Sheryl Lee Ralph Told ‘Sister Act 2’ Co-Star Lauryn Hill ‘To Rethink’ Naming Her Music Group The ‘Fugees’
Sheryl Lee Ralph Told ‘Sister Act 2’ Co-Star Lauryn Hill ‘To Rethink’ Naming Her Music Group The ‘Fugees’
It looks like Sheryl Lee Ralph wasn’t too fond of Lauryn Hill naming her band the Fugees.
During a recent interview, Sheryl Lee Ralph admitted that she suggested Lauryn Hill ‘rethink’ naming her band Fugees while the pair played mother and daughter in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. However, this was long before the group released their 7x-Platinum album The Score in 1996.
Ralph explained:
“That was one of the best times because I got to work with this enthusiastic, bright, talented young woman. When I tell you, I look at Lauryn Hill, I remember Lauryn Hill telling me, ‘Ms. Ralph, I’m going to have a band, and the name is going to be the Fugees,’ and I was like, ‘Baby you will definitely have a band, but you may need to rethink that name.'”
She continued,
“And she said, ‘Ms. Ralph, you oughta get it, Fugees. Refugees,’ and I was like, ‘Okay, I get it, but, rethink it.’ But she was absolutely right.”
.@thesherylralph is "absolutely" down for filming #SisterAct 3: "Just ask me!" pic.twitter.com/46O2Rwx5h0
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 18, 2023
The Fugees’ first album, Blunted on Reality, was released one year after Hill and Ralph appeared in Sister Act 2. However, it was their sophomore album, The Score that catapulted their career. Upon its release, The Score was a commercial success, peaking atop the U.S. Billboard 200, and becoming the third best-selling album of 1996. Lauryn Hill went on to have a successful solo career starting with the release of 1998’s No. 1 single “Doo Wop (That Thing).” She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as one of the most influential musicians of her generation.
When asked if she’d return to film Sister Act 3 with Whoopi Goldberg, Ralph responded,
“Absolutely. Another, Sister Act 3? Absolutely, just ask me. Come on, ask me!”
Sheryl Lee Ralph recently made headlines when she revealed she was once sexually assaulted by a famous TV judge. During a recent interview on Way Up with Angela Yee, the Abbott Elementary star discussed the incident. While the man who assaulted her was a famous TV judge, she made it clear that it was “not Judge Mathis.”
“This was a famous TV judge….I’m at a very public place. I was suited, I was handling my business for the television show I was on at that time. We were on the same network. This man walked in grabbed me by the back of my neck, turned me around and rammed his nasty tongue down my throat. And everybody at the network saw it.”
Ralph went on to explain how network execs wanted her to remain silent about the incident.
“The mayor of New Orleans at the time was Marc Morial. I called Marc Morial, he said ‘you want me to send the police there right now? Because we will fix his – you know what – right now.’ Somebody at the network tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘please don’t.’”
She continued,
“Do you know that they did not want any bad press around their show and did not care what just happened to me…That’s the kind of stuff that happens. That’s what happens. That’s what makes it hard for women to speak up about these things.”
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