When James Wright Chanel Met Patti LaBelle

“Y’all remember The Color Purple? And remember when Whoopi didn’t see her sister for a long, long, long, long, long time, and she was like, ‘Nettieeeeeeee!’? That’s how I felt. I felt like I was in The Color Purple,” is how viral star James Wright Chanel described meeting legendary diva Patti LaBelle for the first time. Chanel became a sensation via a video review of LaBelle’s WalMart sweet potato pie. The video created a buying frenzy and eventually landed Chanel a gig co-hosting a special on the Cooking Channel that aired last night called Patti LaBelle’s Holiday Pies. It was so good, it felt like heaven.

Together, as they cooked pot pies, a cobbler and, of course, LaBelle’s iconic sweet potato pie, LaBelle and Chanel sang a selection of her classics and songs they made up on the spot. They Crip Walked. He tore up a rose and sprinkled its petals over her head. She asked him what “getting krump” meant and then she showed him how she gets crunk. He screamed a lot. She cried, moved by his effusive parting words that paid tribute to her greatness.

Highlights are above. The full episode is embedded below. This is now the second highly entertaining special LaBelle has appeared in on the Cooking Channel (the first aired in September). Make my wish come true and pick this up for a full series, already!