Continuing with the never ending saga of Nikki’s True Hollywood Stories….

Chapter 3: Avery Brooks

A couple of years ago, Avery Brooks was in town speaking at an event. I was the guest of a family friend to said event and at the end of the night, Mr. Brooks made his way through the crowd to shake hands and sign autographs.

I was a huge fan of Mr. Brooks when he was on Spenser for Hire, back in the day. I was crazy about his brooding character of Hawk, plus he was a nice lookin’ man. He was standing around 6′2, rockin’ a bald head, smooth brown skin and beautiful white teeth. I just couldn’t believe it, I was standing face to face with Hawk. He was waaaaaaay cooler than Shaft to me, no offense to Richard Roundtree.

Now I have to tell you a little something about me. I’m not one who’s easily starstruck. If Michael Jackson were to knock on my door today with Watchtowers in hand trying to sell me on the love of Jehovah, I wouldn’t scream. Then again, since his face looks like some kinda science project gone awry, I may just scream from sheer fright. But you know what I’m saying, most stars are just people, so I’m not one to go crazy when I’m in the presence of a celebrity.

But on this particular night, I was in a state of shock as Avery Brooks reached out his hand to shake mine. I mean I could even speak. I just stood there with my mouth open expecting him to say, “Spenseeeeeeeeer,” as only Hawk could. It was just like that scene in Lady Sings the Blues when Billy Dee Williams tries to hand a very timid Diana Ross money for singing and he says, “Do you want my arm to fall off?”

So as Avery stood there, waiting for me to grab his hand and shake it, all I could do was let out a huge, “Gasp!” All of the coolness just oozed out of my body. I felt so mortified, not being able to speak. But in true Hawkesque fashion, Avery shot me one of those thousand watts smiles, and all was right with the world.

Continuing with Nikki’s True Hollywood Stories….

Chapter 2: Roy Jones, Jr.
It was the early 90’s. I was visiting one of my best friends who was in the Navy and stationed in Pensacola, FL. On this particular weekend, we got dressed to the nines to paint the town red.

We found a nightclub to kick it at and we proceeded to get our boogie on out on the floor with a few of the fellas that we’d met in the club. Well, when we sat down to catch our breaths, this guy walked over to our table saying, “Me and my boy wanna holla at you and your girl.”

I replied, “Who’s your boy?” He said, “His name is Roy.” I peered over at the area Roy was sitting in and I replied to the gentleman at our table, “Why can’t he come over himself?” The guy said, “Just come over and share a drink with me and my boy.”

I took another glance over at Roy and I noticed that he had his hair shaved off………..but was still rockin’ a tuft of hair in a shag at the back of his neck. My girl and I were like, “Oh no. We’ll pass.” We could not believe that brotha was wearing a shag. Mind you, this was the early 90’s, but shags had played out in the 80’s, and this was the era of the s-curl, when every brotha was trying to look like a member of the R&B group, Guy.

*dream sequence*

*does the “Groove Me” dance*

“YEP YEP!”

Anyway, the guy standing at our table was like, “Alright then, you ladies enjoy yourselves and have a good night.” My homegirl and I laughed the entire night about the brotha with the shag. Some years and several boxing championships later, to my surprise, I come to find out that the guy with the shag was none other than Roy Jones, Jr.

Hell, had I known who that brotha was going to turn out to be, we probably would have shared that drink with him. Who knows, he could have been my future husband.

I thought I’d take a page out of the Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Stories skit and talk about my brush with celebrities I’d met over the years.

Chapter 1: Babyface

I met Babyface a few years ago during a press junket in Detroit. I’d been a fan of his music since his years with The Deele and his production work with Midnight Star. Besides, I’d attended college in Ohio and had seen him perform in Cincinnati from time to time.

But on this particular day, I was pretty much speechless when I came face to face with Mr. Whip Appeal himself. That was until he said “Hi” to me in an elevator. Awestruck, I could barely eek out the words, “Hello.” And then it hit me. I nearly fainted. Not because I was in shock from meeting Babyface, but because of this stench that engulfed the elevator.

You see, this meeting took place back during the time Babyface first started embracing this holistic lifestyle and rockin’ his hair in twists. Hell, I wear twists myself, and I think that it’s cool that you want to live and eat healthy. So as I stood vitually silent within that elevator, trying not to pass out, Babyface was killing me softly with his body odor. Tears were starting to form in the corners of my eyes.

I guess his holistic lifestyle didn’t include the use of soap and water……….or deodorant for that matter. That was sooooooooo not for the cool in him. When the elevator stopped on my floor to exit, I think I nearly knocked him over trying to get off of the elevator to catch a breath of fresh air. And to this day, that fungus among us incident is the first thing I think about whenever I hear his music.