JAY-Z's Mom Delivers An Emotional Speech At The GLAAD Media Awards

JAY-Z's mother, Gloria Carter, was one of the many special guests at the New York installment of the 2018 GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday (May 5), where she received a Special Recognition Award for her guest contribution to her hip-hop heavyweight son's 4:44 cut, "Smile."

After receiving an introduction from Robin Roberts, the mother of four took to the podium to accept the honor and open up about sharing her freedom to live openly as a lesbian in a poem, which was included on the album cut. "'Smile' became a reality because I shared with my son who I am, not that people didn't know. I was just someone they didn't talk about but they loved me anyway," she told attendees mid-speech. "But, to me, this was the first time that I spoke to anyone about who I really am. My son cried and said, 'It must've been horrible, to live that way for so long.' My life wasn't horrible. I chose to protect my family from ignorance. I was happy, but I was not free. Then, one day, I met someone that made my heart sing, that made me no longer want to sneak a peek at them, but actually look at them with loving eyes."

Towards the end of her speech, Carter admitted that kind of love and connection gave her the courage to take the power of her life back. "Love gave me the courage to take the power that I allowed other people to have over my life for fear of them revealing my secret that wasn't really a secret," she continued. "Here I am. I'm loving, I'm respectful, I'm productive, and I’m a human being who has a right to love who I love. So everybody, just smile, be free."

During his recent appearance on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman, JAY-Z elaborated on his reaction after Gloria came out to him in a deep conversation. "Imagine having to live your life as someone else, right? And you think you're protecting your kids and for my mother to have to live as someone that she wasn't and hide and like protect her kids, didn't want to embarrass her kids," he explained. "For her to sit in front of me and tell me, 'I think I love someone.' I mean, I really cried. That's a real story. I cried because I was so happy for her that she was free."

Photo: Getty Images


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