Jaime Bayly

Jaime Bayly Letts (born February 19, 1965 in Lima, Peru) is homosexual writer and a journalist . He is the third of 10 children and is also known by his nickname "El Tio Terrible" (the terrible boy).

Early life

A student of a local English private school, Markham College and then at Colegio San Agustín of Lima in Lima, Bayly's academic performance was not his forte, spending most of his time playing soccer. In his early youth he was forced by his mother to work at 'La Prensa' newspaper in order to get more responsibility with a part-time job. Every afternoon after school classes he went to the office until late at night. Since then, journalism became a passion for him.

In 1982 he was admitted to study at PUCP (Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú) with the determination to become a lawyer and then a politician, but the Soccer World Cup in Spain was taking place and got his attention and he was absent from classes because he wanted to watch every game. After four years of mediocre studies he left college.

Career

His first TV appearance occurred in 1983 during the municipal elections nationwide, interviewing candidates and politicians. That job was boring for him, so he began a successful career as a late show host interviewing flamboyant and celebrity personalities.

Bayly's first Late Show, '1990 en America', got the attention of TV audiences and critics; the next year he hosted a copy of David Letterman's Late Show - 'Que hay de nuevo?', which was ranked as the most popular TV Show.

His novels are also popular and 'No se lo digas a Nadie' (Don't tell Anyone) inspired a screenplay in 1998 directed by Francisco Lombardi and starring Santiago Magill and Christian Meier. He wrote five more novels, all of them with smart arguments about politics criticism, sexual freedom and friendship. Bayly made Late Shows abroad in CBS Network Latin America and Telemundo Network during six years. After the president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori, sought asylum in Japan (after a ten year term in government) in order to avoid prosecution on charges of corruption, independent news media found themselves in a more relaxed situation and Bayly hosted a new TV program 'El Francotirador' as a political journalist, interviewing candidates for the new Presidential Elections. In that program, he offended several 'respected' personalities with his political opinions, and finally he had to quit the job. Inspired by that experience, Jaime wrote a book under the same title.

In Peru, as of April 2007, he hosts a TV show called "El Francotirador" (The Sniper) and writes a weekly column for "CORREO", a local newspaper of right-wing leanings.

TV Host

He has been a presenter of several Latin American TV shows. He is currently the host of the interview show "BAYLY" transmitted in Mega Tv from Monday though Friday, at 10PM EST. The program is an almost exact replica of his Peruvian program "El Francotirador" ("The Sniper"), with more anti-socialist and anti-dictatorship satirical references to Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez and the indigenous president of Bolivia Evo Morales. Jaime Bayly has a liberal agenda regarding social issues and a more conservative view in politics and the economy. Bayly is also notorious for the intensely racist views he harbors against Latin America's indigenous population. He constantly pokes fun at Bolivia's first indigeous president, Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian, dismissing him as "dumb" and "backwards." After recent protests by indigenous groups in Peru, who were protesting the selling off of their land to foreign corporations, which culminated in a brutal massacre carried out by state security forces, Bayly attacked the indigenous activists as "barbarians."

During the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign, Bayly repeatedly expressed his support and admiration for Sarah Palin and John McCain, claiming he supported McCain because he knew "McCain is the one who would invade Cuba and hang Raul Castro from a palm tree." Bayly predicted Palin would take a major amount of votes from Obama because of feminist rage aimed at Obama not choosing Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate. Near the end of the election season, when it was obvious McCain was falling in the polls, Bayly suddenly switched sides and announced that he would vote for Obama.

In September 9, 2008 the "Bayly" show was taken off the air while Bayly was ranting about the temperature of his studio set and his contract not being honored by Mega TV. Even though it seemed that Bayly was fired and his show cancelled, Bayly appeared on September 10 interviewing the General Manager of Mega TV, Cynthia Hudson-Fernández, who admitted giving the order to dismiss him the day before. Bayly apologized for his "unfortunate" remarks, while vowing not to return if he was censored again

In early June 2009 Bayly came out in support of the right-wing military coup in Honduras which overthrew the elected, progressive government of Manuel Zelaya. Bayly mocked Zelaya as a "jackass" and stated that he would "not shed tears" over the coup.

On June 2009 Bayly's Miami program was canceled after his ratings dwindled.

Books

• No Se lo Digas a Nadie (Don't tell anyone)(1994); film by Francisco J. Lombardi in 1998.
• Los Últimos Días de la Prensa (The last days of La Prensa) (1996).
• Fue Ayer y no me Acuerdo (It was yesterday, I don't remember it) (1997).
• La Noche es Virgen (The night is virgin) (1997).
• Yo Amo a mi Mami (I love my mommy) (1999).
• Los Amigos que Perdí (The friends I lost) (2000).
• Aquí no hay Poesía (There is no poetry) (2001)
• La Mujer de mi Hermano (My brother's wife) (2002),film by Ricardo de Montreuil in 2004
• El Huracán Lleva tu Nombre (The Hurricane takes your name) (2004)
• Y de Repente, un Ángel (Suddenly, an Angel) (2005), finalist of Premio Planeta
• El canalla sentimental (The sentimental mean)(2008).