I’m tired of working so hard: Taraji P. Henson

Taraji P Henson got emotional while talking about being underpaid in Hollywood. When discussing the same during a ‘SiriusXM’ interview with Gayle King, the ‘Empire’ alum broke down in tears and said that she’s ‘tired’ of getting unfair payment in the industry.

“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do and getting paid a fraction of the cost,” the 53-year-old said, reported ‘aceshowbiz.com’.

She added, “I’m tired of hearing my sisters say the same thing over and over. You get tired. I hear people say, ‘You work a lot’. Well, I have to. The math ain’t math-ing. 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.”

Henson, who stopped by the interview to promote her new movie ‘The Color Purple’, went on to elaborate, “When you hear someone go, ‘Such and such made 10 million dollars’ and that didn’t make it to their account. Off the top, Uncle Sam is getting 50 percent. Now have five million dollars. Your team is getting 30 percent of what you gross, not after what Uncle Sam took. Now do the math.”

“I’m only human. Every time I do something, break another glass ceiling and when it’s time to renegotiate, I’m at the bottom again like I never did what I just did and 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 hell am I doing?” she added.

Henson claimed she’s been told that there’s not a lot of money on the table because Black actors and stories ‘don’t translate overseas’ and other excuses.