If there’s one thing Jenifer Lewis refuses to do, it’s hide her truth.
The legendary actress, author, and self-proclaimed “Mother of Black Hollywood” delivered one of the wildest moments from her appearance on Keke Palmer’s Baby, This Is Keke Palmer! podcast when she casually reflected on her sex life and the lessons she learned from it.
“I have no secrets. There's no shame in my game,” Lewis told Palmer before dropping a confession that instantly stopped the conversation in its tracks. “I slept with 63 men. Now, that was fabulous.”
The remark got laughs from Palmer, but Lewis wasn’t simply telling old stories. The actress used the moment to explain how sex became a coping mechanism during the height of her career, particularly after the adrenaline rush that came with performing on Broadway and receiving constant praise from audiences.
“When you get off a Broadway stage and all that ovation and applause... what are you gonna do?” Lewis said. “You're going to either go stick something in your arm, you're going to go smoke some, you're going to drink something to come down from that high. I used to just go find a gorgeous man.”
Then came the line that cut to the heart of the conversation: “Sex was the drug.”
Lewis then explained that years later, as the AIDS epidemic devastated her community and forced her to confront deeper questions about her life, she began reevaluating everything.
“That's got to be more to life than just me clawing at the void of who am I and what am I,” she recalled thinking. “Let's go find out who you are. Let's go find out where you belong. Let's go find out what love is.”
The actress has spent years speaking publicly about her bipolar disorder, childhood trauma, addiction struggles, and mental health treatment. During the podcast, she reiterated that openness has been central to her survival.
And at 69, Lewis made it clear she has no plans to start censoring herself now. “I’m free,” she told Palmer. “I’m free is what I am.”
