Taraji P. Henson has come to Oprah Winfrey‘s defense after the public blamed the producer for not giving the Color Purple actress the salary she was asking for to make the film.
The accusations followed Henson’s denouncement of pay disparity in Hollywood in several interviews during the press tour for the upcoming musical film. The Golden Globe winner made headlines when she broke down crying while talking about how the lack of change and improvement around those issues has caused her to consider early retirement from acting more than once. She also revealed that she came close to walking away from The Color Purple.
The fact that Henson had chosen promotions for The Color Purple to air out these issues had those watching convinced it was a pointed complaint towards the film’s producers, particularly Winfrey. Henson’s statements immediately reminded audiences of fellow actress Mo’nique’s issues with the business mogul, among others, on the press run for Precious back in 2009. Given the overlap, fans began blaming Winfrey for not paying the Hidden Figures actress enough from the jump and almost causing her to walk away from the project.
Taraji P. Henson’s statement on Instagram
The Oscar-nominated actress was not having it. She was quick to clarify that Winfrey was not a contributor to the issues she had been exposing for the past few days, but rather one of the helping hands for Black women in the industry. “It took one call… one conversation… and one decision-making black woman to make me feel heard,” Henson shared, before thanking the producer for “all that [she does].” The statement seems to imply that it was Winfrey who got Warner Bros. to agree to pay Henson what she was asking for.
People were not convinced
Following Henson’s Instagram post, her comments were flooded with doubters. “I don’t buy it. But I support you Taraji,” one fan wrote, while others called the post “damage control.” Some comments had over two thousand likes.
The controversy first emerged on TikTok where users nitpicked two videos from a press event to promote The Color Purple. While analyzing the two women’s body language, TikTokers became convinced Henson and Winfrey did not get along and that the Shug Avery actress looked gloomy and uncomfortable around her producer. “This photo op was awkward,” one video’s caption read. While another questioned why Henson was the only actress Winfrey didn’t touch.
The conversation extended towards Twitter/X where people brought back interview clips of Mo’nique talking about her experience being blackballed in Hollywood thanks to a bad experience with Winfrey, as well as frequent Henson collaborator Tyler Perry.
Regardless of netizens’ analysis of the situation, all does appear to be well between Taraji P. Henson and Oprah Winfrey. The cast of The Color Purple has only had positive things to say about their time on set, and Henson says Winfrey was a big part of that. “Ms. Oprah has been nothing less than a steady and solid beacon of light to all of the cast of The Color Purple!!!,” the actress noted.
The Color Purple hits theaters Christmas day.