Are Jay-Z and Denzel Washington friends? History explored

Hollywood friendships and feuds are not uncommon. So when Denzel Washington was seen seemingly shrugging off Jay-Z at the LA Lakers game, fans started speculating whether the Macbeth actor and the American rapper are friends or there is some bad blood between the two celebrities.

Jay Z and Washington may not be best buddies, but there is no reason for them not to put up a friendly front in public. They may not have shared any on-screen moments together, but they are friends.

There has been an instance where Jay Z stood up for Washington when the latter was engaged in an argument and the latter was trying to get him to calm down or walk away from the situation.

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History explored between American rapper Jay-Z and Oscar-winning actor Denzel Washington

Jay-Z and Denzel Washington have a good relationship, as was evident in the February 7, 2023, LA Lakers game against the OKC Thunder, where Jay-Z stepped in to calm a potential situation involving Washington. Washington was arguing with some people on the sidelines in the court during the game and Jay-Z stepped in to help diffuse the situation.

In the heat of the moment, Denzel Washington did not seem to care who was tugging at his arm, likely telling him to “walk away” or “let it go” which made it appear as if he was ignoring the rapper. Jay Z proved to be a good friend by helping Washington avoid a potential altercation that would have made the headlines.

So contrary to what people were thinking regarding Washington's cold-shouldering Jay Z, the two celebrities share a friendly and cordial relationship. There are no signs of the two having any troubled past between them.

The duo even shared a studio way back in 2014, which was mentioned by Washington himself during an appearance on the The Queen Latifah Show to promote his film The Equalizer. Washington recalled visiting a recording studio where Lenny Kravitz and Jay Z were working on music together.

He remembered his brief interaction with Jay Z back then with a very convincing impersonation of the rapper. Denzel Washington said,

"Jay Z was like, 'Yeah, D, I’ma play this for you, D.' It was ‘Change Clothes.’ Then he goes, 'So what’d you think, D?' And I was like, 'Play that again.' He was so casual about it."

Jay Z and Washington do not share any long history of friendship but they are on good terms.

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What happened in the LA Laker’s game video?

The incident between Jay Z and Washington that everyone is talking about happened on February 7, 2023, in the LA Lakers game against the OKC Thunder. It was a historic game as it marked LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record. The duo were among the many celebrities in attendance at that match. Denzel Washington is a huge Lakers fan and tries to be at their every game when he is not busy shooting projects. On that particular match, he was engaged in a heated discussion with some people, and Jay Z proved to be a good friend by trying to mediate.

Denzel Washington was able to collect himself shortly afterward and eventually walked away. He was then seen later with Jay-Z, and the duo were wrapping their arms around each other, signaling that everything was alright between the two.

But behaving this way is very unlike Denzel Washington, who was named among President Biden's 17 picks for the highest civilian honor. The list also included Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, civil rights attorney Fred Gray, the NYC nurse who was the first American to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Sandra Lindsay, and civil rights activist Diane Nash.

It is not known whether Jay-Z and Denzel are very good friends, but it is clear with Jay-Z stepping in to calm a potential situation that there are no signs of the two having any bad blood from the past. There is even a video of this that sparked the controversy regarding Jay Z and Washington’s relationship.

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Jay Z and Washington may not be great friends, but they are on friendly terms, where one looks out for the other to avoid a potential altercation.