Jenifer Lewis Reveals She Almost Died After 2022 Balcony Fall In Tanzania: 'I Heard A Lion Roar'

The legendary Jenifer Lewis sat down for an upcoming interview with Robin Roberts, and, this morning, Good Morning America released a clip. Turns out, the 67-year-old actress has gone through it the last couple years. She tells Robin that she nearly died after falling 10 feet off a balcony while on vacation in the African Serengeti.

Jenifer says that two months after Black-ish ended in 2022, she planned to retire and travel the world. That autumn, she went to Africa. She started in Cape Town, then Rwanda, then arrived in the African Serengeti in Tanzania. Jenifer couldn’t wait to go on a safari and see the lions. Her first night, she arrived in her hotel room in total darkness:

“When the sun sets in the Serengeti, there are no streetlights. It is pitch black. I was escorted to the lodge, my room, but I wasn’t given a tour. I should’ve been given a tour.”

After laying out her safari clothes, Jenifer spotted the infinity pool out on her balcony. So, she went outside to check it out. She says she remembers walking and “taking in the fact” that she was in the Serengeti, when, “all of a sudden… [falling sound]. I had fallen 10 feet. Into a dry ravine full of boulders and stones and sharp rocks.” The interview cuts to footage of Jenifer at the bottom of the ravine. It’s a big fall. And there are rocks everywhere. She easily could have died.

Jenifer explains that there “was a space that was not sectioned off”, and there was no caution sign that warned her of a drop. Robin asks her what kind of pain she was experiencing, and Jenifer answers:

“Well, of course I was in shock. My right hip took the impact. My shoulder went up against the stone, a lightning bolt went through my mind’s eye… right here. In pitch black, I didn’t know I was falling. Nothing would move.

So I laid there and said, ‘Move your body, baby. Come on, Jenny. Move your body.’ And then I called for my friend Lori. It was hard to even take a big breath to scream.”

Dear God! Robin points out that Jenifer was “in the middle of the Serengeti” with all sorts of wild animals. Jenifer says that when her friend Lori shone the flashlight of her phone’s camera down into the ravine, she didn’t realize she had captured footage of a Cape buffalo just “ten feet away” from Jenifer. GMA shows the footage, and, holy crap, that buffalo is huge.

When Lori ran to get help, Jenifer says she “heard a lion roar.” She tears up a bit, then chuckles:

“My last thought, because I am Jenifer Lewis, was, ‘What a headline!’ [bursts into laughter] The king ate the queen! Pieces of Jenifer Lewis’ body is being flown back to the States!”

Back in the GMA studio, Robin reveals that a lot of Jenifer’s recovery was captured on film, and the footage will be shown tonight in the full interview.

Robin says she asked Jenifer why she waited a year-and-a-half to tell her story. Jenifer explained that she didn’t want anyone to know she’d fallen “until I could show you how I got back up.” What an absolutely wild story. Jenifer is lucky to be alive.

Here’s the interview clip that aired this morning on GMA: