Viola Davis didn’t buy SC plantation she was born on. Actress sets the record straight
In a celebratory social media post, actress Viola Davis said she’s owning her life story — “all of it.”
The post, which includes a picture of a ramshackle house, left many people thinking she bought the home she spent her early childhood in, located on a former slave plantation in Saint Matthews, South Carolina.
The above is the house where I was born August 11, 1965. It is the birthplace of my story. Today on my 55th year of life....I own it....all of it.
"May you live long enough to know why you were born.”
-Cherokee Birth Blessing- pic.twitter.com/CatJK405BL— Viola Davis (@violadavis) August 11, 2020
Davis, who celebrated her 55th birthday Tuesday, soon set the record straight after several media outlets, including Vanity Fair, CNN and ABC News, reported that she had bought the childhood home as a gift to herself.
“The above is the house where I was born August 11, 1965,” Davis wrote alongside a photo of her old home. “It is the birthplace of my story. Today on my 55th year of life....I own it....all of it.”
The actress, who starred on the hit TV show “How To Get Away With Murder,” concluded her post with a Cherokee birth message: “May you live long enough to know you were born.”
Davis later clarified her comments, writing: “Uhh....contrary to websites....I do not ‘own’ above house. I ‘own’ my STORY!! Too abstract I guess.”
Despite the confusion, Davis’ Hollywood friends flooded her page with kind words for her birthday. Many sent their congratulations, including actress Halle Berry, TV producer Shonda Rhimes, Gabrielle Union and others.
Davis discussed her early childhood with People Magazine in 2016, recalling her time on her grandmother’s farm. Davis said she “wasn’t on it long” and that her family moved not long after she was born.
“I mean, I went back to visit briefly but still not aware of the history,” she told the magazine at the time. “I think I read one slave narrative of someone who was on that plantation, which was horrific; 160 acres of land, and my grandfather was a sharecropper.”
Davis is an Emmy Award-winner and two-time Oscar nominee best known for her roles in “The Help” and the film adaptation of August Wilson’s ”Fences.” Her most recent work is featured in the Amazon Original film “Troop Zero,” in which she plays troop mother to a group of young Birdie Scouts.
