Earlier this month, Blitz Bazawule, Danielle Brooks, and Taraji P. Henson sat down with Gayle King to promote their new movie, The Color Purple. SiriusXM shared a clip from the interview that saw Henson elaborating on past comments about wanting to retire from her acting career.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, [and] getting paid a fraction of the cost,” the D.C. talent explained as she attempted to fight back tears. “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!’ I have to. The math ain’t mathin’. And when you start working a lot, you know you have a team. Big bills come with what we do, 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.”
I feel this. DEEP. And I ain’t even at her level.
When I say I’m tired, this is EXACTLY what I mean. pic.twitter.com/8rTwsjqH25
— Jon Paul, Ed.D. (They/Them/Tired)???? (@DoctorJonPaul) December 20, 2023
Henson continued, “When you hear someone say, ‘Oh, such-and-such made $10 million,’ no, that didn’t make it to their account.” She further broke down how taxes and other necessary expenses dramatically shrink the figures reported by the media. “I’m only human, and it seems every time I try to 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,” she added. “And if I can’t fight for them coming up behind me, then what the f**k am I doing?”
Watch the full interview below.
