Columbus Short is a talented former dancer and choreographer who made a cross-over to his life-long dream of becoming an actor in 2004. The ambitious actor also attempted to launch his music career which was intervened by the disturbances in his personal life. Particularly during Short’s stint on Scandal from 2012 to 2014, the breakdown of his second marriage pushed the actor into near bankruptcy as well as drug and alcohol addiction. However, Columbus has stayed resilient and has never gone through a year without working. He finally managed to regain stability in his personal and professional life by 2017.
Sun Sign
Virgo
Residence
He divides his time between his residences in –
- Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- Atlanta, Georgia
Nationality
Education
Columbus is a former student of Marcos De Niza High School in Tempe, Arizona, Millikan Performing Arts Magnet School in Sherman Oaks, California, and El Segundo Public High School in California.
He went back to Arizona for his 10th grade and after performing the role of the Cowardly Lion in Wizard of the Oz school production, he decided that he wanted to become a performer for the rest of his life.
Columbus finished his junior and senior school education from Orange County School of the Arts and graduated 2 months earlier to join the Broadway Tour of Stomp.
Manager
He is represented by –
- Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Beverly Hills, California
- Tracy Christian at TCA /Jed Root, Los Angeles
- Craig Emanuel at Loeb & Loeb (Entertainment Law Firm)
- Max Gousse at Artistry Worldwide Management
Genre
Hip Hop, R&B
Instruments
Vocals, Drums, Keyboard
Labels
Blockhouse Worldwide Entertainment
Girlfriend / Spouse
Columbus Short has dated –
- – Columbus was rumored to be dating the ace tennis player, Serena Williams, at one point in the early years of his career.
- Brandi – A woman named Brandi was Short’s first wife. The exact details of her identity are not known. Short’s first marriage ended in 2003 when he had a fling with pop sensation, Britney Spears. His wife Brandi was 8 months pregnant at that time. Columbus has a son from his first marriage. His name is not known but he frequently spends a lot of time with his grandmother, Janette.
- (2003) – Columbus formerly worked as Britney Spears’ back up dancer and choreographed her Onyx Hotel Tour in 2003. The dancer turned actor came clean in an interview stating that he did share a bed with Britney Spears while working with her but never consummated their relationship because someone else was always in the room. As their feelings started to become stronger for each other, Britney’s mom, Lynne, intervened and put an end to their romantic association. Columbus has confessed that his involvement with Britney also caused a lot of problems in his marriage that eventually ended in divorce.
- Tuere Tanee McCall (2005-2014) – Dancer Tanee shared in an interview that she met Columbus when both of them worked as dancers. Their relationship started way before Short’s commercially successful acting projects took off. The couple got married in 2005 and while Columbus was busy taking his acting career to the next level, Tanee took care of the domestic obligations. Together, they have a daughter named Ayla Short born in 2012. But after 6 years of marriage, trouble started brewing and Tanee filed for divorce for the first time in September 2013. The couple got separated but attempted to reconcile on several occasions. In April 2014, it was reported that Short held a knife to Tanee’s throat and threatened to commit suicide after killing her. This led to Tanee filing for a divorce a second and final time along with a restraining order against him. The actor was convicted of domestic abuse and his second marriage ended in 2014. Columbus denied engaging in domestic violence on The Show which aired in July 2018. He defended himself by stating that he was stuck in a toxic relationship with Tanee for many years which pushed him towards cocaine and alcohol abuse.
- Rasheeda Russell (2014) – Rasheeda met Columbus when both of them were on a vacation in Barbados. They became friends and their connection grew stronger upon returning to the United States. Rasheeda moved in with Columbus at his Atlanta home in Georgia from New York City to stay close to him and help him keep a track of his appointments and appearances. She told TMZ that she was not threatened by Short’s history of alleged domestic violence because he treated her like a queen and was even a bit submissive in their relationship.
- (2015-2016) – After a quiet break up with Rasheeda Russell due to undisclosed reasons, Short met former dancer /model turned best-selling author, Karrine, in the spring of 2015. They supposedly got married in 2016, going by the frequent announcements made by Karrine on her social media accounts, and Short introduced her to the world in a music video of a song called 50 Shades in 2016. Merely after a few weeks of marriage, Karrine released a video on social media declaring that she caught Columbus cheating on her and had dislodged him from her home because of the same reason. Their marriage was so short-lived that in subsequent interviews, Columbus started denying ever being married to Karrine.
- Aida Abramyan (2016-Present) – Next, Columbus got engaged to his publicist, Aida, in 2016 who works with Gorgeous PR. He had dated her on and off for many years prior to their engagement. He expressed his interest in getting married to her before the expected arrival of his 3rd child but did not make any formal announcement and decided to stay quiet about his personal life. The couple has a son named Denzel Short who was born in early 2017. Later, Columbus was sentenced to a month in jail for violating his probation in 2016 and Page 6 reported that he was sentenced to a year-long jail term in early 2018, supposedly, for violence against his partner, Aida. Short was released just after serving mere 34 days out of the 1-year term in March 2018. His partner, Aida, has continued to show her love and support for Columbus on her personal social media pages and has firmly denied being subjected to any physical abuse as well.
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Heavily tattooed forearms
- Usually maintains a very close-cropped hairstyle with a trimmed beard
- Soothing, deep voice
Brand Endorsements
In his teenage years, Columbus was cast in TV Commercials for several brands such as –
- Denny’s Restaurant
- Mountain Dew
- Nike
- Pizza Hut
Religion
His personal religious beliefs are not confirmed.
However, Columbus was raised in a devout Christian family and performing as a part of the Church choir in his early childhood was where he first honed his musical talent.
Best Known For
- Being a series regular character as the lawyer, Harrison Wright, in the hit ABC drama series, Scandal (2012-2014) for 3 seasons
- Getting cast in the commercially successful multi-starrer movies like Stomp the Yard, Armored, and The Losers
As a Singer
He independently released a single on SoundCloud called Gave Ya in 2014. Later, he released his first music video of a song called Burning Bridges in 2015. The single was to be a part of an upcoming EP release that never materialized due to the disturbance in Short’s personal life.
First Film
Columbus made his theatrical film debut as a dancer in the dance drama film, You Got Served, in 2004.
First TV Show
He made his first TV show appearance on an episode of the series ER in 2005.
Personal Trainer
- Short usually likes to train at the Muscle Pharm training facility in Los Angeles and exercises in the supervision of his trainers there, one of whom is Taylor Ramsdell.
- His training regime involves a mix of fight training or kickboxing, CrossFit conditioning (often using sled pushes /pulls & battle ropes) as well as conventional weight training.
Columbus Short Favorite Things
- Sports – Football, Basketball, Snowboarding
- Movie – Back to the Future Part II (1989)
- Actors – , ,
Source –
Columbus Short Facts
- Short learned to play the drums at the age of 3.
- Columbus relocated to Los Angeles at the age of 5 and got involved in youth theater.
- He knows fellow actress since the age of 10.
- After performing the role of the ‘Cowardly Lion’ in Wizard of the Oz school production, he decided that he wanted to become a performer for the rest of his life.
- Columbus’ mother formerly used to run a talent management company and was a background jazz singer in her youth.
- Other than a drummer, dancer, and actor, Columbus was also a martial arts performer during his teens.
- At the age of 17, Columbus beat hundreds of performers to get cast in Stomp, the world-famous percussion group.
- Apart from Britney Spears, Short was also a former background dancer for .
- Columbus bagged his role in Scandal without an audition. The showrunners also paid for his rehab while he was battling drug and alcohol addiction but they eventually had to let him go after he was convicted of violence in 2 different cases.
- In a 2012 interview, the actor shared that he is very environmentally conscious. He often buys hemp lotions, shampoo, and detergent and prefers using bio-degradable cups and plates.
- Follow Columbus Short on , , and .
Featured Image by Columbus Short / Instagram
Facts of Columbus Keith Short Junior
- Gender Male
- full nameColumbus Keith Short Junior
- nicknamesCShort
- birthplaceKansas City, Missouri, U.S.
- Date of Birth September 19, 1982
- Age 41 years 11 months
- Horoscope Virgo
- Lucky Number 12
- Lucky Stone Sapphire
- Lucky Color Green
- Best Match for Marriage Taurus, Capricorn
- ethnicity / ethnic backgroundBlack
- nationalityAfrican-American
- net worth$2 Million
- professionDancer, Choreographer, Rapper /Singer, Actor, Producer
- weight68 kg or 150 lbs
- height5 ft 9 in or 175 cm
- hair colorBlack
- eye colorDark Brown
- body type / buildSlim
- high schoolMarcos De Niza High School
- fatherColumbus Keith Short
- brothersJohn Rancipher
- favorite moviesBack to the Future Part II (1989)