SZA Tells Drew Barrymore Why She Named a Song After Her: 'One of the Few Lovely White Women'
SZA recently appeared as a guest on The Drew Barrymore Show, where she paid homage to the host for being her inspiration.
Seven years after the Saint Louis songstress dropped her acclaimed debut album, CTRL, the star sat next to Barrymore on her daytime hit series in a full-circle moment in which the singer details why she became the inspiration behind the track, 'Drew Barrymore.'
Sharing the excitement, the actress-turned-talk show host admitted she was shocked to find out that her name was the title of SZA's song.
"It was inspired by you. It wasn't just titled after you," SZA, 35, expressed. "The energy that you carry, even my outfit, is inspired by the way you've made me feel my entire life."
"You don't understand. I wrote you this letter that I never sent you. But it talked about how, I guess when you're a younger Black woman, there's not a lot of examples all the time, and one of the few lovely white women that I looked up to so much on television was you because you were so yourself," the singer detailed.
She continued: "You were quirky. Your smile wasn't perfect — I have a slight speech impediment, and people laugh all the time. They're like, 'What is SZA saying?' And it's like a running joke. I love the way you talk and all the you-ness of you, your laugh, even in the movies and in real life. It just reminds me of all the things about myself that make me nervous, but on you, it shines so brightly."
The Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter concluded: "You gave me permission to be myself and feel like, this is so cool... All your old photo shoots, I look them up. You've always been pinnacle to me. I love you... You're so special."
Barrymore was left stunned, as the two closed the emotional moment with a warm embrace. The host recalled their time together during her 2017 music video shoot, revealing that she wasn't totally sure the song was so deeply inspired by her.
"Maybe it's humble insecurity or whatever — even though we had that talk in the trailer that night, I think I always still convinced myself, 'It was just words that she used for the song, and the words were my name,' and I had not really heard you explain it like this," Barrymore, 49, responded.
That said, the two weren't done sharing memorable stories. During the show, the 'Charlie's Angels' actress admitted that she once had drinks with the woman her ex was cheating on her with -- and actually made her ex watch.
"I was like, 'You're gonna sit here and you're gonna listen to the two of us talk! So shut up and listen!' And then I drove him home and I looked at him and I go, 'Now get out,'" the host explained, later chucking the moment up to "young and stupid" behavior.
