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Jon Taffer

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Jon Taffer
Picture of Taffer
Taffer in 2019
Born
Jonathan Peter Taffer[1]

(1954-11-07) November 7, 1954 (age 70)
Great Neck, New York, U.S.
Occupations
  • Entrepreneur
  • hospitality consultant
  • television personality
  • author
Years active1973–present
Known forBar Rescue
Hungry Investors
Spouse
Nicole Taffer
​
(m. 2000)​
Children1
Taffer's voice
On failure, scarcity, and excuses in business
Websitejontaffer.com

Jonathan Peter Taffer (born November 7, 1954) is an American entrepreneur and television personality. He is best known for hosting the reality series Bar Rescue on Paramount Network and Face the Truth on CBS with Vivica A. Fox.

Early life

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Taffer was born in Great Neck, New York on November 7, 1954, to Russian-Jewish parents.[2] He graduated from William A. Shine Great Neck South High School in Great Neck in 1972 and, after a short time at the University of Denver studying political science and minoring in cultural anthropology,[3] he relocated to Los Angeles.[4][5]

Career

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Taffer was born into a family of entrepreneurs.[3] He first worked as a bartender in 1973 for Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood[3][6] while performing as a drummer in a band.[7]

Taffer's first bar management job was at The Troubadour night club in West Hollywood in 1978. He was given full control of the bar in 1981 where staff theft was common. He opened his first bar as owner in 1989.[8]

In 1989, Taffer patented an apparatus and method for selecting and playing music. The patented system includes a set of color-coded books containing listings of music on records available to an establishment, indexed by energy, type, and tempo. [7][9]

Taffer is credited with creating the NFL Sunday Ticket pay programming package,[10] which was launched in 1994, and was instrumental in the marketing, distribution and sales programs of that endeavor, for which he served on the board of NFL Enterprises for three years.[11]

In 2010, he was appointed as president of the Nightclub and Bar Media Group, a division of Questex Media Group, which is responsible for Nightclub & Bar Magazine as well as the annual Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show.[12]

Taffer at the 2015 Defending the American Dream Summit

He was one of the first six inductees in the Nightclub Hall of Fame.[13][14] On July 17, 2011, a reality television series, Bar Rescue, premiered on Spike TV (now the Paramount Network), that follows Taffer as he revitalizes failing bars and nightclubs across the United States. His wife Nicole occasionally appears on the show as a mystery shopper who assesses the quality of the bar before Taffer does the makeover.[15][16]

In October 2013, New Harvest published Raise the Bar: An Action-Based Method for Maximum Customer Reactions, a book by Taffer and co-writer Karen Kelly, detailing the knowledge that Taffer acquired over the course of 40 years in the bar and nightlife business.[17]

In November 2014, Taffer developed BarHQ, an all-inclusive bar and nightclub management app.[18][19]

Taffer has a podcast called No Excuses, in which he interviews celebrity guests and discusses current events. New episodes premiere on Tuesdays on the PodcastOne network.[20][21]

In 2018, Taffer became one of the hosts on CBS television series Face the Truth.[22]

In May 2019, it was announced that Taffer would host a spinoff Paramount Network show called Marriage Rescue, where he would work to save couples' failing relationships. The spinoff series premiered on June 2, 2019.[23] The series follows 12 couples as Taffer uses the Gestalt therapy to help them work through their issues.[24]

Personal life

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Taffer lives in Las Vegas.[19] He has been married to his wife Nicole, since 2000[25][26] and has a daughter named Samantha, from a previous marriage.[25]

Political views

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In 2021, he agreed with Fox News host Laura Ingraham's comparison of Americans receiving temporary unemployment benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic to dogs that must be kept hungry in order to elicit obedience.[27] He later apologized, and it was revealed that his LLC accepted nearly $61,000 of government PPP loans during the pandemic.[28]

When Donald Trump was elected as president in 2016, Jon Taffer praised Trump's economic policy, saying his tax cuts and deregulation would increase profits, benefit small businesses, and support restaurant industry employers and their employees.[29][30] He is a critic of the rising minimum wage, believing it leads to increased automation and less hours worked, leading to less pay for American workers; he states he believes this to be especially true regarding popular New York restaurants.[31] In 2019, he predicted technology could possibly replace restaurant workers in seven years due to the rising minimum wage.[32]

References

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  1. ^ Sager, Mike (February 20, 2018). "'Bar Rescue's' Jon Taffer Isn't Afraid to Call Founders on Their B.S." Entrepreneur. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
  2. ^ "Q&A: Jon Taffer". Las Vegas Magazine. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Jon Taffer talks Bars and Business, Business Rockstars/YouTube, November 4, 2015, archived from the original on February 17, 2017, retrieved February 16, 2017
  4. ^ "Great Neck South Class of 1972: Jon Taffer". Class of 1972. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  5. ^ Matus, Victorino (September 22, 2011). "Jon Taffer Was a Political Science Major?". Victorino Matus: Eat, Drink, Bloviate. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  6. ^ Barstool Bro Show Featuring Jon Taffer, Barstool Sports/YouTube, October 19, 2013, retrieved February 16, 2017
  7. ^ a b Jon Taffer Interview for Mobile Beat Magazine, Mobile Beat/YouTube, November 23, 2015, retrieved February 12, 2019
  8. ^ Trachta, Ali (July 12, 2011). "Q&A with Bar Rescue's Jon Taffer: 'Everything is to Make Money'". LA Weekly. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  9. ^ "Apparatus and method for selecting and playing music". Google Patents. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  10. ^ "How 'Bar Rescue' star Jon Taffer helped changed the way we watch the NFL". January 7, 2014. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
  11. ^ "Information Statement Pursuant to Section 14F-1/A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934". Washington, D.C.: Securities and Exchange Commission. December 30, 2002. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  12. ^ Ciancio, David (January 19, 2010). "Jon Taffer to Lead Integrated Nightclub & Bar Media Group". Nightclub & Bar. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  13. ^ Feloni, Richard (April 30, 2015). "'Bar Rescue' host Jon Taffer explains the valuable lesson he learned from losing $600,000 early in his career". Business Insider. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  14. ^ "Jon Taffer". Nightclub Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  15. ^ "Bar Rescue: Nicole Taffer Gives Bars The Ladies' Touch". Paramount Network/YouTube. December 16, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  16. ^ Patten, Dominic (April 7, 2014). "‘Bar Rescue’ Host & Production Company Hit With Assault & Battery Lawsuit: Video". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  17. ^ "Nightclub King Jon Taffer Sets A High Bar". NPR. December 1, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  18. ^ Agreda, Victor, Jr. (November 25, 2014). "Jon Taffer's BarHQ app wants to increase your profits". Engadget. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  19. ^ a b Bazilian, Emma (May 19, 2015). "Whether It’s Online or IRL, Bar Rescue’s Jon Taffer Is All About Authenticity". Adweek. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  20. ^ Schulte, Stephanie (September 12, 2018). "5 things we learned about Jon Taffer and 'Bar Rescue'". The Mercury News. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  21. ^ Taffer, Jon. "PodcastOne: Jon Taffer: No Excuses". PodcastOne. Retrieved February 8, 2019.
  22. ^ Napoli, Jessica (March 28, 2018). "Vivica A. Fox to Host CBS Talk Show 'Face the Truth'". TV Insider. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  23. ^ Porter, Rick (May 2, 2019). "'Bar Rescue' Renewed, Spinoff 'Marriage Rescue' Set at Paramount Network". The Hollywood Reporter.
  24. ^ "Television host Jon Taffer moves from rescuing bars to rescuing marriages". Fox News. June 19, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  25. ^ a b Terrace, Vincent (2017). Encyclopedia of Television Shows: A Comprehensive Supplement, 2011-2016. Terrace. ISBN 9780786486946.
  26. ^ "'Bar Rescue's' Jon Taffer Isn't Afraid to Call Founders on Their B.S." February 20, 2018.
  27. ^ ""Bar Rescue" host Jon Taffer likens unemployment benefits to "hungry, obedient dogs"". Newsweek. August 13, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  28. ^ Zorrilla, Mónica Marie (August 13, 2021). "'Bar Rescue' Host Jon Taffer Apologizes After Fox News Interview Comparing Out-Of-Work Employees to Hungry Dogs". Variety. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
  29. ^ Wisner, Matthew (November 9, 2016). "Bar Rescue's Jon Taffer: Trump a Big Win For Small Business". Fox Business. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  30. ^ Limitone, Julia (September 6, 2017). "Jon Taffer: Middle Class tax cuts a boon to restaurants". Fox Business. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  31. ^ Wisner, Matthew (June 26, 2017). "'Bar Rescue' host Jon Taffer: Minimum wage hurting restaurants worse than recession". Fox Business. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  32. ^ Limitone, Julia (June 6, 2019). "'Bar Rescue' star Jon Taffer: The restaurant of the future won't have chefs cooking". Fox Business. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
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