Legendary actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams recently appeared on the Tamron Hall show with her daughter, Jillian Hervey, who is one half of the popular duo Lion Babe.
During the show, the mother-daughter duo chatted about Vanessa’s long-awaited new album, Survivor—her first in 15 years—before performing their hit single, “BOP!”
The conversation also touched on Jillian’s journey into motherhood. In 2021, she made Vanessa a grandmother for the first time when she welcomed her son Sunny with her partner and Lion Babe bandmate, Lucas Goodman.
She kept the pregnancy a secret for 9 months and has since chosen not to publicly share her son’s face, often covering him with cute emojis.
Tamron Hall praised Jillian’s decision, noting the importance of privacy, especially for someone raised in the limelight.
“I love the little emoji because you have grown up in the spotlight, so you know what those private moments meant to you when people are clamoring to be next to Vanessa Williams. But you just wanted to be next to your mom, and protecting Sunny’s privacy is a big part of it.”
Reflecting on her upbringing, Jillian expressed her admiration for her mother’s ability to balance a demanding career while raising three children.
“I always felt just blown away,” Jillian admitted. “Especially since now he’s two, I feel like every day there’s a new thing I have to learn. I couldn’t believe that my mom was doing this with three kids, let alone one. You know, it takes a village to just kind of get the schedule , and then when you want to pursue your own things as well…”
Jillian also shared her initial fears about losing her identity as a performance artist after becoming a mom.
“I was worried about losing my identity. You know, at that point, I had built up ten years of being a performance artist and living in New York and the lifestyle that i lived… I was like, well, is that going to go away? Um, and it really has only just magnified everything. It just makes those moments better.”