Denzel Washington may not always remember meeting other celebrities before they become famous. But he has a unique history with rapper Drake that has fans raising questions.
The “Equalizer” star spoke about their encounter during a recent interview with “Good Morning America” to celebrate the opening of The Boys and Girls Club’s 5,000th location in Elgin, Illinois.
Washington became a spokesperson for The Boys and Girls Club of America more than 30 years ago and credits the organization for helping to mold him. Each facility offers safe and fun community spaces and opportunities for young kids to thrive, like Drake, whom he met at a Boys & Girls Club in Toronto.
A short clip from the interview was shared on Twitter and Instagram, which features the 68-year-old explaining how he met the Canadian native when he was a kid.
“I met a kid in Toronto who came up and was fascinated because I was like this star and he wanted to talk to me and couldn’t believe that he met me,” said Washington. “Well, 10 or 15 years later, he came up, and he said, ‘You don’t remember when you met me,’ ” and I said, ‘No.’ His name is Drake, and he said what I said to him; he never forgot.”
The clip was shared by 2Cool2Blog on Instagram and Twitter, where fans recalled Washington forgetting the time when he met another celebrity, Damson Idris.
He met the “Snowfall” actor when Idris auditioned to play his son in the 2016 movie, “Fences.” But Washington didn’t remember the meeting when he was asked about Idris at a premiere event in 2022. The British entertainer had often been compared to the “Glory” star, which was news to Washington. Idris shared that Washington did remember him the next time they met at a Lakers game.
“He walks my direction, he goes to shake all of the news people’s hands, he’s walking right by me, and I’m like, ‘I gotta say something. Denzel, Denzel, Hi. Thank you for everything.’ He’s like, ‘Thank you, son.’… I go, ‘It’s Damson Idris,’ and then he spins, remembers last year when I was getting cooked and he was like, ‘Aye, my man! Aye, my boy! Hey, you owe me money!’… It was cool man, it was fun. Full circle moment.”
Social media users had plenty to say online about Washington and his forgetful memory. One fan joked, “Denzel don’t remember nobody.”
Another who referred to his age jokingly said, “Damn….Denzel really getting up there.” A third fan asked, “Damn what he say that Drake ain’t forget?”
Washington did not share what he told the “Her Loss” rapper. In response to the critics, a few fans noted that Drake previously paid homage to one of his favorite actors. One said, “I remember niggas gave Drake hell for that Denzel tattoo, sometimes it’s good to keep y’all mouths closed.”
Drake has always been fond of Washington and even has a tattoo of the beloved actor on his body. Back in 2017, Drizzy received a tattoo of the two-time Oscar winner’s role in Spike Lee’s “Mo’ Better Blues.” In the 1990 film, Washington played the fictional jazz trumpeter Bleek Gilliam.
“I heard about this,” said Washington when asked about the tattoo on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.”
After Fallon made jokes about where the tattoo was located, Washington added, “Now you got me wondering: where is that? That’s crazy.”
The Boys & Girls Club has 5,000 locations supporting more than 40 million kids across the country.
