Tracee Ellis Ross said she met a lot of celebrities as the daughter of Dianna Ross. But one celebrity in particular struck fear in her.
Appearing on a recent episode of Baby, This is Keke Palmer, Tracee explained meeting lots of famous people.
“I met some of the most extraordinary people.”
“Andy Warhol painted me and my sisters,” she added. “I met him. I was not star-struck. I was actually frightened.”
When asked by Palmer why she was afraid, Tracee replied, “Well, probably the look. He had a very distinct look.”
“I did not understand what was happening,” she said. “I mean, I realize so much about Andy’s work now as an adult that I didn’t understand as a kid. And this kind of satirical, reflective thing that he was always doing … creating pop culture in art and mixing them in a way that is, it’s kind of extraordinary.”
In 1981, Andy Warhol photographed a young Tracee at his New York City studio, The Factory, alongside her mother and her sisters, Rhonda and Chudney. Originally commissioned as portraits, one of the Polaroids from this session was later chosen by her mother to grace the cover of her 1982 album, Silk Electric.
TRACEE RECALLED BEING STARSTRUCK AT LUCILLE BALL
Tracee also noted she was starstruck by Lucille Ball, as a child. She recalled that her family once stayed on the same hotel floor as Ball. When she found out, she began screaming, “Lucy, I’m home,” in an homage to the classic sitcom I Love Lucy.
I literally — I kept screaming it,” Tracee said. “And my sisters were like, ‘Will you shut up?’ And I was like, ‘But she might hear me. Lucy Ball might hear — Lucy. Lucy, it’s Tracy.’ She did not hear me, I don’t think. But I did meet her.”