Taraji P. Henson‘s role in Empire as Cookie Lyon became its own entity in pop culture, but according to Henson, her team failed to capitalize its success off-screen.
While speaking with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation recently, Henson spoke on the aftermath of starring on the Fox drama series for six seasons. She also shared that getting rid of her team was her best business move, following the show.
“Firing everybody after Cookie. Everybody had to f**king go,” she said. “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.”
The Color Purple actress also recalled her team wanting a Cookie spin-off show, which she wasn’t opposed to if it was “done right.” She added, “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 **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**king fired.”
Ahead of Henson’s latest sentiments, she also spoke with Gayle King about her unfair experiences in Hollywood when it comes to pay and treatment. King asked the Oscar and Emmy-nominated star if she’d thought about quitting acting, to which Henson admitted that being underpaid has made her reach a breaking point.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do [and] getting paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson started. “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 team behind us. They have to get paid.”
Speaking of how pay is broken down for actors, she added, “When you hear someone go, ‘Such and such made $10 million’ — that didn’t make it to their account. Off the top, ‘Uncle Sam’ is getting 50 percent. Now you have $5 million. Your team is getting 30 percent off what you gross, not after what ‘Uncle Sam’ took. Now do the math.”
She continued, “I’m only human. Every time I do something and 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 tired. I’m tired. It wears on you. What does that mean? What is that telling me? If I can’t fight for them coming up behind me then what the f**k am I doing?”
Wiping away tears, the 53-year-old recalled being told that Black actors and stories “don’t translate overseas.”
“I’m tired of hearing that my entire career,” she said. “20 plus years in the game and I hear the same thing and I see what you do for another production, but when it’s time to go to bat for us they don’t have enough money. And I’m just supposed to smile and grin and bear it. Enough is enough! That’s why I have other [brands] because this industry, if you let it, it will steal your soul. I refuse to let that happen.”
See the full segment below.
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