Terrance Dean

Terrance Dean is a writer, author, former MTV executive, and speaker. He is best known as the Essence Magazine best-selling author for his 2008 memoir, Hiding in Hip-Hop: On the Down Low in the Entertainment Industry — from Music to Hollywood. Dean is the author of multiple books including: Reclaim Your Power! A 30-Day Guide to Hope, Healing and Inspiration for Men of Color (Random House/Villard - May 2003); Straight From Your Gay Best Friend – The Straight Up Truth About Relationships, Love, and Having A Fabulous Life (Agate – October 2010); Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris, (Kensington – May 2010). In 2011, Dean made his fiction debut with his novel, MOGUL (Simon & Schuster/Atria Books – June 2011).

Dean is a contributing writer to the anthologies, Souls of My Brothers and Always Too Soon. He has also written for VIBE, ESSENCE, XXL, Hello Beautiful, Bossip.com, Juicy Magazine, Huffington Post,The Advocate, The New York Sun, The Tennessean, Fatherhood Today, and The Michigan Chronicle’s Front Page.

Dean has been featured in Newsweek, Ms. Magazine, Time magazine, New York Magazine, The Observer UK, Genre, VIBE, Hip Hop Weekly, Juicy magazine, Toronto NOW, AOL Black Voices, XXL.com, Bossip.com, Mediatakeout.com, Sister2Sister magazine, and Essence magazine. He has also appeared across the country, and internationally, on popular syndicated radio shows – NPR, The BBC, Frank & Wanda Morning Show, The Michael Eric Dyson Show, Russ Par, The Tom Joyner Morning Show, and The Wendy Williams Experience. He has made national television appearances on Fox’s The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, and Fox’s Red Eye, CNN’s Headline News, NBC 10 Philadelphia, ABC 6 Philadelphia, WB 11 New York, and FOX 2 in Detroit.

In addition to writing, Dean has worked in the entertainment industry for over 15 years with industry professionals including Spike Lee, Rob Reiner, Keenan Ivory Wayans, and Anjelica Huston. He has worked with television and film production companies such as B.E.T., Savoy Television, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Sony Pictures. Dean also worked with MTV Networks for several years helping to produce live award shows and events including MTV Video Music Awards, Movie Awards, Hip Hop Honors, Rock Honors, Sports & Music Festival, and Choose or Lose.

Hiding in Hip-Hop is Terrance memoir about being a gay man in the entertainment industry.

Dean cites the late Afro-American and openly-gay author E. Lynn Harris as a major literary influence, writing on the late author's death in which Harris said, "'Terrance, you have a gift. Your story will help so many people, especially men who are struggling with their sexuality. You better write and share it with others.' And, so I did. It felt great to have someone like E. Lynn to encourage me. If it had not been for him I would have still been hiding, and afraid to come to terms with who I am."