Actress Taraji P. Henson Tearfully Calls Out Hollywood Pay Disparity: 'Work So Hard,' 'Paid a Fraction of the Cost'

Actress Taraji P. Henson, Empire and Hidden Figures star, lamented an alleged Hollywood pay discrepancy, asserting that she works hard for a “fraction of the cost.”

Speaking with Gayle King on her SiriusXM show, Taraji P. Henson said that she may quit acting due to having over half her paycheck taken down by taxes along with agent, lawyer, and manager fees.

“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do [and] getting paid a fraction of the cost,” she said. “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 have to. The math ain’t mathing.”

“When 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. When you hear someone go, ‘Such and such made $10 million,’ that didn’t make it to their account,” she continued.

Henson noted that well over 50 percent of her salary goes to other people.

“Off the top, Uncle Sam is getting 50%. Now have $5 million. Your team is getting 30% off what you gross, not after what Uncle Sam took. Now do the math,” she said.

Henson said she often finds herself feeling “at the bottom” whenever she has to renegotiate.

“I’m only human. Every time I do something and break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did, and I’m tired. I’m tired. It wears on you. What does that mean? What is that telling me? If I can’t fight for them coming up behind me then what the fuck am I doing?” she concluded.

Henson became emotional as she began crying over the thought, adding that black actors and their stories get less money due to an alleged industry presumption that black stories do not translate well overseas.

“I’m tired hearing of that my entire career,” she said. “Twenty-plus years in the game and I hear the same thing and I see what you do for another production but when it’s time to go to bat for us they don’t have enough money. And I’m just supposed to smile and grin and bear it. Enough is enough!”

“That’s why I have other [brands] because this industry, if you let it, it will steal your soul but I refuse to let that happen,” she added.

As noted by the New York Post, Henson founded “Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation in 2018 to promote mental health in black communities. She also launched her beauty line TPH by Taraji in 2020.”

Henson, who will star in the upcoming musical remake of The Color Purple, said that she almost turned the role down to set an example for black actresses.

“If I don’t take a stand, how am I making it easy for Fantasia [Barrino] and Danielle [Brooks] and Halle [Bailey] and Felicia,” she said. “Why am I doing this? … Why are you here?”

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. A high-quality, ad-free stream can also be purchased on Google Play or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.