In a recent interview, Sheryl Lee Ralph recalled the pain of some of the most frightening times in her life, particularly as a parent.
The “Abbott Elementary” star is on the August/September cover of AARP The Magazine. In the issue, Ralph looks back on her 40-year career that spans Broadway and television, while also diving deep into her personal life and role as a mother. In one particular moment in the interview, Ralph shared a story involving her son Etienne, and the two accidents he was in 10 years ago.
She told the outlet, “When Etienne was in college, he had a car accident and suffered a concussion. It changed his whole brain. Then he got mugged, and they shot him three times. He woke up in the hospital with two bullets in his leg and a wound in his forehead where a bullet had grazed him.”
“When I heard he’d been shot, I collapsed and dropped the phone,” she added. “I didn’t even listen to the rest. But they didn’t kill him, thank God.”
Etienne, 31, now runs WalkGoodLA, a Black- and brown-led community wellness organization in Los Angeles, as well as his own production company, WalkGood Productions.
Along with Etienne, Ralph also has a daughter, Ivy-Victoria (“Coco”), with her ex-husband, Eric Maurice. The “Dreamgirls” star has been married to her current husband, Vincent Hughes, since 2005, an aspect of her life she also shed light on in the magazine.
“I married the man who has become my best friend,” she told the outlet. “When we met, I had these young children, and I appreciated that he did not try to insert himself as their father. He had his own children.”
Read the full AARP interview here.
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