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NAACP Image Awards 2024: Queen Latifah And Taraji P. Henson Call Out Inequal Pay For Black Actresses In Hollywood
Queen Latifah and Taraji P. Henson teamed up and spoke against the inequality of payment for the Black actresses in Hollywood during this year's NAACP Image Awards.
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 categories of the Image Awards are voted on by the NAACP members. Honorary awards have also been included, such as the President's Award, the Chairman's Award, the Entertainer of the Year, the Activist of the Year, and the Hall of Fame Award.
During this year's Awards ceremony, Queen Latifah and Taraji P. Henson teamed up and spoke against the inequality of payment for Black actresses in Hollywood.
Queen Latifah and Taraji P. Henson calls out inequal pay for Black Actresses
As part of her opening comments at the NAACP, Queen Latifah talked about the struggles that Americans are facing, like inflation, which prompted Taraji P. Henson to say that Black actresses continue to be underpaid in Hollywood.
Henson who took home an NAACP Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress, for her riveting performance in 2023’s The Color Purple as Shug Avery, also took to the stage for a soul-stirring speech, documenting the aftermath of her speaking about unequal pay for Black actresses.
"It’s no secret we are facing some seriously pivotal issues,” Latifah said during her monologue. She added, “Everyone is talking about inflation. You know what’s not feeling inflation?”
The cameras then cut to Henson, who was sitting with the audience, and said, “Equal pay for Black actresses.” Latifah then said, “Thank you, Taraji, for standing up for all of us.”
The show’s host then asked all Black actresses to stand up to receive the recognition and represent everyone. As the stars were about to take a seat, Latifah asked them not to sit just yet and asked, “Everybody else in this hall room stand up for all of us Black actresses who have been representing for us. Support us. Join us. Because it’s you who stand next to us every day. We know this and we want to say thank you.”
Taraji P. Henson stands up for pay inequality in her acceptance speech
During the event, Taraji P. Henson took the stage to receive the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for The Color Purple. During her acceptance speech, she took the opportunity to thank those who stood by her during the press tour for the movie when she initially called out the pay inequality that exists in Hollywood.
“This is a surprise. I’m grateful. I just want to thank you guys so much for showing up for me all the time, not just to the box office or watching what I’m in but y’all saw what happened and y’all showed up, you showed out, you showed me love,” Henson said during her speech, adding, “It’s a scary thing to speak your truth but I urge you all to speak your truth because at the end of the day that’s all we have.”
She continued, “And like they say, the truth will set you free. And not only that, it will set somebody else free.”
Previously also, Henson has raised awareness of the industry’s inner workings. During The Color Purple’s 2023 press run, she spoke about pay disparity in Hollywood. The actress recalled how the unfair experience almost led her to quit acting for good after reaching a breaking point.
“I’m just tired of working so hard, being gracious at what I do [and] getting paid a fraction of the cost,” Henson began. She continued, “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.’ 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.”
She further added, “When you hear someone go, ‘Such and such made $10 million’—that didn’t make it to their account. Off the top, ‘Uncle Sam’ is getting 50 percent. Now you have $5 million. Your team is getting 30 percent off what you gross, not after what ‘Uncle Sam’ took. Now do the math.”
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