Crystal Kung Minkoff ( Kung; born February 4, 1983) is an American television personality, podcaster and entrepreneur. She is best known for appearing as a main cast member for three seasons on the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

show ''

The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'' (abbreviated as ''RHOBH'') is an American reality television series which has been broadcast on Bravo since October 14, 2010. Developed as the sixth installment of '' The Real Housewives'' franchise, i ...

'' (2021–2024).

Early life and education

Kung Minkoff was born in

Northridge, Los Angeles Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named Zelzah by settlers in 1908, the ...

Chinese immigrant Waves of Chinese emigration have happened throughout history. They include the emigration to Southeast Asia beginning from the 10th century during the Tang dynasty, to the Americas during the 19th century, particularly during the California go ...

parents. Her father was an

oral surgeon Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) is a surgical specialty focusing on reconstructive surgery of the face, facial trauma surgery, the mouth, head and neck, and jaws, as well as facial plastic surgery including cleft lip and cleft palate s ...

and her mother was a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which may include Parenting, caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; Sew ...

. She has one brother, Jeffrey Kung, who is best known for being a singer and

recording artist A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. Kung Minkoff claims to be a 76th generational descendant of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

. Kung Minkoff attained degrees in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

from the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

and completed a culinary education.

Career

Kung Minkoff co-founded Real Coco with her brother, a company that sells coconut products. She is a former cast member of ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'', joining in 2021, and had starred in a main capacity for three seasons. She is the first Asian American cast member on the ''Beverly Hills'' franchise. In 2022, Kung Minkoff made a guest appearance as the voice actor of Charisma in '' Zootopia+'', alongside fellow ''

Real Housewives ''The Real Housewives'' is an American reality television franchise that began on March 21, 2006, with ''The Real Housewives of Orange County''. Each installment of the franchise documents the personal and professional lives of a group of afflue ...

'' alum

Porsha Williams Porsha Dyanne Williams (born June 22, 1981) is an American television personality, singer, actress and activist. She starred on the reality series ''The Real Housewives of Atlanta'' from 2012 until 2021, rejoining the cast in 2024. She also sta ...

. In 2023, she guest starred in ''

History of the World, Part II ''History of the World, Part II'' is an American sketch comedy limited television series written and produced by Mel Brooks, Wanda Sykes, Nick Kroll, Ike Barinholtz, and David Stassen. The series serves as a sequel to the 1981 film written and ...

''. Kung Minkoff uses her social media platforms to share cooking videos and to advocate for the

Alzheimer's Association The Alzheimer's Association is a nonprofit voluntary health organization that focuses on Alzheimer's disease care, support and research. History Jerome H. Stone founded the Alzheimer's Association with the help of several family support groups ...

and the

Stop Asian Hate ''Stop Asian Hate'' was a slogan and name of a series of demonstrations, protests, and rallies against violence targeting Asians, Asian Americans, and others of Asian descent during the COVID-19 pandemic. It began in the United States in 2021 in ...

movement. In 2022, Kung Minkoff was paid an undisclosed sum by the

Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

to promote the

2022 Beijing Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...

on her social media. In April 2024, it was confirmed that Kung Minkoff would not be returning to ''The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'', after three seasons. As of October 2024, Kung Minkoff is set to co-host the ''Humble Brag with Crystal and Cynthia'' podcast alongside

Cynthia Bailey Cynthia Denise Bailey (born February 19, 1967) is an American model, reality television personality, podcaster and actress. Born and raised in Alabama, she moved to New York City at the age of 18 to pursue a modeling career. There, she signed a ...

, focusing on topics related to

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

, reality television and

celebrities Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

Personal life

Kung Minkoff married American filmmaker

Rob Minkoff Robert Ralph Minkoff (born August 11, 1962) is an American director, animator, and producer. He is best known for co-directing ''The Lion King'' (along with Roger Allers), and live-action films including ''Stuart Little (film), Stuart Little'' (1 ...

in 2007, and they have two children. She has openly expressed her struggles with

bulimia nervosa Bulimia nervosa, also known simply as bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating (eating large quantities of food in a short period of time, often feeling out of control) followed by compensatory behaviors, such as self-indu ...

and

body dysmorphia Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), also known in some contexts as dysmorphophobia, is a mental disorder defined by an overwhelming preoccupation with a perceived flaw in one's physical appearance. In BDD's delusional variant, the flaw is imagined ...

and advocates for increased awareness concerning

eating disorders An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kung Minkoff, Crystal 1983 births Living people 21st-century American businesswomen American people of Chinese descent American television personalities Businesspeople from Los Angeles Descendants of Confucius People from Northridge, Los Angeles Television personalities from Los Angeles University of California, Irvine alumni