Taraji P. Henson Clarifies That Oprah Winfrey Made Her ‘Feel Heard’ After Speaking Out About Being Underpaid

Taraji P. Henson is opening up about her thoughts after a tearful interview that touched on the pay gap for black women in Hollywood.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the 53-year-old Oscar-nominated actress acknowledged the social media backlash to her Tuesday interview with Gayle King on SiriusXM radio, when she expressed that she was “tired of working so hard” and “getting paid a fraction of the price. ”

“Thank you for responding to my message with the compassion, understanding and support I have received,” Henson wrote in the caption, sharing a photo of her and Oprah Winfrey, executive producer of the new movie musical. Purple.

“It’s so important that black women and ALL women of color support each other,” Henson continued. “It is also essential to have women of color in decision-making positions in ALL industries.”

Watch Taraji P. Henson sing ‘Push Da Button’ in the powerful new trailer for Purple

Winfrey, she then wrote, “has been nothing less than a steadfast and steadfast beacon for ALL ACTRESS ACTRESS ACTRESS ACTRESS ACTRESS ACTRESS The Color Purple!!! She has provided us all with ENCOURAGEMENT, LEADERSHIP, and INDEPENDENT SUPPORT.”

Henson concluded by thanking Winfrey, 69: “She personally told me to go to her for ANYTHING I needed, and I did! It took ONE CALL… ONE CONVERSATION… and ONE BLACK WOMAN MAKING A DECISION for me to feel heard.”

Keke Palmer, who was among the stars who re-shared Henson’s candid interview and opened up about the pay gap, commented on the Instagram post: “I love you sistaaaah REAL BAD.”

Henson broke down in tears during an interview with SiriusXM when King asked him about past comments Empire The Emmy nominee opened up about thinking about leaving acting. She told King and the other guests, Color Purple actress Danielle Brooks and director Blitz Bazawule, that she was “tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over again,” regarding what she categorized as the pay gap for black women working in Hollywood.

“I hear people say, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. Math is not calculus,” she said. “Big bills come with what we do… The fact that we’re up here, we’ve got a whole team behind us. They’ve got to get paid.”

She expressed her frustration that “every time I do something and break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m back at the bottom like I never did what I just did… It bothers you, you know, because what does that mean? What does that tell me?”

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(Left to right:) Oprah Winfrey, Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson and Blitz Bazawule at the 2023 ESSENCE Festival.

Paras Griffin/Getty Images for ESSENCE

Taraji P. Henson says acting has led her to a ‘bigger life purpose’ of mental health activism

“No damn lie was told. No. A. Damn. Lie,” wrote Gabrielle Union in a post on xre-sharing a clip from Henson’s interview.

Viola Davis reposted the clip on her Instagram account, adding a simple caption: “This!!!! THIS ONE!!! 👆🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿”

In 2022, Henson pointed to PEOPLE Every day podcast that she was thinking about leaving the U.S. “I’m really thinking about leaving here, going and living in another country,” she said at the time. “That’s something that comes with being 50, you get tired of fighting. I’m tired.”

Henson stars as Shug Avery in the new Color Purple a film adapted from the 1985 hit film and 2005 Broadway musical, starring Fantasia Barrino, Colman Domingo, Louis Gossett Jr., David Alan Grier, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Deon Cole, Corey Hawkins, HER and more.

The Color Purple is in theaters on Christmas Day.

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Source: HIS Education