Taraji P. Henson Reveals She Might Quit Acting Over Equity And Pay Gap: ‘The Math Ain’t Mathin’

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Taraji
P.
Henson
has
admitted
that
the
gap
in
equity
and
pay
in
the
entertainment
industry
has
her
questioning
the
future
of
her
acting
career.

Source:
Michael
Buckner
/
Getty

In
a
new
interview
with
Gayle
King
for

Sirius
XM,
Henson
gets
instantly
emotional
when
asked
about
the
possibility
of
quitting
her
acting
career.

“I’m
just
tired
of
working
so
hard,
being
gracious
at
what
I
do,
getting
paid
a
fraction
of
the
cost,”
she
said
with
tears
in
her
eyes.

“I’m
tired
of
hearing
my
sisters
say
the
same
thing
over
and
over…you
get
tired,”
Taraji
continued.
“I
hear
people
go,
‘you
work
a
lot,’
I
have
to.
The
math
ain’t
mathin.”

She
went
on
to
explain
that
while
the
numbers
might
look
good,
on
paper,
all
of
the
bills
she
has
to
pay
make
that
a
fraction
of
what
the
world
sees
on
an
actor’s
contract.

“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…it’s
a
whole
entire
team
behind
us.
They
have
to
get
paid,”
Taraji
said.
“So
when
you
hear
someone
say,
‘oh,
such
and
such
made
$10
million.’
No,
that’s
not…that
didn’t
make
it
to
their
account.”

She
later
broke
down
when
her

The
Color
Purple
co-star

Danielle
Brooks
chimed
in
the
conversation.

“I’m
tired,
it
wears
on
you,
‘Cause
what
is
it
telling
me?’”
asked
Taraji.

“What
is
it
telling
me,
yeah,
and
what
is
it
telling

me?”
asked
Danielle.

“And
if
I
can’t
fight
for
them
coming
up
behind
me,
then
what
the
f**k
am
I
doing?!
I’m
sorry.”

Tarajis’
candid
moment
has
garnered
reactions
from
fellow
Black
actresses
including
Robin
Thede
and
Gabrielle
Union.

This
is
far
from
the
first
time
Henson
has
voiced
her
disapproval
of
the
pay
gap
for
Black
women
in
Hollywood.

Source:
Jamie
McCarthy
/
Getty

In
her
2016
memoir

Around
The
Way
Girl,
Taraji
claims
she
was
paid
“less
than
2%”
of
her
co-star
Brad
Pitt’s
salary
in

The
Curious
Case
of
Benjamin
Button.

In
the
movie,
Henson
plays
the
adoptive
mother
of
Pitt’s
character,
a
role
that
won
her
a
supporting
actress
nomination
at
the
Oscars.
Even
so,
she
was
forced
to
pay
her
own
accommodation
costs
for
the
shoot,
earning
a
check
that
was
far
less
than
what
Pitt
and
Cate
Blanchett
received
for
the
same
film.

“Both
Brad
and
Cate
got
millions.
Me?
With
bated
breath,
I
sat
by
the
phone
for
hours,
waiting
for
Vince
[her
manager]
to
call
and
tell
me
the
number
that
I
thought
would
make
me
feel
good:
somewhere
in
the
mid
six
figures
–
no
doubt
a
mere
percentage
of
what
Brad
was
bringing
home
to
Angelina
and
their
beautiful
babies,
but
something
worthy
of
a
solid
up-and-coming
actress
with
a
decent
amount
of
critical
acclaim
for
her
work,”
she
wrote
in
her
memoir
according
to

The
Guardian. 

“Alas,
that
request
was
dead
on
arrival.
‘I’m
sorry,
Taraji,’
Vince
said
quietly
when
we
finally
connected.
‘They
came
in
at
the
lowest
of
six
figures.
I
convinced
them
to
add
in
a
little
more,
but
that’s
as
high
as
they’d
go.’
There
was
one
other
thing:
I’d
have
to
agree
to
pay
my
own
location
fees
while
filming
in
New
Orleans,
meaning
three
months
of
hotel
expenses
would
be
coming
directly
out
of
my
pocket.
Insult,
meet
injury.”

Henson
went
on
to
explain
that
she
took
the
role,
regardless,
because
there
were
so
few
available
for
Black
women.

“The
math
really
is
pretty
simple:
there
are
way
more
talented
black
actresses
than
there
are
intelligent,
meaningful
roles
for
them,
and
we’re
consistently
charged
with
diving
for
the
crumbs
of
the
scraps,
lest
we
starve,”
Taraji

explained.

Later,
in
2020,
Taraji
appeared
on
T.I.’s

Expeditiously
podcast
and
emphasized
a
similar
statement
that
she
told
Gayle
King
in
the
present
day;
she
works
so
hard,
because
she
“has
to.”

“It’s
just
hard
for
Black
women,
period.
I
don’t
care
what
business
you’re
in,
it’s
just
really
hard,”
said
Henson.
“I
work
a
lot,
right?
Why?
You
wanna
know
why?
I
have
to.
I’m
not
getting
paid
all
that
money.”

“Other
actresses
who
are
not
Black,
they
make
more
money,
they
have
the
privilege
of
doing
one
or
two
projects
a
year.”

What
do
YOU
think
about
Taraji
P.
Henson’s
candid
comments
about
the
equity
and
pay
gap
for
Black
actresses?

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