zered Bassett—a welcome video was published on the Converse Skateboarding YouTube channel in June 2012. The video features footage of Jessee's rural home, his motorcycle riding and skateboarding footage. Jessee concludes the video by stating: "I'm forty and I'm not dead yet! I feel pretty good." Jessee remained a Converse Skateboarding Ambassador until May of 2018, when he was "indefinitely suspended" as details about his controversial past began surfacing.
Media appearances
Alongside other professional skateboarders like Tony Hawk and Kevin Staab, Jessee was interviewed for the feature documentary , about the tragedy of former professional skateboarder Mark "Gator" Rogowski—Rogowski was sentenced to prison for the rape and murder of a female friend. Jessee was again asked about Rogowski in an online video interview with Hawk's RIDE Channel in June 2014 and he described Rogowski as a "creep." In May of 2018, he was featured on his first cover of Thrasher, an American skateboard magazine. In April, 2018 he appeared in the film Converse PURPLE.
Controversy
Beginning in late May of 2018, controversy broke regarding a documented history of Jason Jessee's use of racial slurs, hate speech, and hate symbols. Evidence of this controversy was first captured in a now-deleted Slap Magazine thread and a YouTube video entitled "Jason Jessee is a Nazi." These findings were highlighted in an article by Vice, earning the controversy widespread attention. This controversy caused him to lose all of his sponsorships, including Santa Cruz Skateboards and Converse. Jason Jessee was arrested in April of 2019 in Watsonville, CA for possession of a stolen vehicle and an illegally configured and unregistered assault rifle.
