Correspondent Of CMT 'Hot 20 Countdown'

Ashley Shahahmadi | Biography

Sideline Reporter and Pre and Post-game Host for Charlotte Hornets.

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : March 24, 2022

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Ashley Shahahmadi is an Iranian-American journalist. She currently serves as a sideline reporter and pre and post-game host for Charlotte Hornets.

Who is Ashley Shahahmadi?

Ashley Shahahmadi graduated in 2014 from the University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Digital Media and Broadcast Media. 

During her University days, she involved herself in various activities. For example, she worked for ESPNU Campus Connection for the University Women's Soccer team. There, she would help set up the broadcast event by editing profile packages on the players and also assisted with the wiring and cameras for the live show.

In the same event, she shadowed ESPN announcer, reporter, and anchor Pam Ward while she reported the game. 

Likewise, she also worked at her University's Grady Newsource for five months. She took the opportunity to work in every position in the newsroom, such as producer, multimedia journalist, photographer, and sports and weather anchor. 

ShahAhmadi did her internship at WRDW-TV for three months, from June to August 2013. During her training, she shadowed the Multimedia Journalist and was able to shoot, edit, interview, and develop her packages. 

Right after the end of her internship at WRDW-TV, she started her training at KB Voiceover and worked closely with the business's audio editing and financial areas for ten months. 

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Stepping into the world of Sports Journalism

After graduation, she began her professional broadcast journalism career in August 2014 at WTOK-TV in Meridian, Mississippi as a reporter and weekend sports anchor. Then, she spent two years at WTOK-TV, anchoring evening and night sports reports. She also covered high school sports and college teams at Alabama, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Southern Miss. 

Subsequently, in August 2016, she joined WAPT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi. She worked there for nearly two years as a weekend sports anchor and reporter. She did live coverage of college and high school games during that time.

She also served as a sideline reporter for The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) state championship games. Additionally, she produced and anchored a weekly high school basketball show Full Court Blitz and Blitz's football show.

She then returned to Atlanta, Georgia, and worked as a social media content producer and host at Bally Sports South/Southeast from June 2018 to August 2019. Then, in September 2018, she began contributing to the Charlotte Hornets broadcasts and eventually secured a job as a full-time sideline reporter and pre and post-game host for Charlotte Hornets. She previews the game before the 30-minute show Hornets Live airs.

She also interviews players, coaches, and guests on the show. In addition, she also occasionally hosts the pre and post-game shows for the Atlanta Braves.

She hails from Iranian Ethnicity

Ashley Shahahmadi's birthday falls on 24 June. In 2020, she shared an Instagram post, marking her 28th birthday. 

She was born and raised in an Iranian-American family in the United States. She belongs to the Iranian ethnicity, but there wasn't much Iranian influence on her life because her father, a native of Iran, moved to the United States at age 14. 

Her mother, Cheryl Rebischke, is from Saint Cloud, Minnesota. So growing up, she only learned a bit of Iran from her grandmother. Shahahmadi has two siblings - two years old brother Aryon and seven years younger brother Brandon. 

ShahAhmadi's father moved out of the family when she was a freshman in high school. Her mother struggled a lot to raise three children. She worked as a waitress at nights and weekends to sustain her family. 

She dreamt of being an NBA sideline reporter since childhood 

ShahAhmadi dreamt of working in NBA from the age of 11. She was a 7th grader when she first watched the Atlanta Hawks game with her family.

There she witnessed sharply dressed women with a microphone which she found the coolest job ever. And right there and then, she dreamt of being a sideline reporter in the NBA. 

According to ShahAhmadi's mother, she stayed truly dedicated to her dream even when her father walked out of the family. 

Covering the Hornets

In 2020 Shahahmadi replaced her fellow sideline reporter Stephanie Ready to cover Charlotte Hornets for the game season.

After joining Fox News in 2018, the appointment was a dream job for her, as she proclaimed in her fansided interview. 

She mentioned, "In regards to getting the chance to live out my absolute dream come true in covering the Charlotte Hornets, it was exactly that– a dream come true. Of course, sort of being thrown in the fire was a challenge. After finding out Stephanie (Ready) was leaving mid-season and having to pack my bags and live out of hotels for the next 4.5 months was a challenge."

Covering the Hornets was her subsequent achievement after getting to cover the NBA during the 2019 season. 

'CMT Hot 20 Countdown'

In August 2019, Shahahmadi started working as a correspondent for the interactive music and entertainment series CMT Hot 20 Countdown. She interviews country music artists for the show, which airs every Saturday and Sunday.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, she was one of the members who worked remotely during the quarantine. Sharing her experience working for the show during the quarantine, she said, "Honestly, I've been so impressed with the Hot 20 crew and everyone's ability to adapt and work remotely. Specifically, about that first episode of Hot 20, I remember just being excited because of the ability to work from home and the creativity behind the 'new normal.' I also had multiple producers and camera operators on the call to make sure it looked good via Facetime, which is definitely a different type of challenge."

She also shared that working from home with Hot 20 was one of the most positive things at the time, and she was grateful to help produce content. In addition, Shahahmadi was one of the presenters at the 2021 CMT Music Awards. The award show aired live on 9 June 2021 on different television channels, including CMT, MTV, Paramount Network, and TV Land.

Husband

Shahahmadi has remained low-key about her personal life. She has not revealed details about having a relationship or getting married. However, in an Instagram post dated 17 August 2020, she shared some of her photos with a guy, captioning 'quarantine views' from Santa Barbara, California. She did not mention the name of the guy on her post. 

Her fashion and sports talk on Podcasts  

The sports journalist has been featured in various sports podcasts where she actively discusses Hornets' upcoming seasons, tournaments, and veterans. Besides that, she also speaks about her experience, journey, and fashion advice. She has already been in 13 different podcast episodes. 

She was featured by a podcast channel named BUZZ BEAT in July 2022, where she talked about LaMelo, Bridges, Eric Collins, and many others. She also spoke about the importance of veteran voices inside Charlotte Hornets. 

She also appeared in the podcast of The Sports Student in July 2021, shared her experience of working with the Hornets, and provided some precious advice on succeeding in the sports media industry.