Mabena takes the biscuit with Cookie
|Published
Bob Mabena nearly bit off more than he could chew when his interview with Empire’s Cookie got awkward.
Thankfully for the Kaya FM host, actress Taraji P Henson is a far cry from her gangsta on-screen persona, so he need not fear any retribution.
Even so , Mabena pushed all the wrong buttons in an interview that concentrated more on Henson’s personal tragedies than on her celebrated performances on Empire.
After inquiring how the actress celebrated her birthday, since it fell on September 11, he then asked how she felt about the murder of her high-school sweetheart 14 years ago.
“It’s my son’s father, so you never really get over that,” Henson said. “He doesn’t have a dad. It’s hurtful. It still hurts today.”
Mabena then followed that up with a question about how Henson’s son deals with racial profiling in America. She started on an answer, explaining that she encourages him to “be himself”, but then decided to cut short that line of questioning.
“Can we just talk about Cookie, please. I'm sorry but I don't mean to bring my son into this,” she said.
To be fair, Mabena was probably only trying for a new angle after the series of interviews Henson and her co-star Terrence Howard had granted the local media. Even so, Henson is said to be upset with the way the interview went, telling her SA handlers that she was “gobsmacked”.