Image: John Nacion / Gilbert Flores

Kathy Hilton mistakenly identified Lizzo as “Precious” during an August 2022 episode of “Watch What Happens Live!” with Andy Cohen, leading to widespread scrutiny and backlash on social media.

Gabourey Sidibe, who played the lead role in the film “Precious,” reacted to the incident on the One54 podcast, expressing her confusion and disappointment since she had previously met Hilton both socially and professionally.

Sidibe noted that referring to her solely by the name of her character from over a decade ago “tinged with racism,” highlighting a pattern of being misidentified as other plus-sized Black women.

Following the backlash, Kathy Hilton expressed feeling “terrible” about the mistake and clarified that poor eyesight contributed to her inability to identify several celebrities during the segment.

Some fans speculated that Kathy may have been referring to model Precious Lee instead of Sidibe, but the misidentification was still deemed offensive and embarrassing.

Hilton admitted during the episode that she mixed up various celebrity names, not only Sidibe’s, and stated that she would “never intentionally hurt anyone’s feelings.”

Sidibe reflected on her past as the character Precious, expressing gratitude for her growth since then, stating that her past self felt small and unhealed, contrasting her current life and perspective.