“Cosby Show” actor Geoffrey Owens mentioned he’s nonetheless struggling to make ends meet after he was compelled to stop his job at a Dealer Joe’s grocery retailer amid an “attack on my privacy”
Owens, identified for his function as Elvin Tibideaux on the six-time Emmy-winning sequence, claimed he’s “not much better off” right now than he was when a buyer snapped a photograph of the actor working behind the grocery retailer register in 2018.
“Even today, right now, as we speak, I still struggle to make a living,” Owens instructed Atlanta’s V-103 radio station on Dec. 18. “I wrestle day by day to make my ends meet. And folks can’t get their heads round that as a result of they see me in films.
Owens’ residual checks “were never particularly wonderful” as a result of he solely acted in “maybe 20% of shows” on the hit sequence.
“People have a false impression of what the average middle-class actor makes and their ability to make a living in the industry,” Owens mentioned.
The Yale College graduate and son of former New York congressman Main Owens took a “regular” job and went largely unnoticed till he was photographed working at Dealer Joe’s.
“At first, there was some negative stuff about basically the job shaming. A ‘where is he now’ kinda thing,” Owens instructed V-103. “But then, very soon after that, there was all this support and encouragement from all over the world.”
Owens was frightened about his invasion of privateness, so he left the job earlier than this new gig went public.
“It was strange because someone had been in the store taking pictures,” Owens recalled. And I used to be like, now that that is breaking I’m not going to really feel snug working on this retailer questioning who’s round with a digital camera. It could simply be too bizarre. I’m a really non-public particular person.
“It wasn’t like I quit knowing I would be making a lot of money soon or anything. I just felt like I wasn’t going to be able to handle that kind of scrutiny and attack on my privacy.”
When the information broke, an outpouring of help got here his method.
Nicki Minaj despatched him $25,000 however Owens donated the cash to a charity as a result of it “didn’t feel right to keep it” with out working for it.
However he gladly accepted work in dozens of initiatives together with appearing gigs with powerhouses like Tyler Perry on the present “The Haves and the Have Nots” and the 50-Cent produced present “Power” and “Power Book II: Ghost.”
Owens at present stars on the CBS sitcom “Poppa’s House,” starring Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr.
The actor admitted that after the headlines calmed down, he went again to Dealer Joe’s whereas appearing and requested for extra hours as a result of cash was — and is — nonetheless tight.
Invoice Cosby, the star of the titular sitcom, and his fall from grace after quite a few allegations of sexual misconduct led the sequence to be pulled from syndication and affected Owens’ backside line, he mentioned.
The three-time Golden Globe-winning “The Cosby Show” was pulled from syndication on a number of networks again in 2014 after Cosby was accused and ultimately convicted of sexual assault — which he denied.
The person formally often called “America’s Dad” served three years of a 10-year jail sentence till Pennsylvania’s Supreme Courtroom overturned the conviction in 2021.
“Yes, it impacted me financially. At the time that the show was pulled, that did make a difference in our income,” Owens instructed Folks in 2018.
Throughout his V-103 interview, he reiterated that his residuals had been “gone” after Invoice Cosby’s scandal.
