in a recent interview :

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Interviewer: You didn’t just fight kids at school. You fought back against the nuns. Then you got into a fight with Don Cornelius when you were on “Soul Train.” Can you tell us that story?

Rosie Perez: That was a clue that I needed help. I thought, “I’m so together. I’m in college. I’m going for my major in biochemistry. I’m fantastic,” you know? “I’m on ‘Soul Train.'” And if you just pressed the wrong button, it was, like, just a nuclear explosion would occur in me.

That’s what happened with Don Cornelius. He touched me, and pulled me, and yanked me inappropriately. I freaked out, and I just started swinging, and started grabbing things. The first thing I grabbed was a two-piece Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was a low point. I was beyond embarrassed. I was still walking out with this pathetic bravado like, “So? I don’t care. I don’t care.” By the time I get in the car, I start crying. I felt like an idiot.

Interviewer: You threw a chicken wing at Don Cornelius’ forehead.

Yes. It’s embarrassing, and it was so wrong. I thank goodness that we were able to make up before his passing. But that’s what I mean it’s like, “Am I really enjoying my life? If I am this person holding on to this anger from the past, am I really enjoying my life?” No.

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Geesh! Rosie was hardcore back then! LOL. I guess Don didn’t have time for a feisty 5’1″ woman hurling chicken wings at his forehead every time she got mad about something…LOL. Seriously though, if a man puts his hands on a woman inappropriately, by all means she has every right to react however she sees fit. We don’t condone anyone “pulling, touching, or yanking” anyone, but I think what Rosie is saying is that the extent of what Don Cornelius’ action was, was not as extreme as what she processed it as in that particular moment, and it seems like that’s probably why she’s now saying that her reaction to him was wrong.

Overall, the good thing is that Rosie says her anger issues are under control now. Like we mentioned earlier, her anger management issues come from a deep place of pain. So to her credit, she didn’t just come here that way. In order to understand why she threw chicken wings at Don Cornelius, we have to understand the unfortunate lifestyle she came from. Here’s the rest of her interview…it explains it in more detail…