--- title: Tyler Perry Offered Geoffrey Owens a Job After Viral Photo description: Tyler Perry invited Geoffrey Owens to join his show after the former 'Cosby Show' star was shamed for working at Trader Joe's. canonical: https://time.com/5386823/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens-job-shaming/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-04T22:58:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T17:49:02.000Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Tyler Perry Offered Geoffrey Owens a Job After Viral Trader Joe's Photo og:description: "I have so much respect for people who hustle between gigs" og:url: https://time.com/5386823/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens-job-shaming/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt452886ac60c9822f/6989396f0a4a22f30d9d39a2/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4878 og:image:height: 2744 og:image:alt: TCM Honors Screen Legend Cicely Tyson With Hand And Footprint Ceremony og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Tyler Perry Offered Geoffrey Owens a Job After Viral Trader Joe's Photo twitter:description: "I have so much respect for people who hustle between gigs" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt452886ac60c9822f/6989396f0a4a22f30d9d39a2/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Tyler Perry Offers Former _Cosby Show_ Actor Work on New Show After He Got Shamed for Trader Joe's Job > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Geoffrey Owens on Being Shamed for Working at Trader Joe's: 'No One Should Feel Sorry for Me' [Watch (HLS stream): Geoffrey Owens on Being Shamed for Working at Trader Joe's: 'No One Should Feel Sorry for Me'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0oxeduar.m3u8) (1:37)  _Published 2018-09-04. Geoffrey Owens wants you to know he’s doing just fine._ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:49 PM UTCPublished: Sep 4, 2018 10:58 PM UTC Geoffrey Owens wants you to know he’s doing just fine. by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Updated: Dec 12, 2023 5:49 PM UTCPublished: Sep 4, 2018 10:58 PM UTC Tyler Perry invited Geoffrey Owens to join his show after the former _Cosby Show_ star was [shamed for working at Trader Joe’s](http://time.com/5385842/geoffrey-owens-cosby-show-actor-grocery-store-speaks-out/). Images of Owens working at a local Trader Joe’s went viral online, prompting several comments shaming him for his job. Others, however, came to Owens’s defense and shared stories of the jobs they have had throughout their careers. Among those who showed support for Owens is Perry, who invited the actor to join his show on the OWN network in a tweet. “I have so much respect for people who hustle between gigs,” Perry said. “The measure of a true artist.” > [](https://twitter.com/tylerperry/status/1036944072836034560) Perry has three shows at OWN this year, including _The Paynes_, _The Haves and the Have Nots_ and _If Loving You Is Wrong_, [Deadline reports](https://deadline.com/2017/11/tyler-perry-premiere-dates-own-haves-and-have-nots-if-loeing-you-is-wrong-the-paynes-spinoff-1202213219/). _The Haves and the Have Nots_ was the No. 1 original scripted series for African-American viewers in 2017. Speaking on _Good Morning America_ on Tuesday, Owens said the experience shed light on the “dignity” of work and that “every job is worthwhile and valuable.” The outpouring of empathy toward his situation revealed that many working actors and artists often take on different jobs to [make ends meet](http://time.com/5385842/geoffrey-owens-cosby-show-actor-grocery-store-speaks-out/). > [](https://twitter.com/ABAOProductions/status/1036055886182146050) “I was really devastated,” Owens said of the shaming he received. “But the period of devastation was so short.” ## Transcript [00:00] Geoffrey Owens played Elvin Tibideaux on The Cosby [00:02] Show from 1985 to 1992. Since then he's been on a [00:05] ton of shows, Divorce, Lucifer, It's Always Sunny in [00:08] Philadelphia. While also working a different kind of gig, [00:11] Trader Joe's cashier. You might've seen the photo [00:13] circulating on Daily Mail and Fox News last week. Of [00:16] the actor bagging groceries at a Trader Joe's in New [00:19] Jersey. The internet really went crazy over these [00:21] photos. A lot of people, even a lot of celebrities, like [00:23] Terry Cruz, Dan Rather, they accuse the news outlets [00:26] of job- shaming Owens. On Tuesday Owens spoke out [00:28] to Good Morning America's Robin Roberts admitting he [00:31] was really devastated by the negative attention at first, [00:33] but he says he's hoping something good will come out [00:36] if it in the end. [ MUSIC ] There is no job that is better [00:39] than another job, it might pay better, it might have [00:41] better benefits, it might look better on a resume and [00:44] on paper, but actually, it's not better. Every [00:49] job is worthwhile and valuable and if we [00:53] have a, kind of a rethinking about that, because of [00:56] what's happened to me, That would be great. So [01:00] Owens worked at the grocery store for 15 months, and [01:02] he said he first took the job because he wanted [01:04] flexibility in order to stay in the entertainment [01:06] business. It makes sense. He told GMA, people [01:07] recognize him everyday and they were cool about it, [01:10] but he. He has since had to quit because of all the [01:12] attention. He went on to tell Roberts that no one should [01:14] feel sorry for him. Here's his quote, he says, I've had a [01:16] great life. I've had a great career. I've had a career [01:18] that most actors would die for. So no one has to feel [01:21] sorry for me. I'm doing fine. Well Owen One said [01:24] there's been all kinds of interest in him as an actor in [01:26] the past few days. He says he wouldn't feel [01:28] comfortable getting an acting job because of this [01:30] recent publicity. He says he wants to get them fair and [01:32] square only because he's, quote, the right person [01:34] person for that job. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5386823/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens-job-shaming/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5386823/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens-job-shaming/"},"headline":"Tyler Perry Offers Former Cosby Show Actor Work on New Show After He Got Shamed for Trader Joe's Job","datePublished":"2018-09-04T22:58:36.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T17:49:02.000Z","description":"\"I have so much respect for people who hustle between gigs\"","url":"https://time.com/5386823/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens-job-shaming/","keywords":["celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt452886ac60c9822f/6989396f0a4a22f30d9d39a2/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt452886ac60c9822f/6989396f0a4a22f30d9d39a2/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"TCM Honors Screen Legend Cicely Tyson With Hand And Footprint Ceremony","caption":"TCM Honors Screen Legend Cicely Tyson With Hand And Footprint Ceremony","creditText":"Amanda Edwards—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5386823/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens-job-shaming/","name":"Tyler Perry Offers Former Cosby Show Actor Work on New Show After He Got Shamed for Trader Joe's Job"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Geoffrey Owens on Being Shamed for Working at Trader Joe's: 'No One Should Feel Sorry for Me'","description":"Geoffrey Owens wants you to know he’s doing just fine.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/0oxeduar/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-09-04T16:52:55.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/0oxeduar.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5386823/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens-job-shaming/","duration":"PT1M37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5386823/tyler-perry-geoffrey-owens-job-shaming/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```