Queen Latifah, 45, was arm in arm with her partner, choreographer Eboni Nichols, 36, during a Monday evening stroll in New York City.
The 45-year-old LA-based actress arrived in the Big Apple on Sunday when she was spotted checking into a swanky downtown hotel.
But her trip top Manhattan wasn’t a vacation. The talk show host will be plugging her new HBO film Bessie Smith, which debuts on Saturday.
Best of friends: Queen Latifah and Eboni Nochols were spotted enjoying an evening stroll together Monday in Manhattan
On Monday the former rapper looked happy and relaxed in a pair of grey sweats and a black v-necked T-shirt with her grey sweater tied around her waist.
The Chicago star had on white trainers with black trim and wore a black baseball cap with Brooklyn written on it as well as sunglasses and some large hooped earrings.
Close: The pair have known each other for several years and have been spotted on vacation together
Busy: The award-winning actress and singer, who lives in LA, was seen checking into a NYC hotel on Sunday wearing grey sweatpants and a black long-sleeved top
Her friend Nichols looked stylish in black leggings, a grey tee and a pretty, patterned, knee-length jacket which she paired with sandals.
The actress and rapper – born Dana Elaine Owens – stars as bisexual blues legend Bessie Smith in the HBO movie.
The biopic is a personal project for the star who first considered playing the 1920s singer 22 years ago but passed because she felt she didn’t have enough experience then to do the portrayal justice.
With her co-stars: The Queen at the NYC premiere of Bessie in April with (from left) Mo’Nique, Tika Sumpter and Khandie Alexander
In the film, she has love scenes with both men and women, appears naked, and re-creates Bessie’s powerful voice and distinct way of performing.
The movie debuts on the premium cable channel on Saturday and co-stars Mo’Nique, Tika Sumpter, Khandi Alexander, Michael Kenneth Williams and Mike Epps.
She has said she doesn’t know how audiences will react to the bisexuality of the blues icon, who died tragically at 43 in a car crash in 1937, but has described her as someone who was ‘free.’
As for her own rumored sexuality, Latifah prefers to keep her private life private.
Multi-talented: Latifah looked stunning in black at the premiere of her Bessie film, which debuts on Saturday
But in an April interview with Uptown magazine, the award-winning artists did talk about how she believes society isn’t accepting enough of black gay people.
‘People’s ideas in general are antiquated when it comes to who you love,’ she said. ‘We haven’t moved as quickly as we probably should.
‘And the reality is that there’s always been gay people in the black community, so it’s not foreign to us. And not just as a black community but just a society as a whole.’
She claimed that being gay was ‘not a character flaw’, adding that opposition to gay marriage angers her.
