--- 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=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=3840&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 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  Director Tyler Perry gives a speech at actress Cicely Tyson's hand and footprint ceremony during the TCM Classic Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on April 27, 2018 in Hollywood, California. Director Tyler Perry gives a speech at actress Cicely Tyson's hand and footprint ceremony during the TCM Classic Film Festival at the TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX on April 27, 2018 in Hollywood, California.Amanda Edwards—WireImage 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.” ```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"}}]}] ```