It was an emotional moment for comedian Jay Pharoah on Wednesday when he sat down for an interview on the Tamron Hall show.
Pharoah, who was talking about his experience with bullying at a young age and his close relationship with his sister, broke down in tears after watching a surprise video message from his beloved sibling.
Hall first prompted the TV star to talk about his strong bond with his sister, Shaina, who has been Pharoah’s manager for 16 years.
“Shaina, she’s so sweet,” Pharoah said.
The 35-year-old also raved about his sister’s child.
“My nephew, he’s gonna be a little star,” he said. “When he gets in the industry, I’m out. I’m not doing it no more.”
Pharoah said it was his sister who protected him when he was being bullied at home or at school.
“It was at school, home even, my parents would say stuff, they didn’t mean it, but they would, you know? I was a chunky kid,” he said.
The Chesapeake, Virginia native specifically reflected on a summer he spent in New York as a child and jokingly said he can blame the Big Apple for making him put on some extra pounds.
“I love New York and my aunts are up here, but they eat, you know? When I was five, my parents sent me up here for a summer with my sister, and I remember when I took a shower before I left, the water would go straight down my back, like straight down,” he said. “When I got back from New York, it was shooting off getting everything wet. And I’m looking around like, wait a second. I was like ‘Yo, what is this?’ . . . I had what I like to call ‘robustness’ down there, or in the contemporary terms we can say I had a ‘Meg Thee Stallion ass.’”
Shaina was beaming with pride as she appeared on the video and congratulated her brother on his new movie Spinning Gold.
“I just want to say congratulations,” Shaina said in the video message. “You all know him as Jay, you’ll always be Jared to me.”
The loving sister then reflected on the pair’s journey together.
“When we started this journey years and years ago, it was not even a question whether or not I was going to support you and help your dreams come true,” she said. “And I am so proud of how you’ve grown and how you continue to move in the way that you want to move and advocate for the things you want.”
The siblings’ faith in God has played a key role in keeping them close together.
“I know that you have a relationship with the Lord, keep that as tight as possible and there is nothing that you can’t do,” Shaina said. “And I can’t wait to see how far you will go. I love you. Congratulations. Let’s make this movie [Spinning Gold] number one.”
The comedian fought tears as he responded to the heartwarming video.
“My sister, she’s always protected me,” he said. “That means so much, that message, because we’ve been on this journey together.”
