Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph knows a thing or two about being a “diva.” Outside of her nonprofit organization being named The D.I.V.A . Foundation, she has played a diva on big and small screens and got her start on Broadway in 1981 as Deena Jones from the Tony Award-winning musical “Dreamgirls.”
While the production received rave reviews, with Ralph receiving a Tony nod for Best Performance as a Leading Actress, beat out by her co-star Jennifer Holliday, one person who did not love the musical was Diana Ross. Apparently, the Matriarch of Motown believed that the character of Deena Jones mirrored her life.
Sheryl Lee Ralph sat down with Oprah Winfrey on the “Oprah Daily Show,” where she shared the story of her heartbreaking first encounter with Diana “The Boss” Ross.
Oprah began the segment by saying, “For years, there were stories that you and Diana Ross had a feud because she felt that ‘Dreamgirls’ was her story —”
“Which it wasn’t,” Ralph interrupted. “But the more you’re told that it wasn’t, the more everybody believed that it was.”
”There was one thing I was told in the development of ‘Dreamgirls,’ I could love Diana Ross as much as I want, but if I played Diana Ross, we would get sued,” Ralph assured Oprah, adding that is what happened with the 2006 movie.
“That’s what happened in the movie. They leaned into the ‘Rossness’ of it all. They got sued,” Ralph explained.
Oprah then directed the conversation to a time when Ralph was “publicly snubbed” by Ross.
While initially hesitant to go into the story, Ralph went back to that time when she was in her mid-20s and saw the glamorous diva for the first time, remembering that she was upset and “believed what she believed.”
But she wasn’t. As the 67-year-old Emmy winner told the story, she exclaimed how much love she had then and still has for the singer.
“I was in love with her, still in love with her, but at that moment, she walked into The Russian Tea Room, and I was like, ‘there she was,’” Ralph recalled. “I just got up and walked over to her, and she turned around, you know, in the way that you could smell her perfume. It was beautiful, and the smile left her face looking at me. … I was like, ‘Oh my God, she doesn’t like me.’”
Ralph went to introduce herself, and Ross replied in a steely tone, “I know who you are,” before turning and walking away.
“How did you fix it?” Oprah asked.
According to Ralph, years later they were together at an event, and one of Ross’ children was the healing catalyst.
“We were together, and she has beautiful children, and I don’t mean just the way they look; they’re just like great human beings, which lets me know she’s a great human being,”
Ralph recalls that it was the “Reach Out and Touch” singer’s young son who called to his celebrity parent to speak to Ralph, and though Ralph believes Ross didn’t want to see her, she came over and greeted her.
“We talked, and it was wonderful. It was like everything. It was lipstick and lashes under the bridge,” Ralph said with a smile. “She said, ‘Girl, that was such a long time ago. I understand now.”
The meeting of minds between the divas was very important.
Sheryl Lee Ralph on meeting Diana Ross when Ralph played Deena Jones in “dreamgirls” during the 80s
— shatina (@dckry) January 26, 2021
“it is winter in here yet” pic.twitter.com/mzT4iuMPYl
Years ago, Ralph said that she wished that the producers of the movie “Dreamgirls” would have allowed her to have a sit-down with Beyoncé before she filmed the character she originated on Broadway.
After noting how the powers that be x-ed her out on that project, she said having that cross-generational coming-together would have helped their star get the acclaim that she achieved.
“I still think to this day, had I been asked to coach or talk with her about that performance, about the evolution of Deena, she would’ve won something,” Ralph said. “Because to me, the direction for her as Deena, it wasn’t the winning direction of Deena.”
Fans seemed to agree.
“Beyoncé kinda ruined ‘Dream Girls’ because she sang too well. If you listen to Sheryl Lee Ralph’s Broadway version or just any Diana Ross song – It’s supposed to be a smooth pretty tone. No runs, rifts, vocal growls or vibrato. Just a pop sound. Bey out sang Jen the whole movie,” one person tweeted.
She really studied both Diana Ross and Sheryl Lee Ralph for this role. Like the voice, the movements I love it https://t.co/65z4DhEdNX
— Joao God of Good Vibes🇵🇸 (@JoaoStories) March 20, 2022
Another said, “She really studied both Diana Ross and Sheryl Lee Ralph for this role. Like the voice, the movements I love it.”
The two women are now each mother of at least two or more adult children. Ross has five kids, Rhonda Ross Kendrick, Chutney Ross, Tracee Ellis Ross, Evan Ross, and Ross Naess. Ralph has a son, Maurice, and a daughter, Ivy-Victoria.
