December 27th 2023.
Cookie Lyon was the certified breakout star of Lee Daniels' hit scripted series Empire, and Taraji P. Henson was the woman behind the character. In a recent interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation as part of her press run for The Color Purple, the Academy Award-nominated actress talked about the best business decision she has made in her career.
"Firing everybody after Cookie," she said. "Everybody had to f—kin’ go." Henson explained that her team didn't do enough to capitalize off her character's popularity, such as securing a deal or an endorsement. "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 actress also mentioned the petition for her to headline a spinoff show centered around Cookie Lyon, which she wasn’t opposed to if it was done “right.” However, when it wasn't done to her standards, she had no hesitation in firing her team. As part of her press tour for The Color Purple, Henson recently sat down with Gayle King on Sirius XM. It was during this interview that she was brought to tears while admitting her thoughts of quitting acting due to being underpaid for her work.
"I'm just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, getting paid a fraction of the cost," she said through 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 math-ing. And 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."
Henson made an important point about actors' paychecks, noting that not all the money they make goes to their accounts. She said, "When you hear someone saying, 'Oh, such and such made $10 million,' no, that didn’t make it to their account. Know that off the top, Uncle Sam is getting 50%, OK? So, do the math; now we have $5 million."
The star has been incredibly candid during her press run for The Color Purple, and she has shed light on the struggles of black actors in Hollywood, as well as the fatigue that can come with constantly fighting for equal pay. With Taraji P. Henson’s impressive career and inspiring outlook, it’s clear that she will continue to fight for what’s right.
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