Taraji P. Henson Says Her Gay Cousin Taught Her How To Be A Lady

Taraji P. Henson CR Fashion Book

If you haven’t mastered the fine art of being a lady in public, you may want to seek out the services of a gay man to take you from Ratchet Rachel to Classy Cassie. It pretty much worked for Taraji P. Henson.

We all have one person to thank for Taraji’s consistent and effortless slayage on the red carpet, and that’s her now-deceased gay cousin. The Emmy-nominated Empire actress is currently showcasing her feminine beauty in the pages of CR Fashion Book. Inside, Taraji reveals that it was actually her cousin who taught her all she knows about being a lady, and why she tries to carry a clutch when stepping out.

Let me take you on a trip. My cousin had been battling AIDS and he passed away on the same day that my character [Queenie from The Curious Case of Benjamin Button] died. This is my cousin who took me to drag shows. He told me about down-low brothers, he may have saved my life.

He also taught me about being a lady. He told me ladies carry clutches on the red carpet, so sometimes when I don’t carry a clutch I feel I’m disgracing him. It’s the simple stuff you miss in a person. No one ever taught me how to properly put toilet tissue on the spool, with the flap hanging toward you, not underneath. He taught me that, and it lives with me to this day. Whenever I go into someone’s bathroom and their tissue isn’t the right way, I look up in the sky, and I go, Damn!

So ladies, who taught you how to be prim and proper? Also, hit the flip for more of Taraji’s hot CR Fashion Book shots.

CR Fashion Book