WATCH: Taraji P. Henson brings mental health resources to Black women at HBCUs
Taraji P. Henson is opening up about her experience being underpaid as a Black actress, saying she is “tired” of it.
The Oscar-nominated actress discussed the issue of overworking herself to the point where she indicated she may stop acting in a recent interview with SiriusXM sitting alongside her “The Color Purple” director Blitz Bazawule and co-star Danielle Brooks.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, getting paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson said. “I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired.”
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“I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. The math ain’t mathing,” she continued, explaining that doing what she does requires her to have a team behind her. “Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone. The fact that we’re up here, it’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid.”
Henson said that as much as 30% of what she earns for a project goes to her team and 50% goes to paying taxes, meaning 80% of her gross pay is gone before it even makes it to her account.
“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 and I’m just tired. I’m tired,” she said, adding that she’s “only human.”
Henson also said she’s done hearing “we don’t translate overseas,” something she said she’s heard her entire career.
“And I see what you do for another production and when it’s time for us to go to bat, you don’t have any money,” she said of how she feels producers haven’t shown her support. “They play in your face and I’m just supposed to smile and grin and bear it and just keep [on]? Enough is enough.”
Henson, referencing the upcoming generation of Black actresses, added, “And if I can’t fight for them coming up behind me, then what the f— am I doing?”
“I have other things [going on besides acting] because this industry, if you let it, it’ll steal your soul,” she said. “But I refuse to let that happen.”
Henson’s words resonated with her colleagues, including the likes of Gabrielle Union, Viola Davis, John Boyega, Robin Thede, Winston Duke, Octavia Spencer and Keke Palmer, to name a few.
“The entertainment industry is just like any other industry. We run businesses to keep our brands afloat, us being the brand/business,” Palmer wrote in an Instagram post. “To make money you must spend money so what seems like a lot is taken by a lot.”
“This is why no one can really have one job anymore!” Palmer continued, explaining that this is true for many to “be successful and live in America,” adding, “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.”
