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Taraji P. Henson Made Octavia Spencer's Heart Drop with This Epic April Fools' Prank

Taraji P. Henson just played a legendary prank on some of her Hollywood pals.

To celebrate April Fools' Day yesterday, Henson sent individual text messages to a group of friends and falsely claimed that they had shared nudes on their Instagram Story.

Octavia Spencer was one of the unlucky recipients. She shared the practical joke on social media and wrote, "Just got this from @tarajiphenson and nearly fainted. Omg #ShesSoDayumFunny #ScaredTheHellOuttaMe."

In the screenshot of their text exchange, the Hidden Figures star sent a series of red exclamation points to Spencer and said, "Did you mean to post nudes on your story?" The question was followed by a huge space (so that it couldn't be seen from a preview), followed by a message that read, "April Fools! Just kidding, in case your heart dropped!" Spencer's shock was evident in her response: "Girl my heart dropped. Lmao."

But Henson wasn't satisfied with giving one friend a scare. The 50-year-old actress apparently sent the fake alert to a bunch of people, who sounded off in the comments. Her Empire co-star Gabourey Sidibe said, "I got it too! I threw the phone!" Meanwhile, fellow Think Like a Man actress Gabrielle Union shared, "She got me too!!!!! I was shaking!!!" Even InStyle editor-in-chief Laura Brown was targeted, as she jokingly declared, "I got it too from the Very Mean Lady. @tarajiphenson."

Fans got a huge kick out of the joke, like one user who wrote, "THATS hilarious!! You must have been sweating Miss Octavia." Another shared a series of laughing emojis and commented, "Now that's funny!"

Well done, Henson. Well done.

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calfee

Associate Editor, News and Entertainment

Joel is the former Associate Editor for News & Entertainment and has been reporting on all things pop culture for over 5 years. Before working at PureWow, he served as a Features Editor at ROCKET Magazine. When he's not dissecting the latest trends in entertainment (or guiding you on what to watch), he covers all the hottest red carpet looks and fashion movements. When he steps away from the keyboard, you can likely find him at an NYC concert, thrift store or LGBTQ+ bookstore happily perusing the shelves.