50 Cent wants to work with Taraji P. Henson after revealing she fired her entire team: “They dropped the ball”
After finding out that she fired her entire team for failing to capitalize on her “Empire” character Cookie Lyon, 50 Cent wants to work with Taraji P. Henson.
Today (Dec. 26), the rapper shared a screenshotted article from Deadline on his Instagram. The post was captioned, “They dropped the ball. F**k ‘em, [Taraji P. Henson]. I’m ready to work. Let’s get it!”
Earlier this month, Henson spoke out about Hollywood’s pay disparity and being shortchanged as a Black actress. During an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, she expressed frustration over her production team’s failure to leverage the character’s success. Specifically, the Golden Globe Award winner criticized them for lacking post-“Empire” plans, such as endorsements or commercial deals.
Henson explained, “Firing everybody after Cookie. Where is my deal? Where’s my commercial? Cookie was at the top of the fashion game. Where is my endorsement? They had nothing set up.” She also mentioned a proposed Cookie-centric show, which she was open to if executed correctly. However, the actress ultimately rejected the idea due to dissatisfaction with the development.
It followed a recent tearful discussion with Gayle King on SiriusXM, where Henson detailed her exhaustion with being undervalued and underpaid in the industry. She stated, “I’m tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do [and] getting paid a fraction of the cost. 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.’ I have to. The math ain’t mathing.”
She continued, “We don’t do this alone. The fact that we’re up here, there’s a whole entire team behind us. They have to get paid. So when you hear someone saying, ‘Oh, such and such made $10 million,’ no, that didn’t make it to their account. Know that off the top, Uncle Sam is getting 50 percent, OK? So, do the math; now we have $5 million.” The SAG member further highlighted the financial realities behind seemingly large paychecks, including crew expenses and taxes.
Since then, Keke Palmer and Gabrielle Union shared their support for Henson. Meanwhile, 50 Cent’s list of TV shows that he has executive produced includes “Power Book II: Ghost,” “Power Book III: Raising Kanan,” “BMF” and “Power Book IV: Force.”
