Serial straight shooter Jenifer Lewis pulled up to Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, and the Muvaaaa of Black Hollywood gave us laughs, stirring stories, and brutal honesty. In a wide-ranging conversation with Keke, Lewis opened up about her 2022 near-fatal Serengeti fall, living with bipolar disorder, her previous sex addiction, four engagements, and the life lessons that came from all of it.
One of the most vulnerable parts of the sit-down came when Lewis talked about previously being addicted to sex. The actress has been open about this chapter before, but with Keke, she broke it down in a raw way without feeling shameful, noting that she wishes she’d known her body was a “temple.” Lewis reflected on a period when sex became her “drug of choice,” describing how dangerous and reckless that lifestyle could be while also making it clear that the woman telling the story now is someone who has done the work to understand herself.
“I had known 200 people that died,” said Lewis. “And when I tell you they died like flies, they dropped like flies. I mean, you’d come home, and three would be dead. You come home, five would be dead on the phone machine. It didn’t make sense because we were too young to experience that kind of death. You can deal with that when you’re wiser and older, and your older friends are dying. We were in our 20s for God’s sake.”
She went on to share that in the 90s she had a nervous breakdown and begrudgingly went to get treatment; that’s when she learned that she gad bioplar disorder.
“I went and treated bipolar disorder. I went and took care of myself. I did the work because I wanted to enjoy the fruits of my labor,” she shared. “I have the it factor, Keke. So do you. You don’t throw that away. Do you know how many of us have killed ourselves because we couldn’t handle it in this business?”
“I didn’t want to kill myself cuz I was bipolar and so manic,” she added. “It wasn’t until everybody that life got real and the AIDS epidemic hit where I went, ‘Wait a minute. Wait a minute. There’s got to be more to life than just me clawing at the void of who am I and what am I?’” she added, noting that she finally figured out exactly who she was after getting help.
But because it’s Jenifer Lewis, even the heavy moments came with humor, personality, and that signature auntie truth-telling. When the conversation shifted to dating, marriage, and her past engagements, Lewis explained that she had been engaged four times but never walked down the aisle.
According to Lewis, one of her previous fiancés got the boot after they clashed over her appreciation of a tree. She noted that other things led up to that moment, but that was the final straw.
“That s*** was over instantly!” she said, noting that the man had been eating at her joy and “didn’t belong” with her because he was affecting her happiness.
She also got into her old non-negotiables while dating, making it clear that she has never been the type to shrink herself just to keep a man comfortable.
“I don’t negotiate s***!” said Lewis.
By the end of the conversation, Lewis’ appearance on Baby, This Is Keke Palmer felt less like a standard celebrity interview and more like a masterclass in owning your whole story. She talked about addiction, mental health, sex, loss, recovery, relationships, and resilience without trying to make herself look perfect. Instead, she showed what growth can look like when a person is honest about where they have been, what they have survived, and what they refuse to carry anymore.
