Whitney Port

Whitney Eve Port was born in Los Angeles to parents Jeffrey and Vicki (née Woskoff).[1][2] Her father owned a fashion company, Swarm and died in March 2013 from kidney cancer.[3] Port has a brother Ryan and three sisters Ashley, Paige, and Jade, and was raised in a Jewish household.[4][5]

Port attended Warner Avenue Elementary School and Crossroads School. In 2007, she graduated from the University of Southern California majoring in gender studies.[6] Afterwards, Port held internships with the magazines Women's Wear Daily and W.[7][8]

Port at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival

In 2006, MTV developed the reality television series The Hills as the spin-off of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County. It originally chronicled the lives of Lauren Conrad, who appeared on its predecessor, her housemate Heidi Montag, and friends Audrina Patridge and Port.[9] During production of the first season, Port and Conrad held internships with Teen Vogue under the direction of West Coast Vogue editor Lisa Love, who stated the girls had to interview successfully for the positions, "regardless of what the cameras wanted".[10] In 2007, Port notably tripped down the stairs during a live segment for Good Morning America.[2] During the third season of The Hills, Port was promoted as the West Coast fashion contributor for Teen Vogue, and left the position in 2008.[11] Later that year, Port and Conrad began employment with Kelly Cutrone's PR firm, People's Revolution.[12] Port rejected an opportunity to become housemates with Conrad and Patridge, saying she "[prefers] to keep some things private".[13]

In March 2008, Port debuted her first fashion line "Whitney Eve".[14] Upon the conclusion of the fourth season of The Hills that December, Port moved to New York City to accept a position with Diane von Fürstenberg. That month, she was commissioned to star in the spin-off series The City, which additionally placed emphasis on her boyfriend Jay Lyon, their friends Erin Lucas and Adam Senn, and her co-worker Olivia Palermo.[15] During the first half of the inaugural season, Port severed ties with Lyon, clashed with Palermo at the workplace, and ultimately returned to People's Revolution. After underwhelming ratings, Lyon, Lucas, and Senn were replaced by Port's friend Roxy Olin and Palermo's new co-worker Erin Kaplan in the second half of the first season. The series' second season saw the development of "Whitney Eve", and aired its final episode in July 2010 before being officially cancelled that October.[16][17]

In late 2010, Port made an appearance on the online series Hollywood Is Like High School with Money, for which she served as the executive producer.[18] The program additionally served as a promotional platform for her "Whitney Eve" collection.[19] In January 2011, Port was featured in a magazine spread in Maxim.[20] In February, Port released her first book True Whit: Designing a Life of Style, Beauty, and Fun.[21] Later that year, she hosted the Hulu-exclusive game show Genuine Ken.[22]

In 2012, Port was confirmed to join the judging panel of the eighth cycle of Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model, alongside fellow new hire Tyson Beckford and returning judges Elle Macpherson and Julien MacDonald. She left the program upon the conclusion of the season.[23] Port had a cameo role in the film What To Expect When You're Expecting, starring Jennifer Lopez.

At the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, MTV announced a reboot of The Hills entitled The Hills: New Beginnings, slated to premiere in 2019. Port was announced as part of the cast of the new series.[24][25][26]