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Google PlayHalle Berry, whose directorial debut Bruised debuts on Netflix later this month, dropped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! headquarters on Monday for a 14-minute chat during which she again shouted out her soundtrack collaborator Cardi B.
As you may or may not recall, Berry previously praised Cardi at a Bruised event last week, calling the Invasion of Privacy artist “the queen of hip-hop.” When these comments started to be utilized by others to revive a tiresome competition narrative surrounding Cardi and Nicki Minaj, the former shared a tweet in which she referenced “childish shit” before outlining the importance of her work on Bruised.
Asked around the 7:09 mark in the video up top about her initial comments, Berry affirmed that she does indeed stand by them. However, she also pointed out that there is room for “more than one queen” and shared some praise for Minaj too.
“You know, I do,” she said when asked if she stood by the comments. “But here’s the thing, there’s room for more than one queen, people. That’s what we need to know. Nicki is a queen in her own right, H.E.R. is a queen. All these ladies to me are queens. There can always be more than one.”
Elaborating further on the “queen” distinction, Berry continued:
“Queen is a term that we use to describe great,” she said. “You know, we’re all a queen. All we do all day is say, ‘Hey queen!’ ‘What’s up, queen?’ ‘Yeah, queen!’ ‘What’s happening, queen?’. … Queen, queen, queen. We’re all queens.”
Elsewhere, Berry looked back on how Spike Lee was one of the first to be helpful on a journey that eventually led to her directing Bruised. Specifically, Berry said around the 10:40 mark, Lee was open to letting her get a crash-course in how different departments on the set of the 1991 drama Jungle Fever operated.
The topic of Catwoman was also broached, with Berry pointing out that—despite only starring in the 2004 film and not directing or writing it—she’s been tasked with carrying whatever success it did or didn’t have. Asked by Kimmel if there was a chance of her ever revisiting the role in some sort of multiverse capacity, Berry named the one condition that would be required:
“If I can direct it,” she said around the 13:35 mark.
Watch more up top. Bruised hits Netflix on Nov. 24
