Geoffrey Owens, best known for playing Elvin Tibideaux on “The Cosby Show,” and later going viral in 2018 for working at a Trader Joe’s, does not accept handouts, even a donation from Nicki Minaj.
The Gift
On August 31, 2018, a video went viral of him working at a New Jersey Trader Joe’s. Nicki Minaj reached out and offered Owens $25,000. Turns out he took the offering but donated to a charity.
During an interview on the Big Tigger Morning Show on Atlanta radio station V-103 on December 12 Owens cleared any misunderstanding about not keeping Minaj’s monetary offer.
“I struggle every day to make my ends meet, and people can’t get their heads around that because they see me in movies. … It was a very generous, lovely handout. … But I wasn’t comfortable with that,” Owens said.
Some online critics commented Owens was too prideful to accept Minaj’s money despite his admission of “struggling.”
For Owens, a Yale graduate, his comfort mattered more than his wealth. According to People Magazine, the actor sent that $25,000 to the Actor’s Fund in memory of the late Earle Hyman, who played Cliff’s father on “The Cosby Show.”
His situation exemplifies the growing frustration within the actor’s guild on how dependent actors are on receiving residuals after a hit show has ended.
According to The New York Post, Owens’ appearances on The Cosby Show accounted for only 20 percent of the show’s extensive list of episodes, resulting in Owens receiving residuals from the show. But those residuals slowed up with the allegations — and subsequent conviction — of Bill Cosby for sexual assault in 2018, which led to the show being pulled from syndication indefinitely.
“People have a false impression of what the average middle-class actor makes and their ability to make a living in the industry. … At first, there was some negative stuff about basically the job shaming. A ‘Where is he now?’ kind of thing, but then, very soon after that, there was all this support and encouragement from all over the world,” Owens said.
After the trader’s Joe video, Owens was offered a handful of acting roles.
“It was strange because someone had been in the store taking pictures. And I was like, now that this is breaking, I’m not going to feel comfortable working in this store wondering who is around with a camera. It would just be too weird. I’m a very private person,” he said. “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.”
Now 63 years old and back on TV starring in roles in Tyler Perry’s “The Haves And The Have Nots” and 50 Cent shows “Power” and “Power Book II: Ghost,” and currently stars alongside Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. on CBS show “Poppa’s House” and in a new holiday movie, “Mr. Santa: A Christmas Extravaganza,” Owens said he eventually had to leave his day job at Joe’s because of the unwanted attention.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Owens has an estimated net worth of $400,000.
