The daughter of Diana Ross encountered the famous regularly.

Tracee Ellis Ross says she was ‘not starstruck’ but ‘actually frightened’ by this celeb while growing up

The daughter of Diana Ross encountered the famous regularly.

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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July 15, 2026 12:05 a.m. ET

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Tracee Ellis Ross in April; Andy Warhol circa 1985. Credit:

Anna Webber/Getty; Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty

- Tracee Ellis Ross recalled that pop artist Andy Warhol “frightened” her as a child.

- Warhol photographed Tracee’s mother, singer Diana Ross, with her daughters in 1981 to use as the basis for silkscreen portraits.

- The iconic artist died in 1987.

As the daughter of Supremes lead singer Diana Ross, actress Tracee Ellis Ross grew up among the stars, so it was nothing for her to run into musicians or other creatives, one of whom left a particularly distinct impression.

“Andy Warhol painted me and my sisters,” Tracee said on Tuesday’s episode of *Baby, This Is Keke Palmer*. “I was not starstruck. I was actually frightened.”

Palmer suggested that it had been the artist’s distinct look that usually included a shock of white hair which had scared her.

“I did not understand what was happening,” said Tracee, who’s now 53 and best known for TV’s *Girlfriends *and *Black-ish*.

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The podcast host and *I Love Boosters* star sympathized.

“I realize so much about Andy’s work now as an adult that I didn’t understand as a kid,” Palmer said. “And this kind of satirical, reflective thing that he was always doing.”

Tracee noted that he had been “creating pop culture in art and mixing them in a way that is, it’s kind of extraordinary.”

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The art icon had photographed the music superstar and her daughters — Tracee, Rhonda, and Chudney — in 1981 to use as a basis for silkscreen portraits Diana had commissioned from him. One of Warhol’s portraits of Diana became the cover art for her 1982 album *Silk Electric*.

Diana Ross with her daughters at the 62nd Annual Academy Awards in 1990.

Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Diana and Warhol spoke about her children in a conversation they had in 1975 for his *Interview* magazine.

Warhol commented that her kids were “so cute” and asked, “Do you take them to every show or was that just for opening night?”

Ross replied that they “come every other night” and, occasionally, go up on stage — “They love it.”

Warhol died in 1987 at 58. Now 82, Ross still performs.

Watch the full episode above.

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