Keke Palmer and Gabrielle Union are co-signing with Taraji P Henson, who recently aired her frustrations around pay disparity in Hollywood.
via: People
After The Color Purple actress, 53, spoke out in an emotional new interview about the pay inequality she says she's experienced throughout her acting career, fellow stars are offering their support.
"Not a damn lie told. Not. A. Damn. Lie," Gabrielle Union wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter), resharing a clip from Henson's conversation with Gayle King for SiriusXM radio. In the interview, the Empire star broke down in tears as she called out what she perceives as a considerable pay gap for Black women in Hollywood.
"We go TO BAT for the next generation and hell even our own generation and above," Union, 51, continued. "We don't hesitate to be the change that we all need to see AND it takes a toll on your mind, health, soul and career if we're keepn it 💯."
Keke Palmer addressed Henson's comments about how a Hollywood paycheck gets carved up between the actor and all of the people behind the scenes who support their work, whether it's agents and publicists or assistants.
"The entertainment industry is just like any other industry. We run businesses to keep our brands afloat, us being the brand/business," the Nope star wrote on Instagram. "And it’s that team of company members that decrease any assumed large lump sum. This includes monthly expenses just like everyone else. In the words of Biggie, 'more money more problems.'"
"To make money you must spend money so what seems like a lot is taken by a lot," Palmer added. "There is still privilege in this depending what vantage point you are seeing from, but in our industry amongst one another this is neutralized."
Palmer went on to note how a lot of people working in the entertainment industry today juggle various jobs at once, many out of necessity rather than by choice.
"We ALL work multiple jobs and we may like some but also because we HAVE to. To be successful and live in America it’s literally this way because of the cash to expense ratio and this is why entrepreneurship is so important but that in itself is expensive!" she wrote, concluding her message with a Beyoncé quote: "America, we have a problem."
In her SiriusXM interview, which dropped on Tuesday, Henson addressed the subject of pay disparity after King, 68, asked about past comments she's made about possibly quitting acting.
"I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do, getting paid a fraction of the cost," Henson replied. "I’m tired of hearing my sisters saying the same thing over and over. I hear people go, ‘You work a lot.’ I have to. The math ain’t mathing."
She pointed out that behind every successful actor is a team of people supporting them. "Big bills come with what we do. We don’t do this alone," she said. "The fact that we’re up here, there’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid."
Henson said that her acting paychecks shrink substantially after all of her team's salaries are paid and taxes are taken out.
"I’m only human and it seems every time I do something and I 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 just tired," she explained. "It wears on you."
"When it’s time for us to go to bat, they don’t have any money," she added of her contract negotiations. "They play in your face. And I’m just supposed to smile and grin and bear and just keep going."
As Palmer explained the importance of side hustles in her post, Henson too has launched side projects — like her TPH haircare line — to boost her income and broaden her brand.
"I have other things because this industry, if you let it, it’ll steal your soul. But I refuse to let that happen," she said.
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