Gladstone Christie, his Jamaican grandfather, was one of 500 Caribbean aircrew serving with the British Royal Air Force during WWII, afterward relocating to England as part of the Windrush generation.

After spending the first decade of his life in England, Barnett attended Garden Lakes Elementary and Westview High School, in Avondale, Arizona, before Channel One News hired him in 2001 relocating to Los Angeles.

[5] The youth oriented Channel One hired Barnett, their youngest anchor/reporter at age 18, to work alongside Maria Menounos, Seth Doane, Gotham Chopra among others.

While also in college, Barnett covered Barack Obama's breakout DNC keynote speech, reported from the United Nations when Colin Powell presented flawed WMD intelligence and from the US Capitol during passage of the Homeland Security Act.

CNN initially assigned Barnett to report on the rise in influence of social media and in 2008 he was part of the most viewed streaming event in history during President Obama's Inauguration on CNN.com.

As a CNN foreign correspondent, he was based in Johannesburg, South Africa covering the death of Nelson Mandela the Oscar Pistorius murder trial and various miner strikes.

As Barnett asked then-Presidential advisor Jared Kushner about his relationship with the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, a Secret Service agent "physically prevented" him.

As the Washington Post reported, "Barnett can be seen attempting to ask Kushner a question as he makes his way off the plane, before a Secret Service agent appears to block his way.

[17] As part of a joint virtual convention between NABJ and NAHJ, Barnett asked Biden if he had taken a cognitive test, as his opponent, President Donald Trump, insisted.

[21] Forbes wrote this places "Barnett in a class of anchors that include his colleagues Nate Burleson and Vladimir Duthiers, along with Craig Melvin, Al Roker, Bryant Gumbel, and Michael Strahan.