Around three years ago, Paris Hilton’s mom, Kathy, appeared on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live, where she played a celebrity guessing game.
At one point, Cohen asked Kathy to name the woman on the screen, and she mistook Lizzo for “Precious.” When Cohen told Kathy she was wrong, she said, in the 2022 episode, “That’s what I call her. Her nickname’s Precious to me,” as everyone laughed. It was clear Kathy didn’t know who Lizzo was.
Many assumed that Kathy thought the woman in the picture was Gabourey Sidibe, whose breakthrough role was 2009’s Precious. Sidibe addressed the incident in a new episode of the One54 Africa podcast.
"That was weird because I've been to that lady's house. I've had a meeting with her. And I was like, ‘I know you, Kathy.’ Yeah, I've never met Lizzo, but Lizzo and I do different things,” Sidibe said at around the 2:47:05 hour mark.
“I've been confused for many black fat, like, like many, many, many women, and it's always weird and tinged with racism. And I did think that was weird, Kathy. Because I had been to that woman's house and had a meeting with her, because she wanted to dress me. And I was like, that's so strange. You ought to know my real name also, cause she said ‘Precious.’”
While some fans believe Kathy was actually referring to model Precious Lee, it was still an offensive mistake.
Elsewhere in the podcast episode, Sidibe watched her audition tape for Precious, which made her cry.
“That girl, her life was completely different than it is today. And the way she felt about her life, the way she felt about the world, the way she felt about herself was so small, was so, so small and so unhealed. And I am so grateful for her.”