Oprah Winfrey ,just raised the bar on sending congratulatory floral arrangements. The iconic television talk show host surprised actress Sheryl Lee Ralph and warmed the hearts of many on social media after she sent the “Abbott Elementary” star a massive bouquet of pink and white flowers for winning her first-ever Emmy award earlier this week.
“Wow, yes!” Ralph shouted as she stood waiting for two men carrying the massive vase of flowers to approach her in her driveway. At one point, the 65-year-old looks to the camera, speaking to the entertainment mogul directly: “Oprah, you know how to get flowers done, girl. Thank you.”
The stunning moment was captured by her son Etienne Maurice and uploaded to his TikTok. He was forced to cut the video short after being summoned to assist the deliverymen with the colossal decor that had been tilting slightly during its journey to Ralph’s front door.
The entrepreneur captioned the post, “Literally the biggest bouquet I’ve ever seen in my life. We had to carry it through the back!”
Fans gushed over the sweet moment as the roughly 40-second clip made its way around social media, including one Instagram user who wrote, “Now That’s how you give someone flowers lol. So deserving.” “From one queen to another,” commented another. “I love it.”
“I love when we show up for each other!” chimed in a third person. “Man I love this!!! Real support hit different.”
Appreciation for the iconic actress continued to flow in the hours that followed as Ralph continued to receive flowers from other Hollywood stars, including Grammy Award-winning entertainer Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter, and rapper Kid Cudi, who shared watching her and the “Abbott Elementary” creator Quinta Bruson “win was truly inspiring.”
Along with her beautiful assortment of white and yellow florals came a note from the “Break My Soul” singer and fellow Deena Jones that read, “To the original Dreamgirl, Sending you a beautiful congratulations.”
Ralph was left speechless. The “Moesha” actress revealed she had lost her voice but that the flowers were “wonderful.” She later thanked the music star in a video shared online with yet another inspirational sentiment, writing, “Everyone has their own special dream and all your dreams can come true. Just look in the mirror and love what’s in front of you. Thank you @beyonce don’t forget to dream girls!
Ralph, who began her career in the late 1970s on Broadway thanks to her breakthrough role as Deena Jones in “Dreamgirls,” for which she earned a Tony Award nomination, became the second Black woman to win the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her performance as teacher Barbara Howard in the hit ABC series.
During her acceptance speech at the 74th annual event on Monday, Sept. 12, Ralph sang the first verse of Dianne Reeves’s 1993 song “Endangered Species.” She later told the crowd, “To anyone who has ever, ever had a dream and thought your dream wasn’t, wouldn’t, couldn’t come true, I am here to tell you that this is what believing looks like — this is what striving looks like. And don’t you ever, ever give up on you.”
