Recently, a clip from a 2003 interview featuring Hollywood legend Jenifer Lewis resurfaced with her spilling some tea about a candid moment between her and Will Smith.
The footage was from her segment on “The Sharon Osbourne Show,” which Osbourne hosted from 2003 to 2004.
In the video, the two women are getting comfortable while Lewis recounts standout moments in her illustrious career. The one tale that left viewers and audience members on the edge of their seats was when she described how she warned Smith, the actor who once played her nephew on television, that she was out of his league.
Lewis began the “true story” by warning Osbourne that she may have to “bleep” her at some point.
“So we’re doing Fresh Prince, and I’m wearing a negligee, and I’m having a fight with my husband on the show,” said Lewis. She played the role of Will’s outspoken and straightforward Aunt Helen.
The St. Louis native recalled that her “gorgeous” but much younger co-star, Smith, had plenty of groupies backstage — but once he saw her in a revealing costume, his attention was all on her. “So he says, ‘Hey, you look kinda good in that, mama,’ and I say, ‘Hey, come close, baby,'” Lewis continued.
She then claimed the “Men In Black” star leaned in, and that’s when she gave him a rude awakening.
“I said, ‘You see them little girls down there. You go play with them, because I’ll do you.'”
She reenacted Smith’s shocked reaction before insinuating that the word she used to warn the actor was slightly more vulgar than “do.”
She laughed with Osbourne, saying, “I thought I’d scare him a little bit, just to run him off.”
Lewis continued to praise Smith for his good looks before asking, “What are you going to do with him?”
To this, Osbourne quickly replied, “Kiss him,” sending Lewis into a frenzy of laughter. The funny clip has gained some traction on social media, with fans loving Lewis’ mix of wit and wisdom.
“Yeah, Will a better man than me ’cause me & Ms. Lewis would’ve been “doing it,” said one viewer on the YouTube short of the interview shared by @5StepsLittleBro.
Another viewer added, “She said you better go find something safe to do.”
This fan claimed he wouldn’t have been as strong as Smith. “I would have FOLDED immediately,” they said.
Several comments pointed out how they “loved” the now-68-year-old Lewis’ unapologetic personality and have always had a “crush” on the actress.
“She is one of the most beautiful black women the Lord has blessed us with,” said one fan with the ultimate crush.
The comments on the @StellarBedtimeStories Instagram account were a little more insistent that Smith should have continued his pursuits.
“He might have been better off being done by her,” said one follower.
“He would never have been in entanglements,” said one person, opening the wound left by R&B singer August Alsina’s 2020 single, “Entanglement,” where he admitted to having an affair with Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
This person acknowledged that the cougar power is real. “Miss Lewis would gave turned Will young ahhhh out!!! Ok!!!!!”
And this person replied, “Jen would have broke willard in half.”
Known as the “Mother of Black Hollywood,” Lewis has been and still is revered for playing strong matriarchal roles that reflect her personality.
Along with Aunt Helen, she gained rave reviews for playing Tina Turner’s mom in the 1993 film “What’s Love Got to Do with It?”
She has had a nearly 25-year career playing the mother, auntie, or grandmother to stars such as Smith, Tupac Shakur, Whitney Houston, and most recently, Anthony Anderson’s mother on ABC’s “black-ish.”
