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One of the most interesting memories Queen Latifah has of the late Cicely Tyson is not from the time they worked together on the 1998 film Mama Flora’s Family, or when they took the stage together at BET Honors in 2012. Instead, the star recounted a moment when the Hollywood legend had to correct her for being a little too laid back in the way she addressed her when Tyson was a guest on Latifah’s second talk show.
During a chat with PEOPLE for their People Every Day Podcast recently, Latifah talked about Tyson’s visit to The Queen Latifah Show in 2014 to promote A Trip to Bountiful with Blair Underwood and Vanessa Williams. That’s when it happened.
“I was doing my talk show and was happy and excited, but nervous,” she said. “And I saw this question pop up on my prompter, and I knew that I wasn’t supposed to read the question the way it was written before I even got it out. And it was something like, ‘So do you guys so-and-so?'”
When Latifah referred to Tyson and her cast mates as “you guys,” she claims the icon quickly responded, “Wait a minute. I’m not ‘you guys.'” Latifah was apologetic, saying, “‘Excuse me, Ms. Tyson, you are absolutely right. I apologize. My bad. I’m so sorry.'”
“I [wasn’t] raised that way,” Latifah added of the incident. “I was raised better than that. So I knew before it was even out of my mouth, I knew.”
All that being said, she appreciated being corrected by her elder, noting it’s something everyone needs from time to time.
“I appreciated that she did that because you are never too big to get checked. You know what I mean? And some people think they’re too big to get checked,” she said. “If you’re wrong, you’re wrong, and I was wrong. And she let me know that was inappropriate, and I appreciated her letting me know that because it just brought me back.”
“We all need that person that could help us get back to the humility in us, to doing the right things,” she added. “Nobody’s perfect, but I’m very fortunate to have real people around me who keep it a buck with me.”
Latifah’s fond memory of that light scolding comes after Tyson’s passing on Jan. 28 at the age of 96. She was recently laid to rest on Feb. 16 in Harlem, New York at a private ceremony attended by the likes of President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Tyler Perry, among others.
