Taraji P. Henson has been overwhelmed by the support she’s received over her comments about pay disparity.
The Color Purple actress spoke out in December about “getting paid a fraction of the cost” of white women and constantly finding herself “at the bottom” in contractual negotiations, and she’s pleased people have finally taken notice of her experiences.
“[It’s] because I’ve been saying it for years. If you go and do research and look at any women of color in the industry, they said the same thing. I don’t know why people decided to hear the words [this time], maybe it was the emotion attached to it. But like I said in the interview, ‘I’m just tired of us having that same conversation. Something’s gotta give.'” she told “Entertainment Tonight.”
The actress had tearfully admitted she considered walking away from acting because she was so “tired” of the situation.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, and getting paid a fraction of the cost. I’m tired of hearing my sisters saying the same thing over and over. I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. The math ain’t mathing.” she told Sirius XM last month.
“When you start working a lot, you have a team. Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone. There’s a whole entire team behind us and they have to get paid. So when you hear someone saying ‘Oh such-and-such made $10 million.’ That didn’t make it to their account.
“Know that off the top, Uncle Sam is getting 50 percent. So now we’re at five million. Your team is getting 30 percent of whatever you gross – not after what Uncle Sam took. Now do the math.
“I’m only human and it seems 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,” she added.
And Henson later admitted she fired her entire team after they failed to capitalize on the success of her five-year role as Cookie Lyon in “Empire.”
“Everybody had to go. Where is my deal? Where’s my commercial? Cookie was at the top of the fashion game. Where is my endorsement? What did you have set up for after this? That’s why you all haven’t seen me in so long. They had nothing set up.” she said in a conversation with Variety’s Angelique Jackson.
Her team had suggested she do “another Cookie show,” but it didn’t go to plan, so she dumped them.
“I said, ‘I’ll do it, but it has to be right. … She’s too beloved for y’all to [mess] it up.'” Taraji continued.
“And so, when they didn’t get it right, I was like, ‘Well, that’s it,’ and they had nothing else. ‘You’re all fired.'” she added.
