Taraji P. Henson And Mary J. Blige Had Uncomfortable First Meeting

Fri Feb 8, 2019 11:28AM

Best friends Taraji P. Henson and Mary J. Blige had an awkward run-in when they first met.

The Hidden Figures star first met the No More Drama hitmaker before her breakout film Baby Boy was released, and when she walked over to introduce herself, Blige ignored her.

"I was a fan and it was right before Baby Boy came out and... I went to this party... for the Grammys and I was like, ´Oh my God, (director) John (Singleton) you have to introduce to Mary because I use her songs to help me get emotional sometimes´," she told U.S. chat show The Talk on Thursday (07Feb19).

"I said, ´Please, she´s like my hero´, and he takes me over to her and she´s dancing... and so I go over and I say, ´Hi Mary´, and I start spilling my guts... and she looks at me and she goes, ´Pssh´, and she goes back to dancing."

Taraji re-approached Mary and got a surprise when her sister slapped her hand for trying to touch her.

"So then I say, ´That´s OK, she just didn´t hear me...´ and I go back over and I reach in to say hi and her sister LaTonya just slapped my hand away and I was like, ´Ow, you guys are mean...´"

Taraji and Mary have since become friends and laugh about the incident now.

"I went to the Grammys (again)... and I was walking in the backdoor where all the artists were going in and she saw me... and she came over and she grabbed my hand and said, ´Oh my God sis, the way you touch me through your work´," she said. "I almost passed out and then we became friends on (the film) I Can Do Bad All by Myself."

Mary is such a pal she was among the speakers who saluted Taraji when the actress unveiled her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame last month (Jan19).