Oprah is setting the record straight, there's no bad blood between her and 'The Color Purple' actress Taraji P. Henson. Over the last few weeks, Henson has opened up about her experiences fighting for pay and on-set accommodations while working on the film, as well as other projects. The Internet has speculated that Henson could be upset with 'The Color Purple' producer, Winfrey. Now, Winfrey is clearing the air.
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00:00 "There's no validity to there being a thing between Taraji and I."
00:03 Oprah is setting the record straight. There's no bad blood between her and the color-purple
00:08 actress Taraji P. Henson. Over the last few weeks, Henson has opened up about her experiences
00:13 fighting for pay and onset accommodations while working on the film, as well as other projects.
00:18 During one such interview on Gayle King's Sirius XM radio show, Henson got emotional
00:22 while discussing the difficulty of spending years working in the industry and not seeing
00:26 pay increases reflective of her experience.
00:29 "I'm just tired of working
00:31 so hard, being gracious at what I do, getting paid a fraction of the cost."
00:41 Most recently, the actress revealed in an interview published last Friday that she had
00:45 to fight to secure a number of things for herself and her fellow black female co-stars
00:49 while filming The Color Purple, including a car service to take them to set.
00:53 The internet has speculated that Henson could be upset with The Color Purple producer Winfrey.
00:57 Now, Winfrey is clearing the air. Here's what she told Entertainment Tonight on the 2024
01:01 Golden Globes red carpet.
01:03 "Taraji will tell you herself that I've been the greatest champion of this film."
01:08 She went on to say, "Championing not only the behind-the-scenes production,
01:12 but also everything that everybody needed."
01:14 "Whenever I heard there was an issue or there was a problem, there was a problem with the
01:17 cars or there was a problem with the food, I would step in and do whatever I could to
01:21 make it right. And I believe that she would even vouch for that."
01:25 Amidst early online speculation of bad blood,
01:27 Henson posted a photo of the pair on Instagram in late December, which she captioned in part,
01:32 "Ms. Oprah has been nothing less than a steady and solid beacon of light to all
01:36 of the cast of The Color Purple."
01:38 The Color Purple star Fantasia Barrino also echoed those sentiments about working with
01:42 Oprah while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at Sunday's Golden Globes.
01:45 "First of all, for Oprah to be in the trenches with us.
01:49 We were out where there were bugs, mosquitoes, hot. We would always look over and see her
01:56 sitting there and I'm thinking, 'She could be eating caviar, drinking champagne,
02:02 which I would love to be doing right now.' But she was there with us. This story means a lot to her.
02:08 And I already know when you have something that blessed and something that good,
02:11 a lot will try to come against that. And so I will say she was a blessing to us."
02:19 "She talked, she laughed, she did the electric slide with us. I'm like, 'Come on,
02:23 I didn't even know if she could do it and dip into it like she did, but she did it.'
02:27 And I thank her for that."
02:29 For more on this story and much more coverage of the 2024 Golden Globes, head to THR.com.
02:34 For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Tiffany Taylor.