From CNN to UnchainedTV: How Jane Velez‑Mitchell Pivoted to Vegan News and Animal Rights Storytelling
Before documenting conditions of animal cruelty and streaming award‑winning vegan cooking shows to millions worldwide, Jane Velez-Mitchell was a host of a primetime crime show on CNN Headline News, often appearing alongside or filling in for famed television personality Nancy Grace.
Velez-Mitchell, who has served as a CNN commentator, navigated courtrooms and covered trials that gripped the nation, including the high-profile O.J. Simpson case.
It’s no surprise that, through her extensive TV career, she honed the storytelling skills that would later shape her next venture.
In a video call with EIN Presswire, a large TV screen glowing in the background and a warm smile on her face, Velez-Mitchell explained how to access UnchainedTV, a free vegan news and entertainment channel that she founded several years ago.
She casually mentioned well-known figures she is closely connected to in the industry, including TMZ founder Harvey Levin, with whom she has worked with.
Velez-Mitchell also pointed to celebrities who have embraced veganism and have been featured on her network, some of whom may come as a surprise, such as boxing legend Mike Tyson.
Meanwhile, her decades in television, including a six-year stint covering stories for nationally syndicated shows like Celebrity Justice, laid the foundation for a different path within media, one that was the complete opposite of covering crimes.
Velez-Mitchell’s entrepreneurial venture created space for what seems to be a niche: a streaming network devoted entirely to animal rights, plant-based living, and environmental issues — topics that mainstream media don’t cover much.
Today, the former pescatarian turned vegan leads a team of volunteers and advocates passionate about UnchainedTV, which is a nonprofit.
Their goal is simple, outlined in a mission statement: to entertain viewers worldwide but also “ignite change through stories that matter — for animals, people, and the planet.”
The mission-driven media platform blends original programming with celebrity-driven content, including series like At Home with the Jenners, alongside award-winning shows recognized by the Taste Awards, often called the “Oscars of Food.”
Specifically, the show Kale Krew won “Best City or Regional Program” at the 16th annual awards in 2025, while New Day New Chef previously won two Taste Awards.
Today, much of Velez-Mitchell’s time is spent producing and curating stories that advocate for animal rights, climate change, and veganism — using the same rigor that once brought courtroom drama to living rooms to illuminate a very different kind of justice.
In an exclusive interview, the award-winning journalist and entrepreneur discussed her latest documentary, The Climate Healers, the moment that led her to embrace veganism, and why she says mainstream media has overlooked what she calls “the crime of the century.”
She also expanded on building UnchainedTV, pointing to its growth, award-winning programming, and more.
Q: You spent years covering some of the most high-profile criminal cases in the country. Was there a moment that pushed you to transition to animal rights and plant-based media?
I’ve reported on the trials of the Menendez Brothers, OJ Simpson, Phil Spector, Robert Blake, Michael Jackson, Casey Anthony, George Zimmerman, Jodi Arias, and others. But, the crime of the century has been ignored by the mainstream media. That is the industrialization of animal production. Every year, more than 80 billion cows, chickens, pigs, turkeys, lambs and goats are raised and slaughtered in conditions that are prison-like. It’s called factory farming. They live in CAFOs, which stands for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. These animals are just like our dogs and cats. They suffer enormously. The world has somehow decided that their suffering does not count. But, it does. We want to show people the truth.
Q: Was there a specific experience or realization that led you to fully commit your life and career to veganism?
I was raised in a mostly pescatarian household in Midtown Manhattan. Gradually, I became vegetarian. Then, in 1998, while I was working for a Disney-owned Los Angeles news station on the Paramount lot, in walks Howard Lyman, promoting his new book. He was the 4th generation cattle rancher, turned vegan activist, who’d gone on the Oprah show and revealed the horrors of the industry. She famously said his revelations just “stopped me cold from eating another burger.” The cattlemen sued Oprah but she won, declaring “free speech not only lives, it rocks.” After I interviewed Lyman, he and his publicist asked if, being a vegetarian, I still consumed dairy. I reluctantly admitted that I did. “Liquid meat,” they said. And, that was the moment I went vegan. I have not looked back. Best decision I ever made.
Q: UnchainedTV focuses on topics that many say don’t always receive adequate attention in mainstream media. When you launched it, did you feel you were filling a gap others had overlooked?
I started the UnchainedTV streaming and FAST channel network specifically because — having been in mainstream television news for more than 30 years — I saw firsthand that animal rights and the plant-based lifestyle were generally either ignored or denigrated by advertiser-based mainstream media. Why are these issues crucial? Because animal rights are human rights. It’s the key to solving the world’s most pressing problems, like climate change. The New York Times, reporting on an Oxford University study, said, “...vegans are responsible for 75 percent less greenhouse gases than meat-eaters.” That’s a climate solution! However, that story was not picked up by the other big media outlets. Then, there’s America’s leading killer, namely, heart disease. It’s generally caused by plaque buildup from cholesterol. All vegan products have zero cholesterol. Animals produce cholesterol, not plants. Also, most people have no idea that processed meats are carcinogenic, according to the World Health Organization and red meat is labeled “probably carcinogenic.” And, there’s world hunger. Globally, over 600 million people suffer from chronic hunger. We could feed them all if we redirected them to all of the soy, corn and other commodity crops we are currently feeding to billions of factory farmed animals.
Q: You’ve mentioned upcoming documentaries and new releases. Can you expand on any of those projects and what viewers can expect, whether they’ve already been released or are still in development?
We just shot another season of our popular vegan cooking series New Day New Chef, this time co-hosted by vegan movie star Nina Bergman, known for action films like Hell Hath No Fury. UnchainedTV’s latest documentary, debuting during LA Climate Week 2026, is entitled The Climate Healers and is focused on the work of famed systems engineer Dr. Sailesh Rao. Dr. Rao is working to engineer a global transition to a plant-based culture to avoid the oncoming climate catastrophe. The UN Secretary-General has already warned that humanity is in the process of shooting past the 1.5-degrees Celsius climate target set by the Paris Agreement and warned of “devastating consequences.” We are also doing several other series: Green Goddesses, about two actresses/activists on a series of adventures, Kale Krew, featuring fabulous vegan dining experiences and a still untitled new reality series about a lawyer/bodybuilder starting a vegan restaurant franchise.
Q: Describe your experience building a passionate team of volunteers and advocates. How did you go about constructing your team for a nonprofit, and have you brought on less-experienced or experienced journalists and producers?
Having worked on TV shows for some of the biggest names in news and entertainment — from CNN to CBS, Disney and Telepictures — I already knew how newsrooms and networks operate. The challenge was: how to staff ours. While UnchainedTV is known as the Vegan CNN/Netflix, we have a minuscule budget. So, we rely, to a large degree, on volunteers. I’m a volunteer and so are the chefs, show hosts and reality TV personalities we feature. While we do pay a small number of people for their technical expertise, they also work for a fraction of the going rate because they’re passionate about plant-based solutions. We have directors and editors — who have worked for the biggest networks in the world — helping us for a pittance because they, too, want to get the message out.
Q: Your programming has earned recognition from the Taste Awards, often called the “Oscars of Food.” What does that recognition mean for your mission, and where do you hope to take UnchainedTV next?
Awards are a great way to mainstream the plant-based lifestyle. Several of UnchainedTV’s series have won Taste Awards including: At Home with the Jenners, starring Brandon Jenner of Keeping Up with the Kardashians fame. Brandon, along with his wife Cayley, are passionately plant-based. Kale Krew has also been honored by the Taste Awards. Hosted by Nemanja Golubovic, owner of Chicago’s acclaimed Kale My Name restaurant, this series shows how the plant-based movement is growing exponentially. And, New Day New Chef, our celebrity-packed vegan cooking series, has been honored as well. Having been trained as a breaking news reporter, I treat every day like it’s all hands on deck. There is no time for complacency or a “don’t look up” attitude. Everyone at UnchainedTV behaves like we are in a race against time... because we are... for animals, people and the planet.