2018 was when I finally got a real quote, and that is the last time. I haven’t gotten a raise since then, and every project I have, I have to fight for it. I still have to fight.

I have to fight for that, yeah.

What does that do to you?

That’s why I’m not excited anymore. It takes all of that away.

Oprah Winfrey finds herself in the hot seat as actresses like Taraji P. Henson call her out for what they claim is insufficient pay. Surprisingly, heavyweights like 50 Cent and Denzel Washington are throwing their support behind the accusers.

The drama developed after Taraji’s appearance in the 2023 musical drama *The Color Purple*, a production backed by Oprah.

The story takes a twist when Taraji breaks down in tears during an interview with Gayle King, Oprah’s best friend, on Sirius XM radio. This emotional moment made fans emotional and sympathetic to the alleged pay disparities faced by Black actresses in Hollywood.

Taraji, not one to shy away, later took to Instagram to set the record straight and talked about the challenges Black women face in the industry. “I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, and getting paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson said.

Henson has been vocal about this long-standing Hollywood issue, yet she was forced to knock down online sleuths who blamed *The Color Purple*’s shortcomings on Oprah Winfrey, the film’s lone Black female producer.

So how did a discourse about industry standards for women of color turn into a story about two Black women arguing?

In a recent SAG-AFTRA chat moderated by *Variety*’s Angelique Jackson, Taraji P. Henson spoke on some behind-the-scenes drama. Despite the global triumph of *Empire*, the Fox musical drama she headlined for six seasons, Henson confessed to hitting a career roadblock.

The actress, famous for her role as the feisty Cookie Lyon, snagged a Golden Globe and two Emmy nominations for her efforts. Fans were buzzing about a Cookie-centric spin-off, but dreams were crushed when Fox gave it the boot, and attempts to shop it around flopped.

“All they wanted was another Cookie show, and I said I’d do it, but it has to be right. The people deserve… she’s too beloved for y’all to mess it up,” Henson said. “And so when they didn’t get it right, I was like, well, that’s it. And they had nothing else.

You’re all fired!” It took me years to get there. You are the prize. Don’t you ever forget that. You are the talent. You are their check. Don’t ever forget that. They work for you. If they are not, somebody else will.”

Taraji P. Henson isn’t holding back, and the internet is buzzing with her latest revelations on the harsh realities faced by Black women in the entertainment industry.

The actress has kindled a firestorm by shedding light on the persistent pay gap and challenging work conditions she’s endured on set. According to Henson, industry pay disparities are just the tip of the iceberg, highlighting the systematic unfair treatment Black women entertainers routinely face.

Now she’s peeling back another layer, exposing the toll this industry has taken on her mental health. Henson talked during an emotional Sirius XM radio panel interview with Gayle King on December 19, 2023, sparking a chorus of fellow actors validating her experiences. Sitting next to the film’s director and leading stars, Henson said she’s tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, and getting paid a fraction of the cost.

Taraji P. Henson is no stranger to airing her grievances about her paycheck. This time, she’s revisiting an old wound. Back in 2019, she spilled the tea on the less-than-satisfactory $100,000 she pocketed for her role in David Fincher’s *The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*, where she shared the screen with heavyweights Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Not one to stay silent, Henson flexed her negotiation skills, pushing her salary up to $150,000. But let’s not forget this was still a far cry from the cool half a million she boldly demanded.

“I asked for half a million, that’s it,” Henson vented. “I want to make this very clear: I’m not saying that Brad or Cate shouldn’t have gotten what they got,” Henson told *Variety* at the time. “They put asses in seats, so give them their money. They deserve it. I’m not saying they shouldn’t get what they’re getting. I was just asking for half a million, that’s all. That’s it.”

“When I was doing *Benjamin Button*, I wasn’t worth a million yet. My audience was still getting to know me. We thought we were asking for what was fair for me at the time.” Taraji P. Henson, the no-nonsense star, managed to secure a $150,000 paycheck through some tricky negotiations, although it fell significantly short of her initial $500,000 target. Remember when she snagged an Oscar nomination for her standout performance? It’s mind-boggling that even someone of her caliber faces racial hurdles in the industry. Now imagine the grind for newcomers trying to break in.

And hold on to your seat for this one—there are whispers accusing Oprah, a prominent figure in the Black community, of contributing to discrimination between Black and white actors. But why hasn’t Taraji called out Oprah directly? Well, dropping names could be a career-ending move. Just look at what happened to the Oscar-winning Mo’Nique. Hollywood is a tricky game indeed.

Mo’Nique, the comedian and Oscar winner, is exposing everything ahead of her upcoming Netflix comedy special. The *Precious* star is revisiting her standing in Hollywood, particularly concerning her relationship with Oprah Winfrey. Recall that Mo’Nique had accused both Oprah and Tyler Perry some years back of spreading rumors about her being difficult to work with when she opted out of the Oscars campaign press for *Precious*. This move didn’t sit well with director Lee Daniels, leading to a fallout that she eventually patched up last year. The fallout also prompted opinions from other heavyweights like Tyler Perry and Oprah, contributing to Mo’Nique feeling blackballed in the industry.

“When people look at me, they say, ‘You are a fat Black woman. How dare you speak up? You just should be appreciative. We invited you to the party.'”

The conversation we’re leaning into now is about this whole… What… When does it start? I feel like it may have started around *Precious*, and it says that you were, uh… And you put this out here—you were paid $50,000 for the role. Yes.

So, upon approaching that role, it wasn’t like a big money play. It was more so about camaraderie at the time.

I’ll tell you what it was—it was me saying to my friend, to Lee Daniels, “Yo, you’re going to trust me to do this?” He was like, “Yo, that [expletive] is crazy, right?” So it was me saying to myself, “This is something different, and I can’t believe this person is going to trust me to do it.” I wasn’t caught up in the money because it was my friend. And it was also my friend that said, “It’s $50,000, but you get 5% of the movie.”

So it was taken under that—”That’s what the deal was when I did it. I never did it looking at, ‘Oh, it’s all this money.’ Because as I said to Lee Daniels when he thought—and this is to show you how little Black women are paid in this business—this is after *The Parkers*, this is the success of *The Parkers* and other things. And Lee Daniels says to me in my dressing room, ‘[Expletive], I got you $50,000. I really got you paid.’ And I said to Lee, ‘Lee, I say this with all humility, do you know I make $50,000 in one hour of stand-up when I walk on the stage?’ So I don’t want you to think for a second that this is a big payday for me in doing this film. This is me saying, ‘Brother, I appreciate you even asking me to do it.’ But in his mind, $50,000 was a lot of money to pay a Black woman.”

“So it’s a lot of little things that are being said that we miss. But if you really listen, you understand just how devalued we’ve always been in this industry. And please know, that was not a deal that… that was at a time where I did not negotiate that.”

“What would you have negotiated?”

“Well, I don’t know what, but what I would have definitively done was gotten a better understanding of what ‘back-end’ really meant and where it was in conjunction to what he was offering. Because I’m still going to put her first from a standpoint of ‘This is your man.’ If that’s your man…”

It all started during the heated *Precious* awards campaign, where tensions reached their height. Rumor has it that the trouble began when Mo’Nique refused to promote the film without compensation, going against the

wishes of the film’s director Lee Daniels and producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. This decision led to her being labeled as difficult to work with, effectively blackballing her in Hollywood.

Mo’Nique did not back down, choosing to speak up about what she perceived as injustice. “I don’t understand why Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and Lee Daniels would go out of their way to label me as difficult,” she said. She has shared her thoughts on Instagram live, pleading with Oprah and Tyler Perry to apologize to her for their part in ruining her reputation. Despite the backlash, she continues to use her platform to fight for what she believes is right.

Oprah Winfrey’s legacy is immense, and any criticism against her comes with significant backlash, but actresses like Mo’Nique and Taraji P. Henson are leading the charge for fair pay and respect in the industry. Oprah, known for her philanthropy and positive influence, now faces the challenge of addressing these accusations head-on. As the entertainment industry evolves, the conversation about fair treatment for Black women continues to gain momentum. How Oprah handles this situation could be a pivotal moment in her legacy.