Nia Long has a Prince story with one detail she still cannot quite get over: she did not know it was Prince.
The actress recalled the missed encounter during an appearance on Angie Martinez IRL, where she described meeting the late music icon at a party before she became widely known in Hollywood.
Long said Prince approached her and grabbed her hand, but she pulled away because she did not recognize him.
People reported that Long still remembers the outfit detail from that night: a pair of Kenneth Cole black snake-embossed shoes she says she has kept ever since.
Long Said She Did Not Recognize Prince in the Moment
Long told Martinez that Prince tried to speak to her at the party, but she did not understand who was reaching for her hand. When Martinez asked if Prince had been “shooting a shot,” Long confirmed that he was.
Entertainment Weekly reported that Long recreated the moment by pulling her hand back and making an uncomfortable expression. She said her friend waited until they were in the car to tell her the man had been Prince.
Long said that delayed explanation left her frustrated. She remembered asking why her friend had not told her before they left the building, because the entire exchange would have gone differently if she had known who was standing in front of her.
She Said She Would Have Turned Around
Asked what she would have done differently, she said she would have turned around and said hello.
The shoes became part of the story because Long still has them. Entertainment Weekly reported that she joked the pair had “miles on them,” partly because Denzel Washington was also at the same event.
Long was remembering a younger version of herself at a party full of people she did not fully process in the moment, wearing shoes she now treats like a small archive of the night.
Long Met Prince Again Years Later
Long said she crossed paths with Prince again after she became an actress. This time, she reminded him that they had met before. Long said Prince was “lovely,” but their conversation centered on her haircut rather than flirting.When Martinez asked whether Prince was still trying to make a move during that later encounter, Long made the answer clear: “He was not.”
Prince died in April 2016 at age 57, but artists and actors have continued sharing stories about private encounters with him in the years since.