Oprah Winfrey wants everyone to know that things between her and Taraji P. Henson are fine, an admission that came weeks after speculation about tension between the producer and “The Color Purple” star.
Setting the record straight Sunday, Winfrey said she fully supports Henson in all of her endeavors.
During the press tour for “The Color Purple,” a film on which Winfrey was a producer, Henson spoke openly about her experiences in Hollywood with pay disparity and later detailed how she had to fight to get drivers for the film’s stars during the production. .
Naturally, online conversations turned to speculation and questions about why Winfrey wouldn’t personally intervene to eradicate the tension on set.
On Sunday’s Golden Globes red carpet, the former queen of daytime television attempted to dispel the rumors and confirmed that she and Henson get along well.
“People say I wasn’t supporting Taraji,” Winfrey told Entertainment Tonight. “Taraji herself will tell you that I have been the biggest supporter of this film. “Defending not only the behind-the-scenes production but also everything that everyone needed.”
He continued: “Every time I hear that there is something that people need, I am not in charge of the budget because that is Warner Bros., that is how the studio system works and we as producers everyone gets their salary, which is negotiated for his team.”
Winfrey clarified that when she learned of a problem on set, she would “step in” to do what she could to alleviate any problems.
As for her alleged feud with Henson, Winfrey openly said, “There’s no validity to there being anything between Taraji and me.”
In December, Henson, who plays Shug Avery in the film, tearfully expressed her frustration over the pay disparity in her line of work.
“I’m tired of working so hard, being kind in what I do, and getting paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson told Gayle King on SiriusXM. “I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over again. You get tired. I hear people say, ‘You work hard.’ Well, I have to do it. Mathematics is not mathematics.”
He said artists often have a team behind them that shares any paycheck, and that’s not to mention the portion claimed by Uncle Sam.
“When you start working hard, you know, you have a team,” the “Empire” star continued. “What we do comes with big bills. We don’t do this alone. There is a whole team behind us. “They have to get paid.”
Henson said her past accomplishments, which include several Emmy nominations and an Academy Award nomination, carry no weight when it comes time to negotiate a salary, an issue that plagues many black actresses.
“Every time I do something and break another glass ceiling, when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m back at rock bottom, like I never did what I just did and I’m just tired,” she explained. “It wears you out, because what does that mean? What is that telling me? And if I can’t fight for [the Black female actors] Coming after me, then what the fuck am I doing?
Following her comments, many quickly pointed the finger at Winfrey, who simultaneously went viral for appearing to ignore a photo shoot with Henson during the press tour. But Henson appeared to quell the online uproar on Instagram just before the film’s Christmas Day release.
“It’s so important for black women and ALL women of color to support each other,” Henson captioned a photo of her and Winfrey smiling side by side. “EM. OPRAH has been nothing less than a constant, solid beacon of light to THE ENTIRE CAST of The Color Purple!!! She has provided ENCOURAGEMENT, GUIDANCE, and UNFAILING SUPPORT to all of us. She personally told me to reach out with her for ANYTHING I needed, and I did!
She ended her post by writing, “It took ONE CALL…ONE CONVERSATION…and ONE BLACK WOMAN MAKING A DECISION to make me feel heard.”
In an interview with the New York Times earlier this month, Henson said her co-stars Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks got “a lot of things” on the set of “The Color Purple” thanks to their advocacy.
“[The production] He gave us rental cars and I said, ‘I can’t drive myself to Atlanta.’ “This is insurance responsibility, it’s dangerous,” Henson said. “Now they are robbing people. How do I look when I go to work alone in a rental car? So I thought, ‘Can I get a driver or security to take me?’ I’m not asking for the moon. They say, ‘Well, if we do it for you, we have to do it for everyone.’ Good, do It’s for everyone! “It’s things like that, things I shouldn’t have to fight for.”
Henson noted that finding that level of wrestling throughout his career has taken its toll on him.
“Your soul hurts because you fight so hard to make a name for yourself and be respected in this city without success. With black films, they just don’t want to take us abroad and I don’t understand that,” he said. “Black translates all over the world, so why wouldn’t movies?”
