Thanks to Taraji P. Henson’s recent and transparent interview detailing her frustrations with unfair pay in Hollywood for Black actresses and actors, other stars are now sounding the alarm and showing her love—namely Keke Palmer, Gabrielle Union and Robin Thede.
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As we told you on Wednesday, during an interview with Gayle King for SiriusXM, “The Color Purple” actress spoke on her frustrations over the lack of fair pay alluding to it being a determining factor in whether or not she was going to give up acting for good.
“I’m only human and it seems every time I do something and break a glass ceiling—when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did. And I’m just tired,” Henson tearfully said. “I’m tired. I’m tired. It wears on you. Because what does that mean? What is that telling me? And if I can’t fight for them coming behind me, then what the fuck am I doing?”
As the interview began to circulate, Union chimed in on Twitter, echoing similar sentiments and encouraging her fellow “Think Like a Man” costar:
“Not a damn lie told. Not. A. Damn. Lie. We go TO BAT for the next generation and hell even our own generation and above. We don’t hesitate to be the change that we all need to see AND it takes a toll on your mind, health, soul, and career if we’re keepn it [100]. [Love] u @tarajiphenson
Around the same time, “A Black Lady Sketch Show” creator, comedian and actress Robin Thede also built upon Henson’s comments and further broke down the pay for celebs and how much take home pay they can expect to get for a project in a series of tweets on Twitter:
WATCH THIS. Taraji is telling the absolute TRUTH. 70-80% of GROSS income is gone off top for taxes & commissions (agents, managers, lawyers). And for those who pay other employees as well? Babyyyy! The math ain’t mathing! And I know - you’re like $10M minus $8M is still $2M. Yes that’s true. However, $10M is VERY RARE! Most of your fave Black actresses make about $250k-$500k for STARRING in movies (so $50-$100k net) and might only get ONE project a year.
Now they have to pay social media managers (cause yall will drag them if they don’t have dope content), stylists (cause yall will drag them if they look busted), HAIR/WIGS (cause yall will drag them if they look busted), not to mention important shit like childcare (!!) school for said kids (!!), keeping a roof over their heads (somewhere they can feel safe w/their family away from paparazzi who invade their privacy). I know this life looks glamorous for someone like her and I know there will be comments like $100k is a lot of money (it is!)
But do the math of all of it and it’s often still living check to check and not creating generational wealth. Especially living in LA/NY. All the while watching non-Black actors get paid WAY more. This woman is OSCAR NOMINATED - imagine the struggle for 99% of the rest. Maybe folks won’t relate but that’s also the issue - being misunderstood and people just assuming they’re “rich.” So next time yall see an actor working at Trader Joe’s, maybe it will hit different
“Lastly @tarajiphenson is a goddess! I met her when I was a STAND IN on All of Us and she was a guest star. She treated me with the utmost kindness! I saw her a week ago at an awards show and she grabbed me and told me how proud she was of me. She has ALWAYS fought for US!” Thede concluded.
And they weren’t the only ones. Keke Palmer also weighed in on Instagram corroborating Henson, Union and Thede’s points and shared that her oft-used moniker—Keke “Keep a Job” Palmer—is due to the disparities in the industry and other industries abroad.
“I keep a job because I HAVE to haha. We ALL work multiple jobs and we may like some but also because we HAVE to,” the “Nope” star captioned in her post. “To be successful and live in America it’s literally this way because of the cash to expense ratio and this is why entrepreneurship is so important but that in itself is expensive! Having one job for anyone is not really an option no matter what industry unless you are like the top top top TOP earner and I mean that’s like Bill Gates and them I suppose. Idk because I can’t relate haha! I am not complaining or comparing but I acknowledge that we all have similar struggles in our industries and it’s because corporations run everything and they aren’t people.”
What’s more, the pay gap between Black actors as opposed to their white counterparts has long been a topic. Folks like Viola Davis, Mo’nique and even the late Cicely Tyson have all recounted their experiences in fighting for their worth. For Tyson and Henson, it took someone like Tyler Perry to pay both stars what they’re worth in past projects—here’s hoping that will continue to trickle out into the rest of the Hollywood ecosystems so that this much-needed yet sad conversation doesn’t keep getting told.
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