Posted by | Ray Cornelius
One thing’s for sure, Queen Latifah will not be discussing her private life on her new talk show when it premieres on September 16. The Grammy-winning rapper turned Oscar-nominated actress makes that point very clear in an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
For Latifah, some areas of her life are just that…private.
“I don’t feel the need to discuss my private life on this show or any other show,” she says somewhat wearily as she eats a sushi lunch at her desk. “There’s the part of my life that the public and I share together. And there’s the part that’s mine to keep for myself. And that’s mine. For me.”
Instead, Latifah would much rather focus her attention on the show’s topics and special guests, which already includes a field piece with Pitbull. Reportedly, Latifah has also reached out to Jay Z and has extended an open invitation to the Obamas. Latifah also wants audiences to know that she is not trying to replace Oprah.
“There is no such thing,” she answers. “Oprah is Oprah. And she’s still being Oprah, in case anyone didn’t notice.”
The Queen also laughs at the idea that her new program will cannibalize the African-American audiences and will get lost in a talk show market that appears to be oversaturated.
“Absolutely not. There’s a reason that Steve Harvey is succeeding. He has a huge fan base. I listen to him on the radio. I watch him on Family Feud. Wendy Williams was a big-time radio host. And that’s an underserved market. You’d need about 10 African-American hosts on TV for it to be saturated, but we’re nowhere near that.”
Check out her a few photos from the THR spread and excerpts from the rest of her interview below:
“I have to be realistic about what I can and can’t do,” she says. “So whatever I do has to really be worth it. I like to master the things I do. Making this show great, that’s my focus right now. I want to bring some positivity to daytime TV.”
“Controlling your own destiny is fun. Creating an idea and turning it into a movie; finding an artist and guiding their career and bringing them to some type of status — there’s joy in that.”
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Photography Credit: THR