Taraji P. Henson tried to show love by giving flowers to stars in the BET Awards audience on Sunday — only to dish out a number of embarrassing slip-ups.
The host stopped in her tracks upon seeing nominee Halle Bailey in the crowd — but pronounced the singer’s name wrong, as “hay-lee” (instead of “howl-lee”).
Then Henson — who’d likened the event to a “family reunion” — continued to make her way through Los Angeles’ Peacock Theater. She spotted the TikToker Jordan Howlett (otherwise known as Jordan Thee Stallion), who she referred to as a “Method Man look-a-like.”
“Meth is married — are you?” Henson, asked before awkwardly making it clear to viewers that she thought Howlett was another TikToker, food critic Keith Lee.
“Mr. Keith Lee, I know what you’re thinking right now, this is about a 10.9 outta 10?” she asked Howlett, riffing on Lee’s catchphrase.
Howlett quickly corrected Henson by pointing toward Lee and his wife, Ronni, who were sitting alongside him in the crowd.
“I got caught up in my own inner monologue, I’m so sorry,” Henson told Lee before repeating her “10.9″ line to the food critic.
She proceeded to call Lee “fine, too” in front of his wife, before walking away.
Social media users on X couldn’t help but cringe at Henson’s embarrassing mix-up.
