Aaron Pierre did not know what to say after learning that the comments on his spirit tunnel video for “The Jennifer Hudson Show” had been turned off. Hudson said during an early February taping of her talk show that the decision was made because Pierre was “too hot for y’all to handle.”
“That’s the first time I have heard that and I do not know what to say,” Pierre told People when asked about the viral moment on the carpet of the American Black Film Festival Honors on Monday. He was in attendance to receive the gala’s Rising Star Award. “It’s all love,” the actor added. “And I really believe it’s all very joyful. I receive that, and I’m grateful for that. It’s a special thing … so thank you.”
The spirit tunnel walk is a tradition unique to “The Jennifer Hudson Show” meant to hype up the program’s guests by having two lines of staff members dance and create chants for them as they walk toward the main stage to speak with Hudson herself. Pierre danced and took his time during his spirit tunnel walk, in which his cheerleaders chanted, “Aaron Pierre, that’s Mufasa!”
Hudson revealed that the talk show’s production team had never had to close the comments section on any of its social media clips before Pierre’s went viral. The actor appeared on the daytime program in late December to promote his role in Disney’s Barry Jenkins-directed “Lion King” prequel, “Mufasa,” in which he voices the film’s eponymous protagonist.
His appearance on “The Jennifer Hudson Show” helped cap off a breakout year for Pierre. The actor, who initially caught some viewers’ eyes back in 2021 with his scene-stealing turn in Jenkins’ Prime Video limited series “The Underground Railroad,” received widespread acclaim and attention for his lead performance in writer-director Jeremy Saulnier’s popular Netflix thriller “Rebel Ridge.”
A little over a month after “Rebel Ridge” premiered on Netflix, Pierre secured the coveted role of John Stewart, a fan-favorite member of DC Comics’ Green Lantern Corps., in HBO’s “Lanterns.” Filming on the DC Studios TV series began in mid-February and it is expected to premiere on HBO sometime in 2026.
Now, Pierre, himself a London native, is one of several names that have cropped up online in recent months as a favorite to potentially take over the James Bond mantle from Daniel Craig. The actor was even mentioned by some fans in the comments of an Instagram post by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos asking for suggestions regarding who should play the iconic fictional MI6 agent next.
