Taraji P. Henson broke down in tears while expressing her exhaustion with the pay disparity in Hollywood.
“I’m just tired of working so hard [and] being gracious at what I do, being paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson said while appearing on Gayle King‘s Sirius XM radio show to promote her upcoming movie “The Color Purple” alongside costars Danielle Brooks and Blitz Bazawule. “I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired. You hear people go, ‘You work a lot,’ well I have to. The math ain’t mathing.”
Henson also pointed out the “big bills” that arise as actors grow into prominence, noting the diminishing dividends left for an actor after compensating their team of agents, managers, lawyers and PR specialists.
“We don’t do this alone. The fact that we’re up [here], there’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid,” she said. “So when you hear someone saying ‘oh, such and such made $10 million’ — no, that didn’t make it to their account. Know that off the top, Uncle Sam is getting 50%. So do the math, now we have 5 million — your team is getting 30% of whatever … off of what you gross, not after what Uncle Sam took, now do the math.”
“I’m only human and it seems every time I do something — I break another glass ceiling — when it’s time to re-negotiate I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did and I’m just tired,” Henson continued. “I’m tired. I’m tired. It wears on you, ‘cause what does that mean? What is that telling me?”
“And what does it tell me?” Brooks chimed in.
“And if I can’t fight for them coming up behind me, then what the f—ck am I doing?” Henson said, referring to her costars Brooks and Bazawule before tearing up even more.
As the podcast circulated the internet on Wednesday, Black actors like Viola Davis, Billy Porter, Robin Thede, Gabrielle Union and Keke Palmer expressed their support for Henson and her outcry for equity.
“Taraji is telling the absolute TRUTH,” Thede, who created and stars in HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” wrote on social media. “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… 1/?”
Union similarly resonated with Henson’s comments about advocating for the next generation of Black actors, admitting that while “we don’t hesitate to be the change that we all need to see,” “it takes a toll on your mind, health, soul, and career.”
Palmer echoed Henson’s comments regarding the stacked team behind a successful acting career as actors maintain their image as a brand/business, and noting her own multihyphenate nature as an “actor, influencer, host, singer [and] speaker” is a necessity. “America we have a problem,” Palmer concluded her post, referencing Beyoncé recent “Renaissance” release.
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