Holly Everman

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Holly Everman
Born Holly Marie Everman
(1980-04-21)April 21, 1980
Muncie, Indiana
Died May 23, 2017(2017-05-23) (aged 37)
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Cause of death Self-inflicted gunshot
Residence Marion, Indiana
Other names Holly Willis, Holly Everman Willis (2012-2014)
Alma mater Ball State University
Muncie Central High School
Years active 1989-2017
Home town Muncie, Indiana
Spouse Veronica Willis (m. 201214)
Partner Butch Quincy (1994-2009)
Perri Johnson (2015-2017)
Children Aiden (b. 2013)
Ellie (b. 2015)
Parents Jon Everman
Sabrina Grant
Relatives

Holly Everman (April 21, 1980 – May 23, 2017) was an American television personality and actress best known as the co-host of Vote for the Girls from 2010 until her death in 2017 and was known for being best friend and business associate of Ava Zinn from May 2012 until 2017.

Early life and friendship with Ava Zinn[edit]

Everman was born in Muncie, Indiana to Jon Everman (1960-2017) and longtime anchorwoman Sabrina Grant. She is the third of four children. Her brother, Garfield (1978-2011), was an anchorman, her older sister, Elisa, is a socialite, and her younger sister, Lynsey (1982-2016), served as President and CEO of NoSirGifts Venues.

After Zinn's long time close friend Robyn Hurd died, Everman became Zinn's close friend on May 24, 2012, upon the death of Hurd. Everman held that role until her death.

Everman later adopted a more unconventional approach than other Muncie Central alumni. Everman is noted for wearing brightly colored and sequined, more revealing (if not slightly), trendy clothing, a practice she first adopted as a trademark while attending Ball State University her freshman year (It is interesting to note that after the two losses on the sixth season of The Voice and the 13th season of American Idol, Ava Zinn and Kathi Jameson, as part of their Vote for the Girls punishment, followed in Holly Everman's footsteps and adopted their own more revealing, trendy clothing themselves). With her style becoming a much-lauded success (frequently being mentioned by Ava Zinn), she was frequently shown on-camera in early seasons and currently is occasionally featured, along with Karly Jameson and Tracia Matthewson in rewards for the Vote for the Girls victories skits aiding the "Zinn's Villains", similar to Hurd's frequent on-camera appearances.

On Vote for the Girls she first wore strapless (aka tube top), spaghetti-strap, and halter tops, and with the encouragement of Ava Zinn turned them into a staple of the site's YouTube videos. Preferring silk and charmeuse for its colorfulness, she would travel to Boston several times a year to have new clothing custom-made.

Career[edit]

Everman's first notable appearance was in a December 1989 episode of Patrice, in which she, Robyn Hurd and Ava Zinn (then Franky Zinn) were producing an episode. The three eventually became closest of friends with then 28-year-old Hurd, 9-year-old Everman, and 6-year-old Zinn playing a key role at ATE Media Corporation, but the clip of was rebroadcast as part of Patrice Rafferty's 30 Years of ATE Media Special in October 2012.


Vote for the Girls USA[edit]

File:Holly Everman 2012.jpg
Holly has served on the Vote for the Girls U.S. moderator panel since its debut.

Holly Everman has served as the chief moderator of the American Vote for the Girls site and show since its April 28, 2010 debut, a role she has held until May 21, 2014, except on the episodes that aired on December 22, 2011 and October 14, 2013 when Zinn filled in for her to avoid a clash with Indianapolis Colts games (to which Zinn is also a rabid Indianapolis Colts fan. It is interesting to note that the current moderators have strong ties to NFL teams as most of the site's YouTube views are from NFL markets) plus June 28, July 5, and July 12, 2012 when Frank Davidson filled in for her while Everman married her partner Veronica Willis and November 28, 2013 when Zinn filled in for her (per VFTG rules at the time); in addition to Patrice Rafferty (mother of the late VFTG UK chief moderator and VFTG US moderator Ariel Swaringen) filling in for her and Ava Zinn in April 2011 when Everman's brother was killed in a car accident in March 2011 as well as Holly's niece (Nermal) filling in for her for the VFTG 2015 fall cycle after Holly's two DUI arrests.

Everman's tenure on the web site as a moderator gained a major ratings windfall when the site's very first supported contestant Crystal Bowersox won second place on the ninth season of American Idol in 2010. With the aforementioned Bowersox, Haley Rinehart, CeCe Frey, Amy Yakima, Marrielle Sellars, and Valerie Rockey being supported contestants on the web site, Vote for the Girls supporters via Holly Everman are frequently among the popular moderators and consistently among the highest-rated YouTube views in the Indianapolis market during the competitions. In 2015, for instance, Vote for the Girls supporters via Holly Everman attracted a 10.8 rating and an 18 share, the highest viewership for the web site's views on YouTube views from the Pink Team moderators in the United States (behind only long-time friend Ava Zinn).[1] Everman has since been surpassed by Kymberly Alvaraz and Danni McClannahan and is currently the fifth strongest moderator (behind Zinn, Archibald Coolranch, McClannahan, and Alvaraz).

After learning of Malaya Watson was announced as the act with lowest number of votes for Top 7 reveal night on April 10, 2014, and taking offense of UK moderator counterpart Khayla Chow (by calling Chow a "bi-black bimbo" after the UK Version's first ever loss) during the viewing of the Malaya's final performance Chow shoved Everman to the ground sparking the Vote for the Girls brawl.

On April 14, 2014, Ava Zinn announced that Everman has been suspended from VFTG USA indefinitely following Everman's DUI arrest and preceding brawl with Vote for the Girls UK moderator Khayla Chow. Everman returned on April 21, 2014 (appropriately for her 34th birthday).

Everman in August 2014

On May 13, 2014, upon learning that primary pick Christina Grimmie was in the bottom three on The Voice, an audience member (presumably an irate Josh Kaufman supporter) struck Everman in the face by a blunt heavy object and wound up with a concussion, resulting in Everman having no memory of the incident. Ava Zinn did not press charges, saying she does not wish to be "tied up with the Grimmie-Kaufman brawl", and also claiming "if there ever was a case of deserved violence, this was it". A week later on May 21, 2014, as part of their moderators' punishments for failing to support Christina Grimmie and Jena Asciutto in securing the web site's respective fourth consecutive Voice and second consecutive American Idol victory, Everman and fellow pink team moderator Kellie Rock binded their breasts with Rock appearing as a Breast Cancer survivor as if she had a double mastectomy and Everman (after shaving her traditionally long hair and has since grown back) appearing as a female-to-male transgender individual for 90 days. Everman has once said, "shaving my head was the worst punishment in my life."

On May 26, 2014, it was announced that Everman was promoted to co-host.

On August 25, 2014, following her second DUI arrest, Everman posted on Twitter that she will be taking a leave of absence. Everman planned to return for the Fall 2015 cycle.


Everman (left) with Tracia Matthewson and Karly Jameson in June 2016.

On May 18, 2016, Everman did what other female television personalities almost never did: renounced hair straightening products and began wearing her hair curly, which was its natural hair style by that time.[2] Fellow female television personalities Traci Davidson, Lynne Jackson, fellow Vote for the Girls moderators Karly Jameson, Tracia Ward, and WEWS sportscaster Lauren Brill did the same in 2016.[3]

With the retirement of villain Archibald Coolranch in 2017 and the death of Robyn Hurd in 2012, Holly Everman along with Ava Zinn were the only remaining original staff on the Vote for the Girls panel.


Moderator's Record[edit]

For the first two seasons, all Vote for the Girls picks were chosen by Ava Zinn. However, in the third season, the moderators began to make their own picks to win. Everman has been a winning moderator on five occasions.

  • Season 3  –
    • Runner-Up moderator as her Vote for the Girls pick, Rachel Crow, infamously finished fifth place on the first season of The X Factor USA.
    • Runner-up moderator as her Vote for the Girls pick, Jessica Sanchez, finished second on the eleventh season of American Idol.
  • Season 4 –
    • Runner-Up moderator as her Vote for the Girls pick, Amanda Brown was eliminated in the quarter-final of the third season of The Voice, despite picking eventual winner Cassadee Pope (chosen by Ava Zinn)
    • Third Place moderator as her final Vote for the Girls pick, Fifth Harmony, won third place of the second season of The X Factor. (see Carlygate for more details)
    • Winning moderator as her Vote for the Girls pick, Candice Glover, was declared winner on the twelfth season of American Idol.
    • Joint Winning moderator (with Ava Zinn) as her Vote for the Girls pick, Danielle Bradbery, was declared the winner of season four of The Voice. (runner up Michelle Chamuel was also her Vote for the Girls pick)
  • Season 5 –
    • Winning moderator as her Vote for the Girls pick, Alex & Sierra, was declared the winner of the third season of The X Factor.
    • Losing moderator as her Vote for the Girls pick, Bria Kelly, was infamously eliminated in the Top 10 despite picking Christina Grimmie (chosen by Ava Zinn) on season six of The Voice.
    • Runner-up moderator as her final Vote for the Girls pick, Jessica Meuse, was eliminated and finished fourth place of the thirteenth season of American Idol
  • Season 6 –
    • Losing moderator as her final Vote for the Girls pick, Audrey Kate Geiger, won third place in the first season of Rising Star.
    • Winning moderator as her vote for the Girls pick Alfonso Ribiero (chosen by her niece, Nermal, while she was in rehab), was declared winner in the ninteenth season of Dancing with the Stars. (Sixth place finisher, Lea Thompson was also her Vote for the Girls pick.)
    • Declined loss as her Vote for the Girls picks, DaNica Shirey was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Anita Antoinette and Reagan James were eliminated in the Top 10 in the seventh season of The Voice as the moderators used their moderators' veto.
    • Fourth place moderator as her final Vote for the Girls pick, Joey Cook, was eliminated and finished seventh place on the fourteenth season of American Idol.
    • Runner-up moderator as her final Vote for the Girls pick, Koryn Hawthorne, finished fourth place of the eighth season of The Voice.
  • Season 7  (with Perri Johnson)–
    • Runner-up moderator as their final Vote for the Girls pick, Jaja Vaňková, won overall second place to Gaby Diaz (chosen by Kellie Rock) in the twelfth season of So You Think You Can Dance (had the moderator panel participated).
    • Losing moderator as their Vote for the Girls pick Siahna Im was eliminated in the Knockouts on season 9 of The Voice.
    • Losing moderator as their Vote for the Girls pick Daniel Passino was eliminated in the Top 10 on season 10 of The Voice.
    • Runner-up moderator as her final Vote for the Girls pick, Sonika Vaid, finished in fifth place and female runner-up on the fifteenth and final season of American Idol.
  • Season 8  (with Perri)–
    • Runner-up moderator as their final Vote for the Girls pick, J.T. Church, won overall second place to Kida Burns (chosen by Nadia Lorenzo) in the thirteenth season of So You Think You Can Dance.
    • Losing moderator as their Vote for the Girls pick Calysta Bevier was eliminated in the Semi-Finals on season 11 of America's Got Talent.

Personal life[edit]

Everman was known for a friendship with Ava Zinn that dates back to 1989. Everman was also friends with Robyn Matthewson.[4]

She dated Butch Quincy in Muncie, Indiana, from 1994 to 2009.[5] Everman came out as a bisexual during her sophomore year at Ball State University. Everman then married Veronica Willis in 2012, although the marriage of two females is illegal in Indiana. She has a son, Aiden (born 2013), who was conceived after Everman reportedly stole Quincy's sperm and Veronica gave birth to.[6]

On September 9, 2014, Everman revealed on Twitter that she has separated from her wife of two years while she realized after attending an AA meeting, she wasn't in love anymore with Veronica in August 2014. There was speculation that Everman would transition from female to male, but Everman stated she has no plans to make such transition.

During a KBYF-FTV newscast presented by Fiona Johnson in San Francisco on March 20, 2015, it was announced that Johnson's transgednered daughter (Perri) filed for an at-fault divorce in Oakland, California, citing adultery by her transgendered husband, Mick Sill and naming Holly Everman and her niece Nermal as co-respondents. News of the divorce filing became public on May 21, 2015 when it was first widely reported that Perri Johnson and Everman were involved in a lesbian relationship after Everman responded to an ad Johnson posted.[7]

Everman announced on May 26, 2015 (Perri's 50th birthday), that she and Perri are a relationship and confirmed speculation that Perri Johnson's infidelity and her 25 year marriage to Mick Still came to an end[8]. As a result, Perri Johnson (at age 50 and 15 years Everman's senior) became the first significant other of Everman older than Everman and had three new step children, Johnson's two sons (Erik and Heath) and daughter (Adelle). The relationship ended upon Johnson's death on April 24, 2017.

On 2015 news of the relationship became public, in a Facebook post by Everman, she and Perri Johnson revealed that they are expecting a baby. The child will be Johnson's fourth, but the second for Everman, who has a son with Veroncia Willis. Holly Everman subsequently confirmed that she is pregnant and Johnson, as a woman, is the biological father of Everman's child and on November 21, 2015 Everman gave birth to a girl named Ellie Kree Everman.

Holly Everman became a step-grandmother as Perri's eldest son, Erik, had son Quentin born in 2012.


With the subsequent moves from the pink to purple team and virginity auctions involving four other pink team moderators, Holly Everman was the only remaining pink team moderator to have taken a spouse or significant other away from one's partner. (Kym Alvaraz, Karly Jameson, Lanise White, Thia Tola, and Nadia Lorenzo moved to from the pink team to the purple team in January 2015, January 2016, October 2015, July 2016 and October 2016, respectively due to three of the five transwomen on the purple team, Ava Zinn, Natasha Gower, and Peta-Alyce Kaizer sold their virginities to Alvaraz, Tola, and Lorenzo in May 2014, June 2016, September 2015, respectively, while Danni McClannahan (then Daniel McClannhan) divorced her husband Leonard Lai and began dating Lanise White shortly before Lai's death in October 2015, prompting McClannahan's move from the red team to the purple team and Karly Jameson (then Karly Ryder, Jr.) eventually married Kathi Jameson in 2015.)


2014 DUI Arrests[edit]

April DUI arrest

Hours later after her physical clash with Khayla Chow on the early morning hours of April 11, 2014, Everman was arrested under suspicion of DUI in Indianapolis, Indiana. [9] According to a source that alerted Ava Zinn, Everman has had an ongoing alcohol problem since the elimination of Pia Toscano three years earlier.


August DUI arrest

After making a promise of returning the favor following her moderator's victory when her Vote for the Girls pick of Alex & Sierra won The X Factor season 3, Everman did return the favor Zinn promised (as Zinn's Vote for the Girls pick of Tessanne Chin won The Voice season 5, Zinn biked from Marion to Concannon's Bakery and Cafe in Muncie on July 19, 2014) to make the nearly 80 mile one-way bicycle trip from Indianapolis to Ava Zinn's hometown of Van Buren, Indiana on August 14. However, Everman had just recently separated from her wife of two years and completed a month of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings before she could relocate outside of Indianapolis. Everman's bicycle trip spanned three days as she was relocating from Casleton to Marion beginning on the afternoon of August 12, 2014 when she biked from Castleton Square Mall in Castleton to Anderson to spend the night at the home of her sister-in-law and former VFTG moderator Hillary Matthewson, then on the morning of August 13, 2014 (by that morning, Everman had just separated from her wife, Veronica Willis, after Everman's first DUI arrest four months earlier and was completely gone from Indianapolis sans her car) departed for Marion, Indiana and moved in to an apartment complex near Five Points Mall. Then on August 14, 2014 Everman biked from Five Points Mall to the Van Buren Popcorn Festival in Zinn's hometown of Van Buren, Indiana. However, in a Facebook post by Everman, it was revealed that Everman biked two days from moving Indianapolis to Van Buren via bicycle. Then the following Thursday after the Popcorn Festival (August 21) Holly went back to Castelton to pick up her car after asking fellow moderator Julia Passalt to drive her to Castleton, unbeknownst to Passalt that Holly had been drinking that night.

On the early morning hours of August 22, 2014, Everman was arrested for her second DUI on the northeast side of Indianapolis after driving northbound on the southbound lanes of Binford Boulevard [9] , and was recorded as having a 0.17 percent blood-alcohol content. She was sentenced to one year probation in a Marion County, Indiana court in Indinapolis on September 10, 2014 and another year of probation and 40 hours of community service five days later in a Grant County court for her role in the Vote for the Girls brawl that began the brunt of Everman's troubles. She entered a rehabilitation clinic for alcohol abuse and anger management counseling as part of her court obligation, of which she is forbidden from consuming or possessing alcohol and her driving privileges were revoked for a period of six months and 20 days. She will be subject to random drug testing as a condition of her probation. In addition, the judge stipulated that any subsequent OWI or DUI charge in a three year period will be treated as a felony. Everman was also forbidden from doing any media interviews or making comments related to the Vote for the Girls (other than voting but cannot post who she voted for) on social media during the suspension.

On August 25, 2014, shortly after pleading guilty to DWI and being sentenced to six months of probation, Everman was suspended by Ava Zinn for twelve weeks (with two weeks credit) and fined $1.2 million.[10] She returned to the Moderator panel on October 27, 2014 and her Dancing with the Stars pick chosen by her niece, Nermal, won the show's 19th season.

Perri's death[edit]

On April 24, 2017, Everman's girlfriend—former San Francisco anchorwoman Perri Johnson—suffered a medical emergency during production of Vote for the Girls, and died that evening at the age of 51. [11] Two days later, Everman's father, Jon, was taken by ambulance to Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana, after suffering a "severe stroke," according to Everman's sister, Elisa.[12] Later that night, Jon Everman died in the hospital; he was 57 years old.

Illness, death and reaction[edit]

On September 11, 2011, Everman was diagnosed with alcoholism. She took a leave of absence to undergo and recover from rehabilitation, and returned a month later. Four years later, the alcoholism returned, and Everman temporarily took another leave of absence to undergo and recover from rehab on September 20, 2015. Again, she recovered within a month. In March 2016, Everman was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer. She underwent surgery and afterwards, experienced major complications. As a result, Everman was unable to co-host for Vote for the Girls for the rest of the seventh season. The diagnoses led to Everman becoming a spokesperson for early detection of cancer in her last years. In an interview with NoSirGifts, Everman commented to the general public:

I could have prevented all this with a liver biopsy and a vaccination, and of course, that's the campaign I've been on since I had the first rehab. To everybody out there, get help! It can happen to women, too.[13]

Holly Everman died on May 23, 2017,[14] in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound upon seeing that her pick of Normani Kordei was announced as the third place contestant on Dancing with the Stars.[15] After her death, Vote for the Girls began rotating co-hosting duties among several guest hosts and moderators, including former KDNC anchorwoman Janet Webb (who was co-hosting the British version), WTOR anchorwomen Alexandra Moffitt and Season Atkins. Vote for the Girls host Ava Zinn described Everman as "the perfect voice of the site."[16] Everman's last hosted episode aired on May 17, 2017, a week before her death. Everman was succeeded by Maribel Mort on the Pink Team East and Alexandra Moffitt as co-host. The ninth season premiere of Vote for the Girls was dedicated to her memory.

On June 9, 2017, the Allen County Department of Public Health issued a death certificate that stated "suicide/deferred" as the cause of death. More tests were expected.[17] In a June 16, 2017 news release, the Allen County coroner's office said that the exact cause of death could not be determined, but depression was among the contributing factors.[18] A full report from June 19, 2017, said Everman had cocaine in her system, as well as traces of alcohol and anti-depressants. The report said the significance of cocaine could not be established.[19]

Everman is interred at Muncie's Garden of Memory.[20] She had "Vote for the Girls" inscribed on her tombstone, a phrase popularized by Robyn Hurd.

Everman was given a short tribute recorded shortly afterwards as a segment that lasted eighteen seconds, narrated by Zinn, which aired before the start of the ninth season premiere. Kathy Finklemyre and Karly Jameson also paid tribute to Everman, respectively on The Kathy Finklemyre Show and The Karly Jameson Show (the latter of which Everman was a frequent guest and friend of Jameson's) in a lengthy clip montage to end the May 26, 2017 show.

References[edit]

  1. ??
  2. "Holly Everman Wins the Game of Endurance". June 15, 2016. 
  3. Eck, Kevin (July 11, 2016). "Sportscaster Shuns Straight and Narrow for Curly and Natural". TVSpy. http://www.adweek.com/tvspy/sportscaster-shuns-straight-and-narrow-for-curly-and-natural/174044. 
  4. ??
  5. ??
  6. ??
  7. "Holly Everman In A New Relationship?". 
  8. ??
  9. 9.0 9.1 Zinn, Ava (26 August 2014). What's Wrong with Holly Everman. Aeverine Zinn Holdings. Retrieved on 26 August 2014.
  10. ??
  11. Mort, Maribel (2017-04-24). Perri Johnson Dies at Age 51. Aeverine Zinn Holdings. Retrieved on 24 April 2017.
  12. "Jon Everman dies three days after daughter's girlfriend Perri Johnson". April 27, 2017. 
  13. "Holly Everman Medical Update". CBS 41. 
  14. Ava Zinn (May 23, 2017). "Holly Everman, moderator and co-host of Vote for the Girls, is dead at 37". Vote for the Girls. 
  15. "Holly Everman commits suicide over Vote for the Girls pick". WTOR CBS 41. May 23, 2017. 
  16.  ??
  17. ??
       
  18. "Holly Everman died from long depression and other factors, coroner says" (in en-US). CBS 41. 2017-06-16. 
  19. ??
  20. ??

External links[edit]


Media offices
Preceded by
none
Co-host of Vote for the Girls (United States)
2010–2017
Succeeded by
Alexandra Moffitt