It sounds like having Chris Martin as a close friend comes with quite a lot of great benefits. In fact, the Coldplay front-man is even generous to people he hardly knows, as he even gave Queen Latifah a $150,000 piano as a gift.
The singer and actress made this admission during her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday night. And Latifah admitted that she isn’t even that friendly with Martin , he was simply doing it to raise more money for a charity auction.
Latifah, who was on the show to promote her role in Bessie , recalled the bizarre encounter at Alicia Keys’ Black Ball annual fundraiser to the talk show host, admitting that she attempted to get the wealthy crowd of millionaires to bid more money for items.
Latifah stated that she was sat next to “this white guy” at the event, adding, “I don’t know this guy, but he seems cool. Seems chill.”
When it came to auctioning off the piano that Alicia Keys played while performing with Jay Z for “Empire State Of Mind” at the Grammys ( EW has since revealed that they actually played the piano at the 2009 VMAs, not the Grammys), Latifah and the “chill white guy” immediately started to get the room to extravagantly bid for it.
Latifah and Martin were relatively successful in their attempt, too, because they got the total to $150,000. The pair then paid the total, but it was only after they’d paid that Latifah learnt that she’d been increasing the total in tandem with Chris Martin from Coldplay.
Latifah admitted that it “took her a second to figure out” that it was the English rocker, before she added that Martin ended up paying $100,000 for the piano and Latifah parted with $50,000. But despite paying the larger fee, Martin was in such a generous mood that he decided to simply give it to Latifah instead. Latifah then blew him a kiss and added, “He is the salt of the earth as far as I’m concerned.”
Which is a statement that I don’t think any of us can argue with following Latifah’s revelation. You can watch a video of Queen Latifah’s interview with Jimmy Kimmel below.
Meanwhile, Bessie , which tells the story of legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, is due out on DVD on September 1, 2015, while she is currently filming her role in Miracles From Heaven , which will hit cinemas on March 18, 2016.
[Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images for Turner Image]