Drake’s “Degrassi” Costar Andrea Lewis Among Women Gifted $50K by Rapper: ‘A Real Blessing’
Drake’s “Degrassi” Costar Andrea Lewis Among Women Gifted $50K by Rapper: ‘A Real Blessing’
Niya DoyleFri, August 7, 2026 at 5:55 PM UTC
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Drake is May 2021; Andrea LewisCredit: Rich Fury/Getty; Andrea Lewis/Instagram -
Drake hosted an invite-only event in Toronto, gifting over $1 million in cash and luxury items to attendees
Actress Andrea Lewis, Drake’s former Degrassi costar, won $50,000 and plans to reinvest it in her creative projects
The event, inspired by a 2008 networking gathering, celebrated women entrepreneurs and included raffles for cars and Birkin bags
This Toronto native rapper gives back to his city.
On Tuesday, Aug. 4, Drake reportedly handed out more than $1 million in cash and luxury vehicles at his annual Strong Women, Stronger Drinks event, held at the Casa Loma Mansion in Toronto.
The guest list was invite-only and included women entrepreneurs and influencers. Attendees received a welcome gift of $1,000 in cash. A select 10 attendees were gifted a $50,000 cash prize while six others received $100,000, according to TMZ. Drake’s former Degrassi: Next Generation costarAndrea Lewis was one of the lucky few to win the $50,000 cash prize.
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“It’s been a real blessing,” said Lewis, 40, in a statement. “We’ve seen each other grow up and I feel very lucky to have a friend like him and that no matter where we are in the world or our personal journeys we always manage to stay connected.”
Lewis added that the cash gift was “very unexpected” and said she planned to reinvest the money back into her creative projects and her production team.
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Sarah Barrable-Tishauer (Liberty), Aubrey Graham (Jimmy) and Andrea Lewis (Hazel)Credit: George Pimentel/WireImage
The Canadian actress had her breakthrough role as Hazel Aden, the on-screen girlfriend of wheelchair-bound Jimmy Brooks (Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham) in 2003. Since then, Lewis dipped her toes into the world of filmmaking, starting her production company Jungle Wild Productions in 2012, producing short films and various web series. She most recently produced the Netflix docuseries The Black Beauty Effect which aired in November 2022.
Other gifts at the Drake event included BMWs, Mercedes-Benz G-Class cars, and Birkin bags, which were all raffled off to guests.
The event was inspired by a networking event called “What Women Want” that Habibti rapper, now 39, attended back in 2008.
“It was essentially women gathering to network, to socialize and to be a man at the event, you had to work. I always loved that aspect of it. We would show up and work the event because that’s what the event was about,” he recalled at the event in a social media video.
“What we’ve done is sent out an invite list. All of you who are doing incredible things in your respective fields. Whether you’re grinding or ascending to the moon, or somewhere in between. We hope that you can be social, talk to each other, learn from each other, and we have an incredible evening for you,” he added during his speech.
“The night was about celebrating women who are hustling and doing big things and he said that he wanted to change our lives. Every business woman in the room knows that someone investing in your business at any level makes a huge difference! As a multi hyphenate creative with a production company, this was a very generous gift,” Lewis’ statement added.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
