Bobby Lee

Early life and education

Lee was born on September 17, 1971 in San Diego to Korean immigrant parents Jeanie and Robert Lee. He and his younger brother Steve grew up in Poway, California. His parents owned clothing stores in both Escondido and Encinitas, California. He attended Painted Rock Elementary School, Twin Peaks Middle School, and Poway High School. In high school, he was part of a breakdancing team. After graduation, he attended Palomar College before dropping out.

Career

Lee worked at cafes and restaurants before pursuing a career in comedy. In 1994, the coffee shop where he was working abruptly closed. Lee stated, "I just went next door to get a job, which was The Comedy Store in San Diego." After a few months of working odd jobs at the club, he tried stand-up during one of their amateur nights. Within a year of doing regular comedy sets, he received offers to open for both Pauly Shore and Carlos Mencia. He then began working regularly at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles, a comedy club owned by Pauly Shore's mother Mitzi.

Lee has said that his parents had hoped he would continue on with the family business and were less than supportive of his comedic pursuits at first. During a podcast interview conducted by fellow actor and comedian Joe Rogan on February 1, 2011, Lee stated that during the first few years he did stand-up, his parents barely spoke to him. However, after his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno his father called him, asked how much he had to pay to be on the show, and then apologized for not supporting his comedy career. Lee has included his family in some of his work; his brother has appeared in several non-speaking roles on MADtv, and his entire immediate family has appeared in a sketch on the show. In 2007, he pitched a sitcom to Comedy Central about a Korean family, which was to star his own family.

In 2012, Lee was hired to reboot Maker Studios' YouTube comedy channel, The Station. Lee hosted the 9th MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit Concert in 2013. From 2019 to 2023, Lee made several appearances as recurring character Jin Jeong in the Magnum P.I. television series. In 2020, Lee began co-hosting the Bad Friends podcast with Andrew Santino.

''MADtv''

In 2001, Lee joined the cast of MADtv, making him the show's first and only Asian cast member. He has stated that he dreaded playing the characters Bae Sung and Connie Chung, as well as the "Average Asian" skits. Lee remained with the cast until the series' cancellation in 2009 and returned briefly when MADtv was revived in 2016 on The CW.

''TigerBelly'' podcast

Khalyla Kuhn Khalyla Kuhn Gilbert Galon George Kimmel Bryce Hallock Started in 2015, TigerBelly is a video podcast hosted by Bobby Lee and his ex-partner, Khalyla Kuhn. It also features appearances by technical engineer Gilbert Galon and producer George Kimmel. The show's intro song "Shadow Gook" was written and produced by Lee and performed by Lee and Kuhn. The hosts discuss events from their lives and news topics from popular culture, often revolving around Asian American issues related to the entertainment industry, adolescence, sexuality, ethnicity, racism, and politics.

Prior to the creation of TigerBelly, Lee and Erik Griffin pitched a podcast to All Things Comedy but never developed the show. While Kuhn was recovering from heart surgery, she developed a podcast as a way to occupy herself. Lee assisted her with its creation and eventually appeared on her show. He then decided to focus on a podcast with Kuhn instead of with Griffin.

Tijuana prostitution story

In April 2023, podcast clips of Lee telling a story of an experience with a young, adult prostitute in Tijuana resurfaced. USA Today reported that the anecdote drew online backlash and allegations of child exploitation. During an episode of TigerBelly in the same month, Lee clarified that the story was not true and had been "a dark joke" pieced together from "a couple of awful bits".

Riyadh Comedy Festival

In 2025, Lee participated in the Riyadh Comedy Festival. Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that the Saudi government is using the comedy festival to whitewash its human rights abuses.

Personal life

Lee began taking methamphetamine and marijuana around age 12, as well as heroin by age 15, and went through three drug-rehabilitation attempts before becoming sober when he was 17. Lee relapsed on Vicodin and ended 12 years of sobriety after receiving negative feedback from a producer. He got sober after MADtv producer Lauren Dombrowski fought for him after he was fired from the show a second time, a story which Lee discusses in his appearance on the pilot episode of Comedy Central's TV series This Is Not Happening. On TigerBelly episode 224, Lee admitted to guest Theo Von that he had relapsed after his father's death in August 2019 from Parkinson's disease. He subsequently went to rehab and became sober again. Lee has stated that he is a recovering alcoholic.

Lee's younger brother, Steve Lee, is a musician, podcaster, and comedian.

He was in a ten-year relationship with Khalyla Kuhn, an influencer and content creator. The relationship ended in 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Documentary

References

Sources

References

1. "Bobby Lee Birthday".
2. (September 18, 2023). "Happy Stardew Birthday, Bobby | Ep 184 | Bad Friends".
3. Crowell, Samantha. "Bobby Lee: Net Worth, Age, Height & Everything You Need To Know About The Comedian".
4. Services, Tribune Media Services {{!}} Tribune Media. (2012-10-14). "Go away with…actor and comedian Bobby Lee to Maui".
5. (September 17, 2020). "MILESTONES: September 17 birthdays for Patrick Mahomes, John Franco, Bobby Lee". Brooklyn Eagle.
6. Grant, Lee. (September 17, 2004). "'Mad' man". [[The San Diego Union-Tribune]].
7. Archer, Greg. (2013-09-18). "Bobby Lee On Comedy, Survival And Being 'A Big, Sweaty Ball Of Flesh'".
8. Woo, Michelle. (April 2, 2007). "Kickin' It With Bobby Lee".
9. Nguyen, Joe. (May 5, 2009). "Face2Face with Bobby Lee".
10. "Bobby Lee at Levity Live".
11. Yang, Jeff. (2007-04-10). "ASIAN POP / Mad Man".
12. {{harvnb. Rogan. Lee. Redban. 2013
13. Baldwin, Drew. (2012-01-30). "Maker Studios Reboots The Station With Bobby Lee".
14. The Grammys. (2014-12-02). "Set List Bonus: Ninth Annual MusiCares MAP Fund Benefit At Club Nokia".
15. (March 3, 2020). "Andrew Santino Is A People Person".
16. (2016-09-27). "TV top picks". [[The Santa Fe New Mexican]].
17. {{harvnb. Lee. 2017
18. {{harvnb. Lee. 2017
19. Lee, Bobby. (November 26, 2015). "The Korean Kite 한국 연".
20. {{harvnb. Lee. Griffin. 2016
21. Baldwin, Greg. (November 19, 2017). "Bobby Lee is a Provoked Panda".
22. {{harvnb. Lee. 2017
23. Ushe, Naledi. (April 4, 2023). "Comedian Bobby Lee faces backlash for resurfaced prostitution comments".
24. (2025-09-16). "Major U.S. comedians set to perform in Saudi Arabia urged not to help cover up "abuses of a repressive regime" - CBS News".
25. (2025-09-23). "Saudi Arabia: Riyadh Comedy Festival Whitewashes Abuses {{!}} Human Rights Watch".
26. Team, Fact. (2025-09-18). "Everything we know about the first Riyadh Comedy Festival".
27. Schonberger, Chris. (October 27, 2016). "Watch Bobby Lee Take on the Hot Ones Challenge".
28. Kozlowski, Carl. (2016-05-26). "Why Bobby Lee Is Done with 'MADtv'".
29. {{harvnb. Lee. Diaz. Syatt. 2014
30. Variety Staff. (2008-10-28). "'Madtv's' Lauren Dombrowski dies".
31. (December 2024). "Comedian Bobby Lee's father has passed away".
32. (December 12, 2019). "Theo Von & The Guillotine {{!}} TigerBelly 224".
33. (August 19, 2014). "David Choe x Money Mark x Steve Lee starts a band".
34. Kozma, Leila. (2022-07-15). "'TigerBelly' Podcast Hosts Bobby Lee and Khalyla Have Broken up After 10 Years of Dating".
35. Roberts, Andrew. (2022-07-18). "Bobby Lee and Longtime Partner Break Up, Break News During Podcast Episode".
36. "Bobby Lee".
37. Kroll, Justin. (2025-07-29). "Jennifer Hudson, Aaron Pierre, Jelly Roll, Ayesha Curry Among Those Joining Sony Animation Pic 'Goat'".
38. Adriane (May 24, 2010). [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604185725/http://mtvk.com/2010/05/24/the-wonder-girls-new-music-video-exclusive-pics-videos-here-at-mtv-iggy/ "The Wonder Girls: New Music Video, Exclusive Pics, Videos Here at MTV Iggy!"]''[[MTV K]]''. Archived from [http://mtvk.com/2010/05/24/the-wonder-girls-new-music-video-exclusive-pics-videos-here-at-mtv-iggy/ the original] on June 04 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2020.
39. (2017-07-28). "Jencarlos Releases New Single "Dure Dure" with Don Omar".