Taraji P. Henson’s previous comments on unequal pay in Hollywood sparked a major discussion but in a new interview, the actress is calling for people to focus back on her new film, The Color Purple.
“I hope they can focus back onto this film, because right now, to me, it feels like what I said is now becoming louder than this beautiful film,” Henson told TODAY.com
“And that’s not fair to me, or anybody in the film,” Henson continues, “because the film deals with women who are oppressed — who live in an oppressed system. Men and women. And all the characters in that film except for the white people. So that movie is about healing. That movie is about sisterhood.”
As we previously reported, the actress spoke with Gayle King during a SiriusXM interview and addressed whether the rumors about her quitting acting were true.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do (and) getting paid a fraction of the cost,” she said, dabbing her eyes. “I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired. I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ Well, I have to. The math ain’t math-ing. When you start working a lot, you have a team. Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone. It’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid.”
During a SAG-AFTRA Foundation interview on Dec. 19, Henson explained how she had to cut ties from her team after playing the role of Cookie Lyon in the hit tv drama “Empire.” According to Forbes, the series was the “most valuable show” on television, bringing in $125.5 million in ad revenue in 2016. The drama aired from 2015 until 2020, and Henson slammed her team of not getting her more roles and endorsements. “Everybody had to f—kin’ 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,” Henson shared.
In the same interview she also revealed that her team wanted her to do a spin off show Cookie Lyon but she wasn’t feeling it if it wasn’t going to be done correctly. “All they wanted was another Cookie show, and I said, ‘I’ll do it, but it has to be right. The people deserve, she’s too beloved for y’all to f—k it up.’ And so, when they didn’t get it right, I was like, ‘Well, that’s it,’ and they had nothing else. ‘You’re all f—kin’ fired.”