Thank God Geoffrey Owens was not in desperate straits and really needing the $25K that rapper Nicki Minaj pledged on the radio to give him last week. That’s because Owens has yet to see a single cent from the female emcee.
In fact, he hasn’t even gotten so much as a phone call from the rap empress.
Last week, the “Barbie Dreams” rapper, 35, blared out on her “Queens Radio” show that she would pledge $25K to “The Cosby Show” alum, who’d recently been shamed by a fan for bagging groceries and working the register at a Trader Joe’s supermarket in northern New Jersey, not far outside of New York City.
One week later, Owen’s PayPal account remains empty.
According to TMZ, Minaj hasn’t given the money to Owens, 57, who has reportedly left his Trader Joe’s job after he garnered unwanted attention after someone posted images of him working at the store.
The celebrity news site says Minaj hasn’t even bothered to contact the actor.
While it appears that Minaj has reneged on her pledge, Owens doesn’t look like she will need the money after all. After hearing of Owens’ situation, movie magnate Tyler Perry offered him a 10-episode contract to act on his show, “The Haves and the Have Nots,” for the Oprah Winfrey Network. Owens readily accepted.
Not long after that, Owen’s was offered (and accepted) to guest appear in the popular cop drama “NCIS: New Orleans.” And there are more offers that Owens and his wife are entertaining.
Owens is not checking for Nicki’s money anyway, TMZ noted. The site said he doesn’t want to be given any handouts. If Minaj follows through on her promise, which it doesn’t look like she will, Owens said he would donate it to a charity of his choice — for someone who really needs it.
