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Taraji P. Henson Tells Jimmy Fallon What It's Like to Dance with Usher: "He's a Magnet"
"The way you walk up to Usher—you just end up twerking," the actress said of the former The Voice Coach on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon's October 3 episode.
Actress Taraji P. Henson is a passionate concertgoer—a fact that became widely known in September 2022, when Henson celebrated her 52nd birthday with a trip to former The Voice Coach Usher's Las Vegas residency. On the October episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Henson looked back on her electric experiences dancing onstage with Usher, videos of which were widely shared online (including by Henson herself).
When Host Jimmy Fallon presented a photo that captured her joyous moment, Henson provided some background. "It was my birthday, and my girls and I decided to celebrate in Vegas," she explained.
When she arrived at the Usher concert, "I kind of knew something was going to happen, because they were like, 'sit in this seat'—I know what the camera seats are!" Henson said.
Henson was feeling excited, she recalled. "And he came up to the stage, and he wasn't ready to call me up yet. He looked over my way, and he was like, 'I see you Taraji!' And I thought that was my cue."
That's right: Henson kind-of-sort-of rushed onstage, crashing Usher's concert.
Taraji P. Henson dishes on dancing with Usher onstage on her birthday
"Usher is a female magnet, I don't know if you know this," Henson told Fallon. "But you're like, drawn to him."
Cut to Paris Fashion Week in September 2023, where Usher also performed. At the show, Henson said, "then he looks across, and goes, 'Is that Taraji P. Henson?' And I swear to God, I took off running," Henson told Fallon.
"There's something about him—he's a magnet, but you come in twerking," Henson continued. "Look at all the footage, it's not just me!"
"He's a magnet, and he pulls it out of you," she added. "I don't twerk in public!"
At the top of the interview, Henson also shared that she attended Beyonce's Renaissance World Tour in the summer of 2023 and loved it—and complied with Bey's birthday request for a sea of silver outfits in her audience. Though it messed with her previous outfit plans, Henson found a "paper-thin" black bodysuit adorned with silver sparkles.
"I mean, who else can pull this off?" Fallon said, adding that it was miraculous she didn't end up onstage again.
