ATLANTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 22: Jess Hilarious speaks onstage at The 2023 Black Effect Podcast Festival at Pullman Yards on April 22, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Terence Rushin/Getty Images)

By Jasmine Browley · Updated March 19, 2025

The Breakfast Club usually makes headlines with its provocative celebrity interviews. Still, this week, the long-running radio show is the hot topic…and it’s because of proper workplace procedure. 

On March 18, Jessica ‘Jess Hilarious’ Moore shared via Instagram Live that she was upset with how she’d been handled following her return from maternity leave. In Feb. 2024, Moore officially joined founding hosts Charlemagne Tha God and Dj Envy as a permanent member of the famed show following Angela Yee’s exit after 13 years. That same year, Moore took off for maternity leave, and seasoned entertainment journalist and producer Loren LoRosa secured an interim spot. This move sparked internet fodder, with many onlookers saying LoRosa brought professionalism to the role that Moore didn’t. Social media users also called out the trend of organizations handing coveted media jobs to influencers and online personalities instead of qualified, trained journalists. Polarizing comedian Corey Holcomb then weighed in, affirming this opinion, which understandably compelled Moore to respond since the two have long-held tensions.

In the Live, Moore addressed critiques of her job performance and acknowledged that she’d been checked out since returning to The Breakfast Club. Moore admits she was noticeably quiet, aloof, and snippy, especially with LoRosa. 

“Yea, I told {LoRosa} to shut up,” she said in the live, addressing a tense on-air moment weeks prior when Moore said she felt like the other co-host was over-talking her. Moore then explained why she felt disgruntled, stating there was little to no communication about LoRosa’s role upon Moore’s return from maternity leave. 

“She was supposed to be gone when I came back, so {when she was still in my chair} I was confused,” Moore said. 

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The hosts addressed Moore’s discontent earlier today and essentially had an HR meeting on-air. In it, LoRosa stated she’d tried multiple times to quell the tension with Moore in a professional manner, namely in a private conversation with a manager present.  

“And then when I pulled you into the office with our EP (executive producer), with Eddie, I first said to you, ‘Jess, we’re fighting for air time, and it shouldn’t be like that. I want to know what I can do better as a producer. What can we do better as the two women sitting right here next to each other to ensure that doesn’t happen because it doesn’t look good? It’s not going to play well for either one of us.’” 

Moore stated she didn’t remember that conversation taking place that way; LoRosa stated, “And that’s exactly why I had our EP in the room.”  

The conversation ultimately didn’t have much resolution, with Charlamagne trying to distract the listening audience with jokes and DJ Envy making the conversation about himself. 

At multiple points, Moore mentioned that no one on the team defended her against internet claims that she was the villain and didn’t like LoRosa. But last night, Moore said she didn’t like the journalist and named a list of reasons why. 

“Now, listen, I have said; Hush, shut up,” Moore said to LoRosa on-air earlier today. “‘Yo, you overtalk.’ And like I said, I’m not about to be up here fighting for no mic. I’m not doing it. If I already got the job, what am I doing? I’m not. It’s four voices. The three of us are very opinionated. You know what I mean? Me, you (LoRosa), and Charlamagne. Moore then directed to LoRosa, “You overtalk. And the only time you can quiet down is for somebody to say, ‘shut up or hush.’ “

This is wildly out-of-pocket, and in any other work environment, it would count as workplace misconduct, run up the ladder, and be grounds for dismissal or minimally a write-up. One of the reasons I’m sure Moore felt free to speak this way to LoRosa is her largely entrepreneurial background and her mostly having her social media followers as her boss.  

During the live broadcast, a frustrated Moore doubled down on how she felt the work environment was run like a high school and alluded to being pitted against LoRosa. Moore shared that on her first day back from maternity leave, instead of LoRosa following a plan they both set, LoRosa addressed negative comments online comparing the two hosts. Moore also said she understood why Angela Yee exited The Breakfast Club for her own show. 

From my vantage point, this is a classic case of constructive dismissal. Constructive dismissal occurs when an employee considers resigning due to an employer’s actions that make the work environment intolerable, effectively forcing the employee to quit even though they haven’t been formally fired. 

In any corporate environment, key team changes are expected to be communicated widely. In this case, LoRosa’s new position as a permanent fourth host should’ve been shared with Moore prior to her return from maternity leave. This, coupled with the public feedback that LoRosa is better at the job because of her journalistic training and experience, is clearly exacerbating Moore’s frustrations.

Listen, many things can be true at once.

How Moore was handled during the transition left much to be desired. I also think that the way she addressed her issues with the station was entirely unprofessional and counterproductive to the opportunity she once deemed a “blessing.” The seemingly innocent party, LoRosa, was the main target when all she seemed to do was do the job put in front of her exceedingly well. 

Anyone would be upset in this situation, but Moore ‘s anger is misplaced and could easily be read as jealousy.

In situations like this, as someone who’s navigated the treacherous corporate waters in and out of the media, the best thing to do is show up and show out in the best way to remind your bosses why they hired you. I’d also cozy up to the darling and learn all I could from them so we’d work as the best tag team possible. But that’s only if you want to keep the job. 

Now, this is only relevant if this entire ordeal is real (The Breakfast Club) has been known to pull stunts and shows to drum up engagement) – and if it is, I’d implore Jess Hilarious to remember why she wanted the coveted position in the first place and not let the same thing that built her (social media) break her.