Jill Scott is a well-known person in entertainment. The R&B singer has become a mainstay in the Hollywood realm thanks to a series of film and television projects throughout her decades-long career. She is on our screens pretty regularly now, thanks to a campaign she is currently doing with Nationwide Insurance. Despite all her success and visibility, Jill Scott recently opened up about her thoughts on fame and how she does not identify as a “celebrity.”
Jill Scott recently spoke with Jemele Hill on her interview series Unbothered. In a segment from it, Scott reveals that not only does she not identify as a celebrity, but she also struggles with anxiety due to it. In the zoom interview, Hill asks Scott to recall the time she first realized she was famous. Scott remembers moving to New Jersey early on in her career. She always loved Macy’s and decided to treat herself during Macy’s Day to some new kitchen appliances. While at the mall, she stopped briefly to admire some shoes and was recognized by fans. They began to rush her, as people ran in from the mall as well to see her. Scott says that people came running from all over, and it terrified her. As a result of this, she ran and hid. While she laughs telling the story, she reveals that it was at this time that she identified that she had anxiety.
“I think that was the moment. I was like, oh, this same thing, I don’t know if I like her. I still don’t know.” Hill followed up by asking how Jill Scott manages the profoundly personal connections fans may feel like they have with her due to the type of music she makes, laughing because she too greeted Jill Scott with a personal story at the top of their interview. “How do you balance it? Because the kind of music you make is so personal and emotional. People probably feel they know you in a different way than other artists. I can only imagine how starstruck fans…the kind of story they share.”
“I don’t know what to do. I’m not a celebrity. I’m just not. I know what you think, and I know what I’ve done.” She goes on to say she does not feel that way in her heart; she feels like she is an artist. She calls herself a renaissance artist, writer, actor, poet, and singer, but not a celebrity. “That was never my goal. Any part of me ever thought about being famous or being famous. I guess people are like, ‘that’s so dumb! Yeah, I guess so! You know, It just wasn’t something I even thought about. And then I had to deal with it.” She goes on to say that she had to cut family and friends off due to fame. “They didn’t pass; they just had to get out of my life.”
She recalls even cutting her mother off for about six months. “She felt ‘fan-y’ to me. And I would explain, ‘mom, I don’t need that. I need you to be my mom; there’s a lot going on. There’s more money than I ever had. I don’t know what to do with it. There’s more people calling themselves my friends. I need you to stay grounded with me because this is a lot to take in.” While she says she is grateful, she had to deal with the reality of fame in a very real way. “It’s still me,” she says.
She recalls people driving past her house at 3 in the morning blasting her music to get her attention. She goes on to say that the part of her that she holds onto the most is the “woman, the mom, the truth seeker, the lover.” While she enjoys the money, she wants to maintain grounded and be able to do everyday things. “That whole part about gaining the world and losing your soul, no thanks.” Towards the end, Jemele Hill asked how did Jill repair the relationship with her mother.
She recalls coming home from 2 years of touring completely drained. Her mother and grandmother took care of her and helped get her back together. She says her mother got it at that point and understood what she needed from her.
