The pictures of two startled superstars at the Oscars backstage made rounds around the Internet in February 2020. Now Salma Hayek can talk in more detail about what happened when she met Eminem in the wings of that stage.
Salma appeared in a recent episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show and was confronted with the question about spilling water over Marshall after his performance. Apparently, the story is even more dramatic, explained the actress:
You see, people don’t know, I don’t look like it happens to me, but I have terrible stage fright. I’m just a really good actress that I pretend it’s not happening, but I really get it very bad. I go dizzy, my mouth gets dry. So, I have a song that I put in my head that helps me get through it. Which is “Lose Yourself.” I mean, you hear that you feel like you can do anything. So I hear it in my head.
And I was going to present at the Oscars, which is really nerve-wracking, especially if you have stage fright. This one day, I was extra nervous because I hadn’t slept, I was jet-lagged, I was feeling shaky. So this one time, I’m drinking the water because my mouth immediately goes dry. So I’m walking towards it, and I’m singing “Lose Yourself” in my head. And then it’s like, it’s not syncing to something. I’m drinking the water, and then I go like, “Wait a minute. Have I lost it?!” I go to the person, “Is “Lose Yourself” playing right now?!” Because I heard it like in a stereo. He was not announced that he was gonna be at the Oscars. As I was ready to come out he was on stage playing “Lose Yourself”, but I didn’t know! I knew everybody who was at this Oscars, but it was a surprise.
I’m so nervous, I think it’s me and then all of a sudden, wait a minute? It was really scary. I was actually embarrassed to ask, I hesitated for a minute, and it was the end of it. At this moment, I’m more nervous, and he comes out exactly on the side that I’m in. And I just, I’m so nervous, I go, “I love you!! I love you!!” I spit the water on him! I drank, and I was screaming, “I love you! I love you!” And then I see he’s in shock with water all over, and I go, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!!!” They were like, “Go, go”, and I was like, “Somebody, take a picture!!!” They took a picture and then I left.
I felt so humiliated. I still had to go and do it, and the next day I went home, and I said,” Oh my God, my hero thinks I’m a freak”. And the next morning they asked him because it was a big deal, it was a surprise, “Did you enjoy going this time?” And he said something like, “Oh, I really enjoyed it because I got to meet Salma Hayek!”
Queue a jaw drop from the stunned actress.
Watch Salma Hayek playing out her surprising encounter with Eminem in the Oscars wings:
