Andrea Lewis Talks About Drake’s $50K Degrassi Reunion Surprise

The Jimmy and Hazel effect is alive and well, and “Degrassi” fans couldn’t get enough of Andrea Lewis and Drake’s latest full-circle moment! Years after playing his on-screen girlfriend on the hit teen drama, Lewis was recently surprised with a $50,000 gift from Drake during his Toronto event celebrating women entrepreneurs. Now, she’s opening up to The Root about the viral moment!

Lewis, who played Drake’s onscreen girlfriend on the show, was one of 10 women who were gifted with the big check during the rapper’s “Strong Women, Stronger Drinks” event in Toronto. The evening brought together 150 women in business, entrepreneurship and creative fields, with every attendee receiving $1,000 and a select group receiving the jaw-dropping additional gift.

“It was as if we won a sports game,” Lewis told The Root, describing the energy inside Toronto’s historic Casa Loma as women celebrated the unexpected moment. She said the gesture was classic Drake—a grand surprise rooted in his desire to make people feel seen, valued and supported.

Related: After Having the Worst Year Ever, Drake Gets the Last Laugh…Sort Of

“Aubrey’s always been very generous. He’s always like a big surprise kind of guy,” she said of the Grammy award-winning rapper. “I think he did a really great job of making sure that everybody in the room felt not only very
taken care of, but very seen and very encouraged in their journeys and with what they have going on. He was giving out advice, talking with everybody, and just making sure that you knew that he appreciated your hustle.”

Lewis went on to share that although she and Drake (or Aubrey, as she affectionately calls him) have remained close friends since their “Degrassi” days, she was still caught off guard when she was called out in front of everyone. Adding that she originally thought the evening would be just a fun night out with her best friend, Lewis explained that the result far exceeded her expectations.

But checks weren’t the only things given out that night! According to Lewis and several social media posts from the event, other women walked away with luxury cars and Birkin bags. Two women went home with luxury cars – a brand new BMW and a Mercedes-Benz G-wagon.

If you were wondering how Lewis plans to spend her $50K, don’t expect to see her on any lavish vacations. Instead, she told The Root that she plans to put the funds to use for a variety of creative projects, including a forthcoming digital series called “Glam Culture,” which she’s producing through her company, Jungle Wild.

Lewis also shared that she has part two of her “Black Beauty Effect” documentary (currently available to stream on Netflix) in the works, too.

Explaining that the project was inspired by her own career and experience as an actress dealing with hair and makeup rooms, Lewis shared: “I never saw a story that I thought highlighted the game-changers, but also highlighted Black beauty from a celebratory lens. From showing it as a space where we feel good, and this is the work that we are doing, despite what they say about us, despite how the media portrays us.”

She continued: “I tell people all the time: I’m a real beauty girl in that way where my life has been put into this space. Where I’ve been forced to essentially, you know, talk about it, think about it, look into it. And I really highlight that…So, right now we’re in development of a bunch of different things, and so these are those kinds of grand gifts that help you to create more, produce more, hire more people, and help you to really just be able to expand your business. And that was his overall goal of the night.”

Beyond the monetary gift, it’s clear there’s still a lot of love between Lewis and Drake—and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to go anywhere any time soon!

“I think because of the status of his career, sometimes people forget that you still get to know the people that you’ve always known. He’s somebody that I’ve had the privilege of quite literally growing up with,” Lewis said. “So yeah, people love the Jimmy and Hazel effect of us, and they love that we were TV boyfriend and girlfriend. That’s one of those things where it’s just like, yeah, we love each other. We’re very, very close. And so in those ways it’s just like sweet, very sweet.”