Denzel Washington turned the premiere of Netflix’s The Piano Lesson into the ultimate family affair on Tuesday night, bringing both his star power and his talented family along for the ride.
The 69-year-old Oscar winner was joined by his stunning wife, Pauletta, 74, and their three children—John David, 40, Katia, 37, and Malcolm, 33—who all took over the red carpet at Hollywood’s iconic Egyptian Theatre.Â
The family stole the spotlight, with Malcolm’s twin sister Olivia noticeably absent from the glamorous event.
The Piano Lesson, based on August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, became a true Washington family production: John David stars in the film, Malcolm directs, and Katia produced.
The Washington family looked nothing short of fabulous for the siblings’ big night, posing together in chic, coordinated ensembles while flashing their signature megawatt smiles.
The event was a who’s who of Hollywood, with stars like Danielle Deadwyler, Erykah Badu, Tyler the Creator, and Skylar Aleece Smith joining the A-list crowd in a night of unforgettable glitz and glamour.
Denzel Washington (with wife Paulette) turned the premiere of Netflix ‘s The Piano Lesson into the ultimate family affair on Tuesday night, bringing both his star power and his talented family along for the ride
The 69-year-old Oscar winner was joined by his stunning wife, Pauletta, 74, and their three children—John David, 40, Katia, 37, and Malcolm, 33—who all took over the red carpet at Hollywood’s iconic Egyptian Theatre
The red carpet appearance came just after Denzel opened up about his past struggles with substance abuse, revealing that he used to drink two bottles of wine a day before getting sober nearly a decade ago.Â
‘Wine is very tricky. It’s very slow. It ain’t like, boom, all of a sudden,’ he shared in his recent Esquire interview.Â
‘I never got strung out on heroin. Never got strung out on coke. Never got strung out on hard drugs. I shot dope just like [childhood friends] shot dope, but I never got strung out,’ he told the publication.Â
‘And I never got strung out on liquor. I had this ideal idea of wine tastings and all that — which is what it was at first. And that’s a very subtle thing. I mean, I drank the best.’
He revealed that when his family added a wine cellar to their home, ‘I learned to drink the best. So I’m gonna drink my ’61s and my ’82s and whatever we had. Wine was my thing, and now I was popping $4,000 bottles just because that’s what was left.’
He continued, ‘And then later in those years I’d call Gil Turner’s Fine Wines & Spirits on Sunset Boulevard and say, “Send me two bottles, the best of this or that.”‘
When his wife of more than 40 years, Pauletta, asked him why he always ordered two bottles, Washington explained, ‘Because if I order more, I’ll drink more. So I kept it to two bottles, and I would drink them both over the course of the day.’
He insisted he never drank while working on films.Â
The family stole the spotlight, with Malcolm’s twin sister Olivia noticeably absent from the glamorous event
The Washington family looked nothing short of fabulous for the siblings’ big night, posing together in chic, coordinated ensembles while flashing their signature megawatt smilesÂ
Paulette and Denzel have been married for over 40 years
Erykah Badu arrived in style
The songstress was dressed to impress in her eclectic gear
Actress Gail Bean made quite the entrance
Danielle Deadwyler was the moment in her chic dress
Looking back, Washington said, ‘I’ve done a lot of damage to the body. We’ll see. I’ve been clean.’
The candid reveal comes after Gladiator II director Ridley Scott debunked Denzel’s claims that a gay kiss was cut from the long-awaited sequel.
The actor said in an interview with Gayety earlier this month that he, ‘actually kissed a man in the film but they took it out, I think they got chicken.’
He added, ‘I kissed a guy full on the lips and they… I guess they weren’t ready for that yet. I killed him about five minutes later.’
However, Scott was interviewed by Variety at the Los Angeles premiere on Monday, and when asked about the ‘kiss with the boy,’ he seemed quite confused.Â
‘He kills the Senator, is that what you mean?’ The interviewer said, ‘Denzel said he kissed a man on the lips but it didn’t make the final cut,’ as Scott insisted, ‘No, that’s bulls**t.’
Scott added, ‘It was a Senator,’ and another man off camera said, ‘We even went back and looked at the film, there was never (a gay kiss).’
Scott explained, ‘They never did. They acted the moment and it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen because they acted the moment as if he (did).’Â
When Denzel spoke with the same interviewer on the red carpet Monday, following Scott’s claim that he had never seen the gay kiss, the actor seemed to slightly adjust his story.
Katia was joined by Colleen Washington
Andrea Mona Bowman and Rachel Lautzenheiser stole the spotlight in their daring ensembles
Tyler the Creator cut a hip figure
‘It’s much ado about nothing, it really is much ado about nothing, you know, they’re making more of it than it was,’ Denzel remarked.
He added with a laugh, ‘I kissed him on his hands, I gave him a peck, and I killed him.’
When the interviewer—who happened to be gay—joked, ‘Us gay boys wanna see Denzel kissing another man,”‘Denzel responded, ‘Well, I don’t have the part yet, are you gonna write it?’
After Denzel’s original interview made headlines, a source told TMZ that the kiss was actually improvised and wasn’t even in the script.
Meanwhile, Gladiator II star Paul Mescal also shared a fun moment about a potential scene with Pedro Pascal where he wanted to kiss his co-star on the forehead.
‘There was a moment when we were rehearsing my fight scene with Pedro, and I had an idea towards the end of the scene to kiss Pedro on the forehead,’ the 28-year-old English actor told EW last month.
Skylar Aleece Smith looked like a princessÂ
Hairstylist Lawrence Davis
The cast came together for a group shot
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‘I did it in one of the takes, and then we’re getting the radio messages back to Ridley, and I was like, ‘Ridley, kiss on the forehead, did you like it? Yay or nay?'” Mescal recalled.
‘There was radio silence for a second. His radio crackles back and [sarcastically] goes ‘I’m afraid I did,” he added, laughing.Â
‘I think Ridley’s one of the funniest men I’ve ever come across.’
Gladiator II hits American theaters this Friday.
