Here’s how Drew Barrymore gave SZA ‘permission to be herself’Here’s how Drew Barrymore gave SZA ‘permission to be herself’

Though Lana, the deluxe edition of SZA‘s SOS, is all the rage right now, her debut album, Ctrl, featured a song inspired by and named after Drew Barrymore. On Monday’s episode of Barrymore’ talk show, SZA sang the actress’ praises while describing just how much of an inspiration the E.T. star has been to her.

“Drew Barrymore” captures SZA’s feelings of insecurity after seeing a man she’s dating at a party with another woman. Drew made a cameo in the accompanying music video.

“It was inspired by you. It wasn’t just titled after you,” SZA said of the song on Monday. “The energy that you carry, even my outfit [today], is inspired by the way you’ve made me feel my entire life.”

“You don’t understand. I wrote you this letter that I never sent you,” SZA continued. “When you’re a younger Black woman, there’s not a lot of examples all the time, and one of the few lovely white women that I looked up to so much on television was you because you were so yourself.”

SZA noted that Drew’s acceptance of her own flaws inspired her to do the same.

“You were quirky. Your smile wasn’t perfect. I have a slight speech impediment, and people laugh all the time,” SZA said. “They’re like, ‘What is SZA saying?’ And it’s like a running joke.”

“I love the way you talk and, like, just all the ‘you’-ness of you, your laugh … in the movies and in real life,” SZA gushed. “It just reminds me of all the things about myself that make me nervous, but on you, it shines so brightly.”

“You gave me permission to be myself … you’ve always been the pinnacle to me,” SZA concluded. “I love you.”  Drew responded by giving SZA a huge hug.

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