Taraji

Jada Pinkett Smith applauded Taraji P. Henson for speaking out about her experience with the pay disparity in Hollywood while appearing on NPR’s It’s Been a Minute.  Pinkett Smith was asked as a Black Hollywood veteran if she felt Henson’s words rang true and how inequality has shaped her career. “Absolutely,” Pinkett Smith said. “My heart broke for Taraji, and I was also happy how courageous she was to speak about it in the way that she did.”  “One of the things with Taraji is that she is…

Taraji P. Henson is in no mood to entertain the rumours of any beef between her and Oprah Winfrey, that has stemmed from recent conversations around her role as a producer on Henson's latest film The Color Purple. In a new interview with NBC's Today programme, the actor said that this entire discussion is 'unfair' because it is diverting the conversation away from the film and is completely false. (Also read: Issa Rae reveals filming ‘Dance the Night’ in Barbie was her worst nightmare) Taraji P. Henson stars in…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeOprah Winfrey has shut down rumours of a feud between her and Taraji P Henson after the Empire star claimed she fought to get “stuff I shouldn’t have to fight for” on the set of The Color Purple.Based on Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film and the stage musical of the same name, The Color Purple is a movie musical produced by Winfrey, who starred in the original…

Oprah Winfrey dazzled on the 2024 Golden Globes red carpet, wearing a sparkly purple dress. The 69-year-old TV host's custom-made Louis Vuitton dress was a sweet ode to The Color Purple, which she co-produced. On Sunday, the 2023 musical, adapted from the original 1985 namesake film, was up for two awards. The Halle Bailey-starrer film generated a lot of buzz online due to the rumoured feud between veteran actress Taraji P. Henson and Oprah. Oprah Winfrey arrives at the 81st Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, Jan. 7,…

Taraji P. Henson is no stranger to hustle. Throughout college, she spent most post-class evenings singing, dancing, and waiting tables on a D.C. cruise ship and her early mornings as a receptionist at The Pentagon to help cover her Howard University tuition. Henson still wears many hats as the owner of the haircare line TPH by Taraji, the founder of the mental wellness nonprofit Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, and most recently as the brazen Shug Avery in the blockbuster musical The Color Purple.  “I just had my…

When “The Color Purple” director Blitz Bazawule cast Taraji P. Henson for his film adaptation of the stage musical, it wasn’t the first time Henson had been asked to slip on the spangled gowns and outsize feather headdresses of enticing blues singer Shug Avery. But back when the offer was for the Broadway production, Henson didn’t feel like she had the pipes to belt it out eight shows a week.The movie opportunity was providence calling. “If something is meant for you, you can’t run from it,” says Henson, who said yes…

In her 2016 memoir, Around the Way Girl, Taraji P. Henson says it was Tyler Perry and not her 2008 Oscar nomination that finally ensured she would be compensated fairly for her work in Hollywood. The Hidden Figures and The Color Purple actress has spoken often about her constant struggle to be paid what she believes her work and box office pull are worth, revealing Perry was the first industry executive to agree on the number she was asking for off the bat. That was the first time they ever worked together, sprouting a…

Taraji P. Henson has taken the press run for The Color Purple as an opportunity to shine a light on a pressing and recurring issue in Hollywood. However, her account is bringing back memories of a fellow Black actress’s experience in another Oprah Winfrey-produced film. What has Taraji P. Henson said about pay inequality in Hollywood? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUzqD5UcLwo “I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, getting paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson confessed as she held back tears…

The Color Purple star Taraji P Henson has vocally condemned Hollywood’s race and gender pay gap, breaking down in tears as she said: “The math ain’t math-ing.”Henson was speaking on Gayle King’s radio show on Sirius XM, and was asked by King if she was considering quitting acting. Henson replied: “I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious about what I do, getting paid a fraction of the cost. I’m tried of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired.”She added: “I hear people go, ‘You work a…

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse LoughreyGet our The Life Cinematic email for freeTaraji P Henson sobbed as she revealed that she feels so underpaid in Hollywood she has considered quitting acting.The 53-year-old Empire star said: “I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do getting paid a fraction of the cost.” She added: “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…