Taraji P. Henson is clarifying her thoughts following a tearful interview that touched on pay disparities for Black women in Hollywood.
Accoring to People she is ensuring that any negative narratives about Oprah arent spun.
Because the internet be ‘internetting’, just watch:
@boujeebrownskin #stitch with @??♀️MAYMAY??♀️ go touch grass. #fyp #viral #tarajiphenson #oprah #colorpurple ♬ original sound – boujeebrownskin
On Instagram Thursday, the Oscar-nominated actress, 53, acknowledged the social media responses to her Tuesday interview with Gayle King for SiriusXM radio, when she expressed she was “tired of working so hard” and “getting paid a fraction of the cost.”
“Thank you for responding to my message with the compassion, understanding and support that I’ve received,” Henson wrote in the caption, sharing a photo of her and Oprah Winfrey, executive producer of the new movie musical The Color Purple.
Winfrey, she then wrote:
“has been nothing less than a steady and solid beacon of light to ALL OF THE CAST of The Color Purple!!! She has provided ENCOURAGEMENT, GUIDANCE and UNWAVERING SUPPORT to us all.”
Henson concluded by thanking Winfrey, 69:
“She told me personally to reach out to her for ANYTHING I needed, and I did! It took ONE CALL… ONE CONVERSATION… and ONE DECISION MAKING BLACK WOMAN to make me feel heard.”
Keke Palmer, who was among the stars who reshared Henson’s candid interview and spoke out about pay disparities, commented on the Instagram post: “I love you sistaaaaha REAL BAD.”
Henson broke down in tears during the SiriusXM interview when King asked about past comments the Empire Emmy nominee made about contemplating leaving her acting career behind.
She told King and fellow guests, Color Purple costar Danielle Brooks and director Blitz Bazawule, that she was “tired of hearing my sisters saying the same thing over and over,” regarding what she categorized as a pay gap for Black women working in Hollywood.
“I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. The math ain’t mathing,” she said. “Big bills come with what we do… The fact that we’re up here, there’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid.”
She voiced her frustration that
“every time I do something and I break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did… It wears on you, you know, ’cause what does that mean? What does that tell me?”
“Not a damn lie told. Not. A. Damn. Lie,” Gabrielle Union wrote in a post on X, resharing the clip from Henson’s interview.
Viola Davis reposted the clip on her Instagram account, adding the simple caption: “This!!!! THIS!!! ????????”
Keke wrote:
The entertainment industry is just like any other industry. We run businesses to keep our brands afloat, us being the brand/business. And it’s that team of company members that decrease any assumed large lump sum. This includes monthly expenses just like everyone else. In the words of biggie “more money more problems.”
To make money you must spend money so what seems like a lot is taken by a lot. There is still privilege in this depending what vantage point you are seeing from, but in our industry amongst one another this is nuetralized.
This is why no one can really have one job anymore! People working outside of the entertainment industry may do Uber eats, postmastes, accountant part time, substitute teacher every other week etc.
Oprah gave Taraji her flowers as well.
On Instagram she said:
I’ve longed admired Taraji. She can make you laugh, cry, cheer, and feel everything in between. But I had no idea she could SANG! Taraji the actress: A force. Taraji the singer? A complete revelation. What I love about her portrayal of Shug Avery is that she plays her like a woman who not only sang the blues but had lived the blues. Only Taraji could do that. She shared that her late father once told her, “You’re going to be one of the greatest actresses alive but wait until the world hears you sing.” Taraji, the stage is now yours and I already see the standing ovations for you. I’m fiercely welcoming Taraji to the Purple sisterhood and I cannot wait for you to meet her version of Shug. The Color Purple is in theaters starting Christmas Day?
In 2022, Henson indicated on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast that she’s considered leaving the U.S.
“I’m really considering getting up out of here, leaving and living in another country,” she said at the time. “That’s something that comes with 50, you get tired of fighting. I’m tired.”
Henson plays Shug Avery in the new Color Purple movie, which is adapted from the hit 1985 film and 2005 Broadway musical and costars Fantasia Barrino, Colman Domingo, Louis Gossett Jr., David Alan Grier, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Deon Cole, Corey Hawkins, H.E.R. and more.
