Last week, Idris Elba became one of the first celebrities to share that he had tested positive for COVID-19. In a quick Twitter video, he shared that he had no symptoms of the disease, but he promised to keep fans updated on his health — and six days later, he still seems to be doing okay. But he has a lot to say.
On Friday, Elba shared a rap about his experience in quarantine. “Passing the time,” he wrote on Twitter. “Creating is my therapy...I think I’m driving Sab crazy though. Hope you guys are good.”
A day after announcing his diagnosis, Elba went live on Twitter to discuss COVID-19. He shared that his wife, Sabrina Dhowre Elba, had also tested positive for the virus. Dhowre Elba even got a shout-out in Elba’s song. “My leading lady is really my wife / She ain’t a stuntwoman but she really risking her life,” he raps at one point.
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Elba’s new song, titled “The Long Road 2,” shows off his chops as a producer and DJ. But with verses like “This ain’t a dream, this ain’t a movie or a scene / Or a character I get to play and then I walk away, no” and “Don’t send me texts with misinformation, doctor / Even the doctors don’t know what the fuck is going on,” Elba clearly wants to get across how terrified he is — and how seriously we should all be taking the threat of COVID-19.
Passing the time. Thank you for all your support and encouragement right now. Means a lot. Creating is my therapy... I think I’m driving Sab crazy though 😅😅... Hope you guys are good. pic.twitter.com/4TcipwqZ1s
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) March 20, 2020
Elba and Dhowre Elba also sat down to chat with Oprah Winfrey (over FaceTime, of course) about the pandemic. The full interview dropped on Saturday as a part of Winfrey’s new Apple TV+ series, Oprah Talks COVID-19.
Which is why I FaceTimed @idriselba & his wife Sabrina who are safely quarantined together after he tested positive for COVID-19. Idris fills me in on his journey and Sabrina reveals the result of her test after they decided to quarantine together. pic.twitter.com/HETVZeqCPE
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) March 22, 2020
“It’s one of the upsides of this whole drama, is we are forced to think together, we really are,” Elba said.
“Like millions of people all over the world, I've been staying safer at home for over a week now,” Winfrey wrote on Instagram. “Because of that, I wanted to offer some hope and gather thought leaders and people going through it to add some perspective.”
In his conversation with Winfrey, Elba praised Tom Hanks for coming forward about testing positive for the disease. He also criticized all the misinformation floating around online.
“Someone like myself, in the public eye, can press a button and 30 million people will get a message the next day,” he said, “[which] I think is a really important component in the messaging around COVID-19 right now.”