Please welcome Jermaine Fowler to the show.
(audience applauds)
(laughs) Hey, what's up?
Thanks for having me.
Oh Jermaine, I'm so excited that you are here.
Oh, thank you.
I am too. I just watched "Wedding Singer" the other night,
and so this is really cool.
I love you very much Drew.
(claps) So this is dope shit. (laughs)
Well, thank you for saying that.
And I was looking up your body of work,
and now you are on the cover of Essence magazine.
And talking about blowing up,
this thing is making such waves.
I mean, there you are with Eddie and Arsenio.
(Jermaine laughs)
Front and center.
Yo, I (laughs)
they didn't tell me they were gonna be aligning it that way.
I had no idea.
I thought I was probably gonna,
they were gonna get my shoulder,
or at least my cheek bone,
I don't know, something small,
but not like my whole body in like,
in the middle of two of my favorite comedians so.
That's just wild.
Like, it is wild.
When I first saw it I cried.
I cried.
It was,
still when I think about it,
it's still kind of, you know,
it means a lot, you know?
Eddie is my idol.
Arsenio is one of the greatest ever, you know?
I truly appreciate both of them
for being so welcoming and inviting me on that set
and letting me do my thing.
And I mean, you are stepping into "Coming to America"
this beloved film,
and like,
was it true you were in diapers when you first saw it?
Yeah.
I was about one month when the movie came out,
and I first saw it when I was eight,
because it was just playing in my house
ever since I was a kid.
And I finally got to sneak in and watch it,
and I watched it,
and it made me laugh.
It just has so many of these moments that are super funny,
but also super deep,
and truly connect, you know, you to the characters man.
Everybody, (sighs)
James Earl Jones, man.
You know like you don't get an all star cast like that ever.
And Eddie pulled it off,
and it's just,
it's top, you know,
one of the top movies ever made and I just,
it holds such a special place in my heart,
so this whole opportunity
it just, it means everything to me.
I got to do "Saturday Night Live" with Eddie
when I was seven years old in 1982
and you know,
and then Eddie Murphy was just there.
He then did the "Beverly Hills Cops"
and you know, just one hit after another,
including "Coming to America"
where I found myself saying on a daily basis,
"I have a date with Lisa."
(Jermaine laughs)
Which Eddie swears he did not say it that way,
but I hear it that way,
and he was kind enough to indulge me.
And then I also sing on a daily basis to my own daughters,
♪ She's your queen to ♪
♪ Queen to be ♪
♪ A queen to be ♪
(Jermaine laughs)
It's an everyday song for me.
I actually sing it a lot in honor of my daughters
'cause they are my queens.
But can you tell us about the queens like,
close to your heart?
I would love to.
I'd be honored to actually.
My mom, Marsha.
(chuckles) She's right here.
That is,
she is my everything.
And then you got my grandma,
Delores.
I named my production company after her.
And you know, then you got my partner,
my girlfriend, Meagan.
She is,
I couldn't raise our kids without her,
and I love her to death.
Those are my queens.
And my little princess Thebe.
You know, she's not a queen yet, but she about to be.
She about to be a queen.
And I just love them.
I wouldn't be here without any of them.
I love them to death.
I appreciate everything they've ever done for me.
I'm glad that I acknowledged
your level of appreciation earlier
when you were speaking of Eddie and Arsenio
and just everything that's happening in your life
because it's there,
and it's palpable,
and you are amazing.
And your daughter is lucky to have you in her life.
I'm sorry, I didn't--
No,
I just,
I'm so glad the way that you appreciate
the people in your life.
And all last week we highlighted
some real life queens
who are going above and beyond
to serve their communities.
And Jermaine, would you be up for surprising them with me?
Hell yeah, I would love to.
That'd be beautiful. Okay. (claps) (laughs)
All right.
I have a clip of our royal queens here.
Take a look.
(upbeat rock music)
After experiencing homelessness firsthand,
we are helping women experiencing homelessness
within Washington state,
and we are on our way to being nationwide.
DCFem Tech's mission,
is to support those women here who are in tech,
growing their career,
whether they are designers, data scientists and programmers,
and to celebrate amazing women in technology,
through our DCFem Tech awards.
At She's the First,
we work with local organizations all around the world
to ensure that girls are educated, respected, and heard.
We support young people
who are actively following their dreams
and need mentorship or just a helping hand.
The Little Pantry has about 250 to 300 families
who come to us for groceries every single Saturday.
Whatever a person needs,
if they could do it or wish could do it.
(upbeat rock music) (audience applauds)
Please welcome Nikki, Shana, Erika, Stacy, Tammy,
and Christen to the show. (claps)
(audience applauds)
Thank you super women.
I am just so in awe of all the work you are doing,
and I'm actually here with someone
who wants to celebrate you as well.
Say hi to one of the stars of "Coming 2 America"
Jermaine Fowler.
(audience applauds)
Oh my gosh. Hey.
Hey.
Congratulations.
Oh, thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you.
You are welcome.
Y'all deserve it.
It's very motivating and inspiring
to see what y'all have done.
I truly appreciate it.
Thank y'all so much.
Thank you, thank you.
This is beautiful.
Thank you. Thank you.
And we have been celebrating you all week and,
our hearts are with you.
Our inspiration is insurmountable
because of what you are doing.
And Amazon too was inspired by each one of your stories
and they wanted to donate a $500 Amazon gift card
to each of you (audience claps)
to thank you for all that you do.
But that's not all.
Amazon will also be delivering smiles
and donating $10,000 (audience applauds)
to each of your organizations
to help you continue to do
the incredible work that you are doing in your communities.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, thank you. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
(audience applauds)
Oh, thank you.
Thank you queens.
And also Amazon, thank you
for bringing
a classic
in its new iteration, "Coming 2 America"
right when we need it the most.
And I have to say,
Jermaine, you are so incredible in it,
really and truly.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
It's also available to stream globally as of March 5th
on Amazon Prime Video.
Go and stream it right now.
Thank you wonderful women.
Thank you Jermaine.
(upbeat music)