Jenifer Lewis Is Surviving & Telling It All

Before we get into anything, we have to be clear about who is sitting in this chair. Jennifer Lewis has appeared in over 250 television episodes and more than 60 films. Broadway, Disney, voiceover royalty, two best-selling memoirs, decades of activism. She's played everybody's mama, everybody's auntie, everybody's matriarch, and somehow still managed to be the loudest and most honest person in the room. They call her the mother of black Hollywood. And that's not a title you win, that's a title you earn. Baby, this is Kiki Palmer. No matter what we're doing in the car, just chilling. Pop on Amazon Music, sit back and listen. Life, love, sex, science, covering it all. Especially the bad, cause money always involved. No matter what it is, we gon' make it make sense. Nothing else to do but kick it with the homies and kids. So grab you a drink and a snack, you enjoy it. Get into the vibe that only one can see. You know it's your thing. Baby, this is, this is Kiki. Baby, this is Kiki Palmer, yeah. Guys, I'm so excited. She needs no introduction. I love her, I admire her, I wanna be her. Who doesn't? It is the Jennifer Lewis. Oh my God! Kiki, child, you are a little mini-me. Yes! Everybody knows Kiki is a little mini-me. Oh my gosh, you remember when we did Madea Family Reunion? Oh my God, Madea Family Reunion. Is that the one where I fell in the grave? Is that the one you fell in the grave? I know that you were the wedding planner. The wedding planner. But I fell in the grave in Meet the Browns. Yes. Tyler Perry. Oh my gosh. You know, Tyler had just started doing those 100 episodes a day and he was exhausted. No, he was exhausted and I went over to him. He was in his director's chair. I said, "Tyler, Tyler, can I fall in the grave?" He said, "Listen." He said, "Listen. Just dig her a hole. I'm too tired to go back and forth with Jennifer. Dig her a hole." And then he went to bed. He came back, I had fell in that bitch. It was fabulous. Oh my gosh. I will never forget watching you on that set. I had already loved you, seeing you in so many movies. I know. I mean, whether it was. Well, tell them when we first really, really saw each other. I'm getting on an elevator going up. She's getting off an elevator. I don't know what premiere or something it was. And she got off the elevator and saw me. She went and ran and thank God I was young then. You jumped up, your head went right here and both of your little legs went around my waistline. That's when I had a waistline. Girl, and you just went on and on about, you know, Fresh Prince, whatever you'd seen me on. Everything. It was just adorable. Everything. Because, you know, I've always loved you. And also that's what I'm telling you. When we did Medea's from Reunion, I didn't have a lot of stuff with you, but I would see you and I would watch you. And I was always watching and observing all of you guys, watching Tyler and seeing. So then when I would see you guys later in the years after all that time had gone by and I'd been growing up and I had that energy because you guys showed me something. You know what I mean? I got to see a front page, front, you know, seat of how incredible you are. Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did. We were all out there, too. We were all out there doing everything. I was so excited to be in show business and there was no job I wouldn't take. You know, you guys have a choice. We had to take the jobs that were offered. There wasn't a lot going around, but I was there in line with that it factor, honey. Snatching. Come on, Jackie's back. Snatching the gifts. Jackie's back. You know, girl, uh-uh. Jackie's back. And that leg. Jackie's back with that leg. The high kicks. Oh, my gosh. It's insane. Girl, that was a scene that was cut. Robert Townsend cut that scene because we had a better scene. But, oh, my God. One day where I had to do the round, it's called a roundhouse kick. That's so amazing. Bop, da-da-da-da, bop, da-da-da-da, and that's my foot kicking my face. Bop, da-da-da-da, bop, bop, bop. So, the next day when I had to do it, my leg was actually sore. Yeah. Now, you got to understand, I was very young then and I didn't get sore. But after all them bop, da-da-da-da, bop, bop, bop, it was over. I love bop, da-da-da-da, bop, bop. And that scene in Jackie's back where I said, "I'm going to show those bastards I can steal." My leg was so, that was so real. Oh, my God. 'Cause my leg was so sore. Now, Jackie's back, we never knew that that, yeah. Shout out to Robert Townsend. Oh, Robert Townsend. Mm, you know, we had one date, he was a fool. He should have come in the house. I don't know, honey, God had taken him down 'cause, you know, I heard he was like, you know, mm. Yeah, yeah, no, he was divorced and we went out on one little date and he didn't come in. I felt sorry for him, honey, 'cause, you know, I was Jennifer Lewis, but, you know, I was scary. Oh, my gosh, the guys are so intimidated with that energy. Yeah, they're so scary, God. You know, child, please, who on Earth can sleep with me? That's not gonna happen. It's not gonna be any sleeping anyway. I just want you to know this is the most uncomfortable chair I've ever slept in. I done seen you go through so many moons. I know. Start over, all the way over. Let me see. See, here's the black thing showing. Uh-uh, y'all ain't keepin' up. You look fabulous. And, you know, you didn't want to do my pre-show pull-up. I'm gonna ask you a question, so we're gonna ask 'em to do live. Let's hear the bull. Go ahead. Let's get into it. Okay, so your sun sign is an Aquarius. This is absolutely fitting. When the moon is in the seventh house. Come on, Extensive. The age of Aquarius, honey. And I feel that you feel very Aquarius. You do, right? You resonate with that sign? You know, look, the only thing I know about Aquarians is we're humanitarians. Highly intelligent. And loyal. Yes. But, you know, I never got into the, what do you call them? The signs. The signs, everything. You know, I was every sign. They said, "What's your rise?" And I'm like, "Bitch, I am the sun. I am the sun rising. I am the moon rising." Somebody said, "Oh, well, such and so lives on the ocean, but I need a boat." I said, "Bitch, I am the ocean." You know, you got to say, "I am" in these things. You do. And have no arrogance behind it. Without a doubt. And it's funny, because your moon is an Aries, and your rising is a Sagittarius. By the way, my moon is a Sagittarius. Come on, moon! You know, so we have some connections here. Living. Living. What are you most grateful for? talking about. Huh? What am I most grateful for? What are you most grateful about today? Health. Amen to that. Health. Listen, without health. It's wealth. You know, I have it in my trust. If something happens to me, if after two weeks I'm not smiling, pull that plug. I don't want to be here if I ain't laughing. that, you got to laugh at this baby. You do. You got to laugh at what's going on. You got to laugh at what's going on in this world. You got to find your, your nest in grace. And that grace is nature. You know, people, I think the greatest sin is boredom. Bitch, there's a tree over there. You know, people joke about that tree story I have about that man, one of my fiances who looked at me. We were in the car. And I saw a beautiful tree that bloomed. It was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful tree. And I was like, what's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? What's going on? I don't know. And the color pink. It was gorgeous. Oh my God. And I said, oh my God, that's a beautiful tree. And he said, you say that about every tree. Okay. The shit was over instantly. Yeah. And everybody's talking about, oh, Jennifer Lewis broke off an engagement because of a tree. Bitch, you know that shit had to build. Yeah. It had to be. It had to be little things that keep. And it's representative. Eating at your joy. Yeah. And eating at your joy. I'm like, honey, I'm writing a book titled Walking the Tree. Walking in my joy. You don't belong here. You talking about your fiance. One of your fiances. Listen. What's a relationship non-negotiable for you? Non-negotiable. Girl, nothing is non-negotiable with me. I don't negotiate. You come in, you tell the truth, you be nice and have a good time or go the home. Life's too short. I'm 69. I got what? 30 summers left. Go yourself. You don't get that. Nobody gets that kind of time. I'm not going to give you time from me. Okay. This belongs to the next generation, bitch. I conquered a dream. I came from nothing. I ate dirt. Do you understand? I have lived the spectrum. I've been poor and I've been rich. Rich is better. Now, don't ask me for no money. Okay. Don't ask me for no money. Anyway. Oh my gosh. No, but in truth, in truth. You know, oh God. I'm not going to be a rich man. I'm going to be a rich man. You know. Oh God. No. I am not in a relationship with a man and somebody, ooh girl, somebody did some **** on the internet. Ooh, that mother **** ripped me. I ain't never been ripped. I'm like, bitch, I'm trying to save your life. But wait a minute. He went off. He said, wait a minute. It's the mood. It's the con dude you're talking about? Oh no. That con artist, honey. That's a whole thing. Girl, I should just come on here and done the one woman shit. Oh no. Girl, I should just come on here and done the one woman show for you. Period. I don't even know why I'm sitting here talking ****. Here's the thing. Because I want the whole tea. Oh yes. No. No. That's it. If you want to talk about, let's talk about that fiance first. I want y'all to know, I didn't break off a relationship because he said one thing bad about nature. But truly with me, you get one shot to insult nature. Bitch. The **** trees give us the oxygen to breathe. What is wrong with you? First of all, I'm Jennifer ****. Go away. He was just too negative though. I actually really relate to this. He was very negative. Because it sounds silly, but when you think about it like ****, I can't talk about the tree being beautiful. It's hard for people who are not joyful to be joyful. That whole thing, that adage where they say misery loves company. People don't know what to do with joy. And they certainly don't know what to do with bliss. And it's gratitude that I'm hearing too. When you've done more the kind of work I've done, girl, I went and treated bipolar disorder. I went and took care of myself. I did the work because I wanted to enjoy the fruits of my labor. I have the it factor, Kiki. So do you. You don't throw that away. Do you know how many of us have killed ourselves because we couldn't handle it in this business? Come on now. Run with me, baby. We don't need to name them. Yeah, no. I didn't want to kill myself because I was bipolar and so manic. No, I'm going to kill myself. Oh, are you insane? How did you even discover that you were bipolar? Like what would let you know that maybe there's something going on? No, I had a nervous breakdown. You did? I went down after all the deaths from AIDS, the AIDS epidemic. This is in the. Yeah, this is early 90s. Early 90s. Right at the height of it. Oh, my goodness. 89, 90. I'd known 200 people that died. And when I tell you they died like flies, they dropped like flies. I mean, you'd come home and three would be dead. You'd come home, five would be dead on the phone machine. It was a time. It didn't make sense because we were too young to experience that kind of death. You can deal with that when you're wiser and older and your older friends are dying. But that young, we went out 20s for God's sake. All the boys in the Broadway shows, you know, everybody was gay. We were all carrying on and acting out. And here's the thing. I, yeah, I had a nervous breakdown and a girlfriend. And whom I respected looked at me and said, what's wrong with you, Jennifer? I'm like, bitch, I'm Jennifer Lewis. Nothing wrong with me. Yeah. She said, Jen, you might need help. So, yeah, but I went in kicking and screaming because I admired her. And you listen to people you respect. Yeah. But when you're in that manic state, you ain't listening to nobody. You just want to be high. You want to be, you want to be seen. Yeah. It's a, there's a desperation attached to that neediness. So anyway, no, I went in and got treatment. Yeah. And I'm doing pretty damn good right now. I'm kinky. Yeah. If you do the work, because it doesn't matter what you are, it will always come down to who you are. What did you find that really helped you? Because obviously a lot of times when people are dealing with disorders, bipolar and things of the mind, you might get on a medication and it might take everything. No, you have to monitor it. You have to be willing. First of all, you have to want to be well. You can't go, oh, this is hurting me. Well, if it's hurting, go and get it managed. Like when I started medication, I, I got dry mouth. Yeah. And I was like, oh, what the is that? I went to the dentist and he said, you know, he said, did you just take a new medication? I said, yeah. He said, well, this is one of the side effects. He said, so lower the milligrams. Yeah. You got to get. Yeah. You got to wait for your levels. Every human body is different. But the thing is, is people don't have the patience. They're like, oh, I don't like the way this makes me feel. Okay. Well, then if you want to speed in a car and around and kill somebody on the freeway, I think it's worth taking a little time to manage these meds. If meds is what you, the way you want to go. I never promote that. I promote treatment. Go and talk to somebody. If somebody touched you, somebody molested you and you're not saying anything about it. This is all in my one woman. I was going to say, this is something that you also talked about, what you went through with your pastor growing up. Oh, yes. I was molested. Which is a horrible. Oh, no, girl. Please. I was molested by the pastor of my church and I confronted him after, I think, about seven months in therapy. I was able to make that call. So how old were you when this happened? I was like 13. Wow. And he pulled over the car and tried to kiss me and touch me. I was like, oh. But, you know, yeah, I pushed that back, honey. I was like, not today, bitch. Not me. But anyway, no, it's real, girl. I was like, and yeah, but, you know, it doesn't matter how it happens. It matters that it happens. Yeah. And you are pretty much damaged by it for the rest of your life unless you get some help. But I say to women out there, the first thing is you've got to tell somebody and if they don't listen. Tell somebody else. And guess what? If they don't listen, tell somebody else. You take care of you. I always tell people, take care of yourself first. Yeah. Then you can give back to the world. What's a question that no one's ever asked you in an interview or a question that you wish people would ask you? They've asked me everything because I have no secrets. There's no shame in my game. I talk about everything in my memoir, The Mother Black Hollywood, everything. From my addictions to molestations, abortions, childhood abuse. Yeah, bitch, it happened. You know, I slept with 63 men. Now, that was fabulous. Oh, my gosh. Give me some of that. Oh, yeah. No, you don't want that. You know what I wish I had known? I wish I'd known my body was a temple. I didn't know it. I know it now. And. What let you know that maybe, oh, this is a problem? I'm listening. Oh, no, I never knew it was a problem. I thought everybody knew. Everybody was, hey, titties and hips for my book. But anyway, yeah. No, no, no. I didn't know it was a problem. The addiction. Look, when you get off a Broadway stage and all that ovations and applause and people praising you and the mobbage and the homage, what are you going to do? You're going to either go stick something in your arm, you're going to go smoke something, you're going to drink something to come down from that high. So I used to just go. Find a gorgeous man and f*** out of him. What are you going to do? Hey. I mean, that's all. That's what I did. I would have sex. Sex was the drug. And it wasn't until everybody, when life got real and the AIDS epidemic hit where I went, wait a minute. Wait a minute. That's got to be more to life than just me. Clawing at the void of who am I and what am I? Yeah. Let's let's how about we go find out, Jenny? Let's go find out who you are. Let's go find out where you belong. Let's go find out why you came here. Let's go find out who you can help. Let's go find out who you love. Let's go find out what love is. Let's go do the work. And how did you do? How did you what did that look like for you? Because I feel like we're all clawing at that, especially now in this time. You speak so much about how, you know, political democracy, all these kinds of things that are actually really a part of what I think while we all feel so alienated, we all are feeling just like, no, there's no system we can trust the institutions that are here. We are no longer trusting and we're questioning and it's making us all feel completely uncertain. And so those human questions, those existential questions have become even more paramount because we are slipping into apathy. So how do you? How do you decide? Like, how do you get to to know that you can be the person that goes out there and author this yourself? Listen, I may get a lot of flack for this response, but, you know, I don't care. I'm going to be 70 years old next year. I don't care what nobody thinks about me. I give everything I have. Here's what I say to all that is going on. OK, so the road trip is happening. All right. The snacks are packed. Somebody already has the playlist ready and you already know the music is about to be popping. OK, and the kids have been asking, are we there yet? Since before we left the driveway as someone who travels by car frequently with her child, I know what will make or break that trip is what you pull up to at the end of it. Because after me and Leo have been in that car for six hours, baby, we are not trying to arrive at just anything. We want to walk into. A home. And that's exactly why I like booking stays on Airbnb. When you get to a place that actually feels like somewhere you can live, the whole energy shifts. Now we have a space to spread out a kitchen where I can throw some together if I want to a porch where I can sit, breathe and come back to myself after that drive. That's the reset you need. The trip doesn't end when you arrive. It's just getting started. And when you book with Airbnb, that's when the trip really begins. I try to keep myself aligned in a state of grace. It's going to take a lot of love to balance out all of this hate. We cannot become them. We can't run from it. You can't go and cower in a corner and say, oh, this is not going to affect me. No, it's coming for your ass, too. all of it's coming for your ass even if it's an aunt or mother or sister that you love a brother that's not gonna have that health care anymore it's coming to your door it's gonna come to everybody's door and I say this to everyone live while you live live stand up where you can don't sit on your ass and let everybody else fight you call a whole bunch of friends and you go out there and stand up for the next generation yes I'm talking to you and make sure it's on me right now you do your part we've had a good run now we gotta run for these kids you don't get to sit down on the couch and think this is gonna pass over it's not and what do you say to those of us especially you know the marginalized that go out there and they're on the front lines and they're losing their lives they're going to jail they're being sent away because I feel like they're going to jail they're being sent away because I feel like they're going to jail they're being sent away because I feel like they're going to jail they're being sent away because I feel like I find that energy with myself especially after having my son where you get to this point and you're just like I'm getting emotional about it because I get scared about people dying okay okay you know what I'm saying like I don't want to tell my queer friends to go out there and stand on the front line so they can lose their life I don't want to tell my Latinx friends I don't want to tell well I want you to hear me though hear this it's not the front line it's standing up wherever you are you don't go out and stand in front of somebody with ice and go girl you don't do all that you you don't act out you don't be stupid there's a way to stand up without standing in front of a gun there is a way to stand up you write your congressmen you write your senators you make the phone calls you send the emails do your part go to your local meetings run for office wow do your part stand up where you are y'all see me at the piano that's my way I can't go out on the street no more I'm 69 you I can't run like I used to run I fell in Africa I don't have the legs I used to have I can still kick somebody's ass though don't get me wrong how about that you gotta love me but listen uh do your part wherever you are I think it's important that we hear this because we get caught up in this one form of activism and then we become fighting amongst one another because it's like well you ain't doing enough you're not doing enough you're not doing enough but it's like people are fighting in the ways that they know how thank you and you do your part this is your universe too we're all scared for our children oh but I say this it's okay to be scared but you must you must be unafraid remember the price our ancestors paid kiki I don't know where I get my confidence from I don't know where I get my it's a blessing I know it's I don't know how I've sustained in this business I don't know how I even got to be 69 but here I am and I feel better than I ever have I'm so happy in my life I was with Michelle Obama I know you were too and I was telling I'm so happy yeah I'm so happy right now I'm not gonna let the world of ice and this one and that one with my everyday life and take my joy but I'm gonna stand up wherever I am my my next song begins with this lyric 35.9 million people did not vote in 2024 who the is talking once again 35.9 I'm sorry I didn't mean to scream but who the talk who the could say anything and I'm sitting here going 35 you gotta love me here let's start that again just in case you want to edit it out for me you can keep it yeah how about you attain your team nobody talks when Jennifer you bitch no you get it that's the stupid gonna save my life in Africa come over here get on the camera come on you know you want to come out show your daughter her daughter's impressed get the over here Lori talking I've never seen nobody but I'll tell you one thing she got that helicopter to land over here I've ever talked about because I knew you'd want to talk about the voting so and they were talking about the voting so I knew you'd want to talk about the voting so and they were talking about the voting so and they were talking about the voting so I'm trying to say I don't give a about 40 go sit your white ass down somewhere come sit down she just told her to come listen she just wants me to cover this is my fat ass listen Lori saved my life Kiki you guys you have to tell the story about how you fell 10 feet hurt your hip had to get on the plane to what is it Nairobi what break it on down what happened what was happening but I'm gonna go quick because it's a long ass story okay we're in for it we got we got to the hotel in the in Tanzania in the Serengeti Lori was exhausted from me acting a goddamn fool all day I mean you know you can imagine why do we go on the trip to have a good time I said come on go to Africa with me girl we'll have the best time stupid bitch so anyway listen I knew she was white but I took her anyway so listen my babies you know the world came we can't even joke like that hold on honey you're in my life you ain't that cute all right now listen listen so we get to the hotel she's exhausted we done flown from Rwanda we've been up there hiking with the silverback gorillas and you know one of them slapped the shit out of me I was like okay babe you know it was from another life probably slept with but listen let me take that out don't put that in somebody say that bitch is in the beach that's all I need now listen girl they'll put anything on the internet go ahead say something say something now listen she's over there with a hand over her mouth she can't believe y'all don't cut this shit and I'll slice her dick off y'all tell him honey get it up or get stabbed now listen I pray to god my therapist don't see this shit girl my therapist will put me on so much shit that bitch will raise the milligram so high if she see this interview don't don't publish this please now listen so okay listen so we get there she goes to bed she goes back in her room goes to bed now I ain't been back there because I run out to the waterhole where the little elephant is she's uh rolling around in the mud and uh I named a little Keisha a little elephant look Keisha I said roll baby you ain't rolling in the mud baby roll baby and you know the the Maasai warriors were standing around going I hope she don't jump her ass in that waterhole because it's deeper than she thinks anyway so the sun went down in the Serengeti okay and when the sun goes down there ain't no street lights in that bitch hey so my young African butler and I went to my room that sat out in the lap of luxury you know money okay yeah yeah hey hey hey don't ask me for nothing that's me for no money all right now good for you so girl I get out there she's going to bed she's back there in her room and I'm like oh my god I'm going to bed I'm going to bed and I'm getting ready to go to bed you know I'm naked you know the butler has left of course oh would you get it anyway so white people anyway listen girl they gonna say Jennifer Lewis is a racist by the way so I'm getting ready to go to bed I'm naked the butler's gone I told him to stay but I didn't want to get in too much trouble now listen walking on so I got out on my deck I saw an infinity pool I got out on my deck I saw an infinity pool I got out on my deck I saw an infinity pool so I went out there oh so let me go see the infinity pool so I'm just walking on my deck la-di-da-di-da-di-da and I put on the back the hotel robe but I'm naked yeah so I'm la-di-da-di-da-di-da walking and all of a sudden in pitch black there was an unsecured gate oh my god that sounds like a lawsuit unsecured gate did we sue her ten figure I got so much money I'm bleeding it no I'm kidding we'll talk we'll talk about that later now listen listen listen so you fell ten feet down and what I remember when you fell and what do you remember when you hit the ground when I hit the ground darling that impact I can still feel it I still got a lot of post-traumatic stress oh my gosh I'm so it was a dry ravine boulders bricks stones snakes that that and that sharp grass you see the uh lion stalking through that ain't soft she had to later on that night she had to pick that out of my back girl I fell like a ain't no sense in me lying I fell kiki she's dead so I'm laying down there in the dark I'm down down there in the dark going in and out of a consciousness. Oh, my God. And I don't know what the f*** just happened. Jennifer. But I know I can't move my body. Oh, my God. Because I try to get up. You know, I've done body work all my life. But I couldn't move my body. God damn, Kiki. That was so scary. You know, I didn't know to be scared yet because I don't go instantly scared. I'm an alpha, bitch. You fail, bitch, get the f*** up and get out. Yeah. Climb back up. You can't see, but go on up there anyway. So when I realized I couldn't move, God damn. You know one of my things? I'm going to say this. I've never said this before. One of the things about me is I hate people to wake people up when they're asleep. Let people sleep. We got to sleep. Come on, ready to go. No f***ing I'm not. And you know that's the only thing there's no cure for is sleep deprivation. Oh, my gosh. Did you know that? No. I can't catch up on no sleep, you f***. Wait a minute. So anyway. Wait, wait, wait. Real quick. Real quick. So what happens? You just die because you're sleepy? Yeah, you just die. Anyway, so listen. Okay, okay. Okay, okay. Listen. I always say listen 15 times to my friend and then I can't remember what the f*** I was going to say. So anyway, I'm down there on the ground. And I don't want to wake her up. She was so tired. I'm f***ed. I can't move. I think I'm getting ready to die. Do you have your phone on you? No, f***. No, I told you I'm naked. With the flimsy-ass hotel robe on. My a** is out, by the way. The hotel robe came off. My a** is up in the night air. Oh, no, b***h. I'm naked on the ground in the Serengeti. And here comes a goddamn hippo. So anyway, I woke her up. Hippo? I woke her up. By screaming. I was like, Laurie! And, you know, she runs around like a Jewish white woman of leisure. So basically, I screamed, Jewish white woman of leisure! Ha! And guess what she said? But the truth is, I went, Laurie! And she went, Yeah. That b***h was doing her nails. Yeah. I'm like, b***h, get down here. I'm dying, you stupid b***h. Run! I said, Laurie. Because the next stop on our vacation was the Seychelles Islands. I said, Laurie, we ain't going to the Seychelles. Well, that got her up. She didn't care that I was dying. She came running. She said, where are you? I said, I'm down here, b***h. I'm f***ing broke. I'm f***ing broke. Put my hip, Laurie, out! And she ran to the lobby. And when she ran to the lobby, I was scared. Vulnerable. These are adjectives you don't use to describe Jennifer Lewis. So all of a sudden, I started hallucinating. Oh, no. The clouds came out over and a full moon appeared. So then, I could see where I was. I woke up to see in that moonlight wild animals grunting, snorking, snorting. They were f***ing and all kind of s***. They were hunting. Everything was going on. So, I was mooning the moon in mating season. Oh, yeah. So, I'm like, what the f***? Oh, my gosh. So, you know, I couldn't see the animals before the moon, but I heard them. And if there's one thing I know, I know what f*** sounds like. So, I started hallucinating and a hippopotamus approach. Oh, no. Oh, yeah. I knew from my research that this was an animal that had eaten more humans than any other. Willie. So, I screamed. Hey, you fat b***h. You ain't eating s*** over here, you fat-ass hippopotamus. And have you heard of Ozempic? Oh. No. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then the hippo left. He said, f*** you, b***h. He left. I got to stand. I'm laying on the ground in pitch black. I mean, there's a moonlight, but I feel then something. No. No, no, no. I feel some fingers, some little fingers or something down by my private area. Girl, I looked down. It was three. Three pink booty baby baboons. You a liar. Yeah, I swear to God. And I told him. I said, now listen. I said, listen. I know you little f***ers have poor night vision, but I hope you see that sign down there. It's been down there for years. It says out of order. Out of order is crazy. Yeah. So, the little pink booty baboons, I told him, I said, I'm sure you don't know being little pink booty baboons and all, but my name is Jennifer Lewis, and I am an award-winning actress from the United States. They said, yeah, yeah, yeah. We sent you on Fresh Prince. How good is this story? That's pretty much the show. Let me shut the f*** up. Oh, my gosh. But anyway, the real story is it's so good. She ran for help. The Maasai warriors came and rescued me because they were the only ones that could come down there with the animals. Oh, my gosh. And then she made them land the helicopter. They didn't want to land the helicopter because it was UNESCO. You can't stress out the animals. It was the migration. And she told them, this one right here, you'll land that helicopter or she'll wake up and blow this bitch up. And you don't want that. And by the way, do you have any idea who's on that goddamn floor? And that's when I woke up because I figured I was being introduced. I went, oh, oh. And I heard them say, we've got to get her to Kenya. I said, well, then call Obama. Obama will send a plane to get me out of Africa. If Meryl Streep can get out of Africa, so can I, you know. So it was all that. Oh, my gosh. Well, we got to give applause to Lori. Yeah, and go get out. She loves the attention. Get out. That's my girl, honey. That bitch saved my life. She saved my life. After things like this happen to you, because obviously this is like an amazing way to alchemize, when do you start putting material like the one you just did together? Like, how do you start writing about traumatic events? See, listen here. Listen very carefully. What I knew when I couldn't walk for 13 months, the great Jennifer Lewis, bedridden, forced to become an observer of life. A human being opposed to a human doing. I got to watch life. You know, they say amazing grace, and I say to you, grace is amazing. During that recovery, I took an imaginary water hose and filled every room in my house with liquid gratitude. And in the wheelchair, to the walker, to the crutches, to the cane, I swam in it. I didn't know how not to come back. You hear me, little girl? I don't know how to be a victim. I don't even know what that is. When the helicopter landed, when the helicopter was lifting up off the ground, I knew I was on a helicopter, but I was in such shock, I couldn't hear the helicopter. But what I did hear, I heard my soul screaming, whatever this is, Jenny, you'll come back. I don't know what you done done to yourself, but you'll come back. And I'm going to tell you, I journaled every single one of your stories. I journaled every single one of your stories. day a newfound victim. You cry all you want, but you will not become a victim. And my goal was to get that high kick back. And I got it back. I most certainly did. I couldn't separate my knees for four months. Now, that was karma. But on a serious note, girl, please. My fears, all these old physical therapists, I had about seven different physical therapists over three years. They come in my house and go, God damn, I never met nobody like you. Because they'd say, give me 20. And I'd say, no, I'm going to give you 30. You understand? But I mean, I think this is quite unbelievable, almost insane when you think about people having these kinds of falls, let alone breaking their hip. So 13 months. And in that time were you, you know, you talk about being a human being as opposed to human doing. So were you just in the room? Were you thinking about what you were writing? Oh, I was writing. I was certainly writing the one woman show. See, that's an aspect of my talent that a lot of people have not seen. Only people in the theaters, in the clubs, in the universities. Most of these over the years have seen me on stage. Yeah. Girl, I'm a monster on stage. That's where I live. Don't give me an audience. Whatever you do. When I was getting ready for this, I didn't even realize that you worked with Bette Midler on stage. Yeah, I was a harlot with Bette Midler, one of her backup singers in 1983. I did 46 concerts with her. And I assure you, there are 46 stories. She was fabulous. We're still friends. Oh, my gosh. We're still good friends. I love to hear that. She's always been supportive of my career. She calls me, Jennifer. Jennifer, how are you? I say, I'm okay, Bette. All right, Jennifer. That's my girl. You've taken so many barriers, television, Broadway. You've earned the title as the mother of black Hollywood, but you've always stayed visible, vocal, and unapologetic. When you think about the young women that are coming up behind you, what do you hope that your career made possible for them? I want them to, first of all, I want them to read my memoir because I wrote it for you. I wrote it for you. I wrote it for you and all of you to witness my journey through mental illness, my journey through conquering a dream. You see, I wanted to be a star, but being a star back then meant something other than what it means today. You had to have talent. You had to be Sammy, Judy. You had to be Pearlie Mae. Wow. Mom's Mabley. You had to be Sinatra. You had to be Streisand. Now you can just f*** somebody and you're a star. What kind of s*** is that? We went to school. As a classically trained actress right out of college, I replaced Jennifer Holliday in one of the original workshop productions of Dreamgirls. Of course, this was back in the 1800s. But you know. Oh, yeah. Jesus. I love you. Girl, if we hung out, the world wouldn't know what to do. No. Okay? We ain't hanging out. I'm so in awe of you. This is your interview. I want to see you. I'm just so obsessed with you, Jennifer. Yeah, well, I'm a hot mess. But, you know, listen, I'm real. And so are you. I'm real. I don't know how to hide. Oof, that s*** just shot through me. I ain't never hid in my. Oh, yeah, girl. Our spirit is all up in me. Especially after that fall. Wow. I can't do nothing that God don't say I can do. Girl, no, I. That. All of that, I've lost so many friends. I had to. After the fall? After you fall on the Serengeti, Kiki. If you recover. If you recover, what do you think I can do? What's next? All I can do is climb Everest. And you can't take luggage up Everest, bitch. You hear me? I can't carry mine, and I can't carry yours. You going somewhere now. You going up Kilimanjaro. You going up Fujisan. You going up St. Helen. You know so many places. Oh, girl, I've been all. You know I've been all over the world. Right. I'm listening to everything you're saying. I've been to Antarctica. These pants came from Kathmandu. And where's that? Over there at Everest. I took a helicopter through the Himalayan mountains. Girl, I climbed the. What are they called? The flaming cliffs in Mongolia. You know, I've been all over the world because I wanted to see it. You want to know why? Because I wanted to make sure the world didn't revolve around my ass. I've seen hungry children. And you better believe I feed them now. I'm most certainly the. Do you want to know something? I'm going to tell you something. When COVID happened, I got white guilt for the first time. Now, let me tell you what white guilt is. White guilt is basically when you feel you have so much more than others. It's just a saying. And I've never felt that because I know I worked for everything. And I worked for everything. I worked hard for it. And I've always been generous. How much money can you have? All of you people out there now that only know money and power and greed. God, I wish I could talk to those crazy people. I don't get that. That are trying to ruin the world. I've never told this story, but I'm going to tell it. Because I want you to. White guilt. Yes, I want you to know the circle. When I saw American poverty come so close to our faces, because they told us everything. After COVID, we found out so much we'd not seen. So I went in my office and I wrote a donation for Doctors Without Borders. Because I'd done a fundraiser for them in New York. I knew it was a legitimate charity. And I did a bunch of others, but I just want to speak to this one. So I sent that donation off and I knew it would help. Because after I saw the. I remember in Italy was the first real. Where the masses of people were dying and. Oh, my God. And when I saw the mask that had dug into the first responders' faces, I just had to give. I had to help. I had to help. I had to help. So I'm laying on the ground of the Serengeti. I done broke my ass and I'm in bitch black. And I hear a doctor from Rome with a very deep voice. You know those Doctors Without Borders? They're international. The doctors and nurses come from all over the world. And I heard these words. Mrs. Lewis. We are Doctors Without. We are Doctors Without Borders. And we've come to take you home. You're kidding. There's your circle. There's your circle. That is so crazy. And it took everything from me, even in a state of shock and excruciating to pain, excruciating pain to not say to that doctor, Bitch, I just sent y'all a bunch of money. Please get me out of here. Bitch, please. Doctors Without Borders. Girl, you know they had to accompany me home on the plane, shooting morphine into this leg. Oh, my gosh. 24 hours to get back to the States. It was unbelievable. I'm still gagged by the depth of here's your circle. Okay? Here's your circle. When you walk into a room today, do you feel like the legend people see or do you feel like you're still Jenny from Missouri? Oh, Kiki. Baby, this is Kiki Palma, yeah. I need everybody to hear me clearly. You do not need a milestone to enjoy yourself. I said what I said. Society has us out here waiting for promotions, engagements, and New Year's Eve to twist open something nice. Meanwhile, I'm over here with a chilled glass of Stella Rosa Black because I'm going to be back. I'm going to be back. I remember to water my plants three days in a row. That's growth, literally. And the flavor, sweet, smooth, rich, bold, deep berry, blackberry, blueberry, raspberry, all sitting together like a real housewives reunion where everybody kept their glass in their hand. This is wine for everyone 21 and up who understands that sometimes a celebration is the random Wednesday or the quiet night in or the I finished my laundry and put it all away in one day. Victory lap. You are the occasion. So please act accordingly. Head to StellaRosa.com to find your favorite flavor. Your next occasion, which is literally whenever you decide, is already taken care of because, baby, this is Stella Rosa. And please, please, please drink responsibly. Let me walk you through my Tuesday. I woke up and immediately had to decide what to wear to a meeting, what to feed my son, whether I'm taking, the call from my car or rescheduling. And it's not even 8 a.m. yet. By noon, I've made 100 decisions and I'm already over it. So the things in my life that don't require me to think, those are sacred. That's exactly what Fruit of the Loom women's underwear is for me. I open the drawer, I grab a pair, and I already know it's going to be comfortable and fit right. There's no guessing, no adjusting, no let me try another pair moment. It just works. When your whole day is full of decisions that actually need your energy, having that kind of simplicity in your routine creates real peace of mind. And trust me, that feels really, really good. Fruit of the Loom proves that simple feels really good. I'm both. Come on, integrated. I've never changed. I know that I ate dirt when I was a little girl. I know, I remember how hungry I was. You never forget. having, you know, gone out in the snow, rain, and heat to the outhouse. You'll never forget that. Of course, I got five bathrooms now, bitches. Hey, titties and nips. So anyway, yeah, you got to love me, right? Okay. So you got to love me. The catchphrases, the whole circular narrative, the callbacks, the continue. This is a master class. You know. This is crazy. I mean, you're crazy. I got to say, listen, you know what I am, Kiki? What I think I am. What I really think I am. You're brilliant. I'm free. I'm free is what I am. I'm free. I'm like Morpheus. Come on, bitch. What you got? And if it's ugly, you take that somewhere else now. Mama don't go for that now. See, when you've heard a lion roar in your ear. See, a lion came. I heard a lion roar while I was laying. Now, you got to understand that. And do you know what happened? Do you know what went through my mind? Lori done ran for help. I'm laying there. Wasn't no f***ing hippo. Wasn't no baboon. It was a goddamn lion. And I heard that s***. I was like, oh, s***. This is it, Jenny. What a way to go. But then you know what I thought? Because, you know, I am Jennifer Lewis laying there. Guess what I thought? What a head. Headline. Yeah, right? She got it. The king ate the queen. I swear to God that went through my mind. Because what a way that would have been just so quick. I mean, to be ripped up by a goddamn lion. I'm like, damn, God. I thought I was a girl. But what a death. I'm like, well, bring it. Here we go. Jennifer Lewis's body's been flown back to the States. They got one. They left one toe and one eye. Here she comes. Look at that. Dead bitch. Dead. I would have been horrible. Look at the camera woman. She's like, god damn. I ain't never seen nobody like this. I bet you won't give me no goddamn coffee no more. Look, they had my face on this coffee. So I really drank it. Kiki Palmer got faces in your cappuccinos. S*** on, baby. Oh, my gosh. Mama's proud of you, baby. Hilarious. I mean, you said we are as sick as we are. Here's our secrets. What does that mean to you? Because sometimes we hold so many secrets, we don't even know. And there it is. You don't have to say. We've lied to ourselves. You don't need to say no more. That's it. The truth will set you free. And it's the hardest thing in the world. You think I wanted to tell the world that I was molested? You think I wanted to tell the world I had bipolar disorder? You want to tell the world that I'd been conned out of 50? $50,000? You think I wanted to tell the world all of those things? You don't know why? Because I wanted you to learn from it. I got everything I wanted because I told the truth. There's a price. There's a reward for being honest. There's a reward for going to tell stories. And I miss her every f***ing day. Not because I spent three months with her, you know, playing her mother and being that close. But there's not a time you can get on internet that she won't pop up somewhere doing something. Her voice was the eighth wonder of the world. And there were only seven wonders back then. Sitting that close to her in Yonkers, in that church, watching her sing the genre from whence she had come. Help is on the way. I remember her sitting there going, my God, what a phenomenon. She was beautiful. She was just beautiful. I miss her too. I think we all miss her. You played Whitney Houston's mother, Tupac, Tracee Ellis Ross. I mean, Angela Bassett, or should I say Tina Turner. Let's get something clear. I did not play Tracee Ellis' mother. Tracee Ellis Ross' mother. Played her mother-in-law. Tracee Ellis Ross. That's my girl. What is it that you think make people trust you so much on and off screen? It's what you see right here. Yeah. It's because I care. I care. I care that my great niece, 18 months old. What is she, 18 months? I care that she gets to dream like I did. I had a dream. I lived, I loved, and I conquered. Because I didn't know how not to. You couldn't tell me I couldn't do something. What? But Mandela said I could, bitch. Okay. Okay. Harriet said I could. And I say I can. You got any more questions for me? There's some things people can't touch, Kiki. And that lives in the depth of our souls. We're special. Living, experiencing the human experience. That's something beautiful. That's not something to think that, to attach the ego to everything. Me, me, me. Now I ain't going to put you down for it because I was there once. But at some point, grow up, bitch. And love something else. Take care of other people. Help an old woman across the street. Keep the door open for somebody. Let somebody go in traffic. Just say go. But the great thing about what you're saying, too, is that sometimes those are the only things that does make you feel good. It sounds crazy and it sounds counterproductive. But when you have nothing to give or you feel that you have nothing to offer, if you just can put a smile on someone's face, simply. It'd be nice. You know, it really will return back to you. Yeah, bitch. It'd be nice. It really, really will. It's the best feeling in the world to do something for someone else. And I remember my therapist saying it once. She said, if you don't know what to do, Jennifer, just get up and do something for somebody else. That's right. Just, you know, take it off you. Read a book, bitch. But stop complaining about everything. We have so much. You better read about it. You better read about the Congo. You better read about the Sudan. You better read about Gaza. You better read about Compton. Okay. You read about what? Because it's closer than you think. The people who don't have as much as you. Everybody don't get to take a shower. Everybody doesn't get breakfast. Everybody doesn't have shoes. No, it's true. Be nice to each other. That's all. And like I've been saying, we had a good run, didn't we? You run for these kids now. Don't get to sit on your ass. Americans are so complacent. You've been engaged four times. Yes, I have. But never went the whole way. No, I didn't. Why not? Well, let me tell you. The first one, I was too young. How old? I was 19. Okay. I was 19. You know, I wanted to be in show business. And, um. But I loved him. I loved him deeply. He was from the Dominican Republic. And he called me Yennefer. Yennefer. And he used to sing. Oh, my gosh. Yennefer. Oh, no. Yennefer. Yennefer. You don't have to be a star, baby, to be in my show. I told him, but I do have to be a star. So I got to go, pumpkin. Anyway, so number two was. Who was the second guy? Yeah, he was wonderful, but. No, no, no. He was wonderful, and I loved him, too, but he was gay. And I didn't know. And that was the time. That was when you couldn't come out. Yeah. You know, and, you know, he was gay. He told you? No, no, no, no. Oh, now. How'd you know? We always know. Come on, now. There's a chapter in my memoir titled Dick Diva. I think you would know if somebody was gay. The third. Which third? Oh, the third guy. The third guy was, oh. Why is it always that? Yeah, I loved him, too. I did, but. He was so damaged. God damn. Girl, you can't save nobody. Yeah. He, I could. You know, and you always. Listen, somebody. Come closer. Nobody wants to admit this. Ooh. But let's just say I believe it. When somebody that is that close to you, they're a reflection of you. Oh, yeah. So don't do too much finger-pointing and blaming. Yeah. You chose that s***, and you figure out why you there with it and why you can't leave it. Don't blame nobody else, though. So I pretty much chose myself in all four of them. And I love that on the Internet, when they hear me talk about that, they go, oh, well, something must be wrong with her. Well, something was. What's wrong with both of us? And you be careful with all that judging on the Internet. And a little thing I want to say since I got the mic. You want to know who you are? Read your comments. You go read them little nasty things you. Put on the Internet about other people. That's deep. Whatever you talking about, that's who you are. So be very careful with that buzz s***. That's a read. It's a word, honey. Y'all call it a word. Y'all call it bars. Okay. I'll take it. Because if some of y'all go back and read that and see what you're about. That's what I'm talking about. You'll be spooked. Listen, honey, you can't. You can't say I'm running. When you run, you're going to meet yourself when you get there. You can't run. I said that on The Breakfast Club. I tried to run. And I said this. I got money to run. But you meet yourself when you get there. You have the one woman show, which I cannot wait. I have to have a front row seat. That one woman show going to wear y'all out. And your name is in it. I don't say nice things, but you know. There's a lot of people in it, and I love them. I'm not saying nice things. Oh, my gosh. I'm so happy. I cannot wait to be dragged beyond and into my life. And I mean dragged. I'm also happy because. You. Who else? Kim Whitley, Wanda Sykes, Jennifer Lopez, Jennifer Holliday, Jennifer Lawrence. Oh, I'm going off on everybody. Viola. Who else is in there? Oh, surely Ralph's going to get it. I'm going to get, you know, we're good friends. Yes. I'm going to tear her. I knew it. I'm so excited for that. I'm excited for you being in the Southern Belle, Lady Miss Jacqueline, Southern Belle insult series on Audible. Miss NBC. I love her. You know, I talk like her. I had to go against what you were doing with one of those characters. That's a funny show. Thank you so much. That's going to be so good. Congratulations. Thank you. You're doing three characters? Yes, I'm so excited. All right, now listen. I done talked and talked and talked about myself, which is my favorite subject, I have to say. But I want to talk about you now. Congratulations. I've watched you because everybody's constantly going, do you see what Kiki Shepard did? I mean, Kiki Shepard, you know, Kiki Shepard, she's one of my best friends. Of course. Show time at the Apollo. We would be good friends. We did Broadway together, Kiki and I. But they call me all the time and they say she's a. She's a mini you, Jennifer. watch your work. Okay, here it is. You have the it factor. It's like a precious jewel, a precious gem. Very few people have it. It doesn't make us better or worse than anybody else. It's just that, I don't know, maybe when God was shining up some jewels, he did like this on one of them. You got a little bit of that spit. And what I see you doing is honoring it. So I would not have come over here if I wasn't as proud as I am of you. I don't have time. I'm trying to save the world right now. There's a lot of shit going on in the world. And I'm responsible when you have been given as much as I have been given. I don't have time to carry luggage up Mount Everest. And that's what we're fighting right now. So I wanted to get over here and tell you how proud. And don't stop. I talked to your sister that night at the Obama's party. Yep. Everybody's going to keep an eye on you. I don't think you're capable of getting a big head. I think you've known who you are a long time. Because when you come from that childhood showbiz, that ain't no easy road to tow. So stay on top of that. And take care of you. You hear me? Jennifer, I'm so happy that you came on this show because even though I'm the lucky one that gets to have the conversation with you, the people that watch my show, that's what it's about. So you weren't really just having a conversation with me, but you were having a conversation with, you know, hell, pop culture, the kids, the millennials, Gen Z, Gen X, whoever. Who I love, by the way. That's who I'm fighting for, you guys. I'm fighting. I've lived my life. They can't do nothing to me now. I mean, I got, you know how many people, I got everything I wanted. I got to grow up and learn to be still enough to look into the eyes of a baby. And see myself. I'm in my skin now, having done the work to be able to watch a moon rise and become it. That's work. Y'all babies. But what I showed up for is to tell you is that it's all possible. And it's always, always right around the corner. So stick around. Don't f*** up. Don't f*** yourself up. Don't hurt yourself too bad when you get mad. Stay alive. It's, it's coming. It's already here, really. But you got to wake up to it being here. It's right here, right now. So make me proud. Because you already do. I love you so much. And I have to shout out Big Age, which is your other new Audible series with Cedric the Entertainer and E.C. Nash. Yes. So I wanted to shout that out. No, things are great. Things are good. You know, let's keep it moving, y'all. But once again, the biggest thing right now is stand up wherever you are. These are challenging times, but they've always been challenging. So act like you know. But the biggest thing right now is stand up. The biggest thing about this is it's for the kids now. Yeah. You got to stand up. It's for the babies coming. You got to stand up. I couldn't agree with you more. We need those words and we always love it for you and that piano. Three chords and start screaming. You know what that is? It's passion. It is. I am literally dragged over to that piano to just hit those same chords every time, but scream out whatever's going on and say, but to lift you up. Oh, I want to be rageful. I want to say, can't do it. That's not going to help anything. That's not going to help anything to get mad and go tearing through the world, murdering and killing and fighting and screaming. And oh, my God, y'all stop that. Find that love in you. It's there. Find it. I know life is hard. You will not. If you want the rose, you got to go through the thorns. Grow up and navigate those thorns. Life is hard. And once you realize that, you'll be better for it. Grow up. Well, I'm ready for the third chapter. We got the mother of black Hollywood. We've got walking my joy and soon we're going to get get up. Yeah, that is. How'd you know? That is. That's it. I know. I love you. Can't keep up. Go, Kiki. It's your birthday. Go, Kiki. It's your birthday. Girl, you are so cute. I love you. Come here, pumpkin. Jennifer, you've shown us what it means to tell the truth out loud, to survive, to fall, to get up, to laugh anyway. You've played everybody's mama and auntie on screen. But in real life, you've been a guide, a warning, a protector, and a blueprint. From segregation to Broadway, from trauma to triumph, from silence to authorship, you didn't just walk in your joy. You built it. And if resilience had a voice, it would sound a lot like yours. Baby, this is Kiki Palmer, yeah.