Omari Hardwick Recalls Denzel Washington and His Wife Taking Him in As Their Own Son During Early Days of His Career

Omari Hardwick appeared on Tv ONE’s UNCENSORED and details his deep connection to Denzel Washington and his wife, Pauletta Washington.

The Power star went to a school called Marist in Atlanta and they bonded because they were one of the few Black people at the institution. “It was another kid who really took to me and his name was John David Washington and John David Washington turned out to be Pauletta Washington and Denzel Washington’s son.”

The actor went on to say that Pauletta immediately embraced him. “As I got closer and closer to him Pauletta took to me very quickly. She initially told me ‘I don’t have another space in my home’ or she might have said ‘I don’t have space in my mind to deal with another crazy Capricorn.’ She said it with laughter.”

Hardwick continued, “At that point I knew that Denzel was a Capricorn. It was just a joke because she took me in like like nobody’s business. She became my mom away from my mom. She became so much to me so we got super close. And I was broke and then Pauletta and Denzel eventually let me couch in their house sometimes. I would just be just be over there just for peace and spirit. Pauletta has such an incredible spirit, and energy…”

Omari Hardwick reflected on his big break in 2004 in the show Sucker Free about street gangs in San Francisco. He was happy to share the news with the Washingtons and express his gratitude for their love and assistance. “John David and I got super, super super close and still to this day… So during that time I was all excited to go back to them with that news, you know that ‘Sucker Free’ was something that was going to make it where I didn’t need to borrow money from them anymore and I never did. But they definitely gave me $1,500 when the car was about to be repoed.”