What happened to Jenifer Lewis? Actress details near-death experience surviving 10-foot fall in Africa

black-ish star Jenifer Lewis revealed that she went through a near-death experience while on a trip to the Serengeti in Tanzania in November 2022. Lewis said in a Good Morning America segment that aired on Tuesday, March 12, that she fell over ten feet from the balcony of her Tanzanian resort into a sealed-off dry ravine filled with boulders and rocks.

The incident occurred on the very first day of her Serengeti trip. Lewis revealed that she could not move immediately after impact and had to call out for help to a friend who accompanied her on the trip.

She even remembered hearing a lion roar while she was lying in the darkness. Thankfully, Lewis recovered and was able to make an industry comeback with multiple projects.

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"I didn’t know I was falling. Nothing would move": Jenifer Lewis on her harrowing near-death experience

On the Tuesday, March 12 segment of Good Morning America, veteran actress Jenifer Lewis sat down with Robin Roberts and talked about a harrowing near-death experience she had while on a trip to the Serengeti in Tanzania.

Lewis had taken the trip in November 2022, after black-ish finished its run and her book was published. She revealed that, at this time, she had planned to retire and travel.

She had traveled to Africa and made stops in Cape Town and Rwanda before landing in Serengeti. She wasn't given a tour of the lodge before being escorted to her room as the sun began to set and darkness crept into the Saranghetti.

She had seen the infinity pool on her deck and was walking towards it to check it out when the harrowing incident occurred. Lewis recounted:

"I went out, I was just taking in the fact that I was back in the Serengeti once again and I’m walking. … All of a sudden, I had fallen 10 feet into a dry ravine, full of boulders and stones and sharp rocks."

She later learned that the hotel had a space that had been sectioned off, but no sign said caution: ten feet drop. Lewis described the pain she was in. She told Robin:

"Of course, I was in shock. My right hip took the impact. My shoulder went up against the stone. A lightning bolt went through my mind’s eye… In pitch black, I didn’t know I was falling. Nothing would move."

Jenifer Lewis remembered lying there and encouraging herself to try and move her body, but she couldn't. Lewis said that it was hard to even take a "big breath to scream." She eventually called out for her friend Lori, who had been with her on the trip.

Apart from the damage from the fall, danger lurked around every corner of the Serengeti. Lori shined her torch down there to reveal a buffalo ten feet away, and when she ran to get help, the actress remembered hearing a lion roar. Jenifer Lewis recalled while laughing:

"My last thought, because I am Jenifer Lewis, was, ‘What a headline,' 'The king ate the queen: Pieces of Jenifer Lewis’ body is being flown back to the States."

Robin Roberts revealed that Jenifer Lewis kept the news about her fall quiet for a while, as she didn't want people to know she had fallen until she could show them how she got back up. After her fall, in 2024, Lewis appeared in NBC’s Night Court and Jeniffer Lopez's romantic drama musical This is Me... Now: A Love Story.