Taraji P. Henson and her girls (they look fantastic) cover the July issue of Allure. Taraji is really having quite a year, isn’t she? And it couldn’t have happened to a more righteous lady. Taraji’s Allure interview is chock full of interesting quotes and stories and opinions. I would be 100% behind Taraji in everything, but my one qualm is that she’s an apologist for her friend and costar Terrence Howard, who has a lengthy history of physically assaulting women. This is why I don’t watch Empire, even though I want to support Taraji. I just can’t get past Terrence Howard. Some highlights from Allure:
Her Allure shoot: “It was very Diana Ross, very disco, Studio 54, big, big, big hair, lots of jewelry, big earrings, the stuff I like to wear. I’m a ’70s baby so I hate I missed the era of Studio 54 ’cause I would’ve had a good time. I probably would’ve been dead but it would’ve been a good time!”
Working with abusive douchebag Terrence Howard: “I just know him. We trust each other… Let’s pop the trunk to your life and see what’s dysfunctional and what’s bad…. At the end of the day, we’re all human and we got flaws and we got sh-t.”
Her breakout role in Baby Boy (in 2001): “I’ve had so many false starts. If it’s easy, what story are you going to tell? Nobody wants to hear about how easy it was. That doesn’t inspire anyone.”
She doesn’t date costars: “I always wanted to be known for my work. Not who I dated. Not who I slept with…. I have a gift, and my gift is acting. I started in the business at 26 with a kid, so I was smart enough to know reality from fantasy. I didn’t want to blur the lines. This is a job that I have to do. I cannot get caught up in it. And if I sleep with these guys, why would they want to work with me again? The conquest is up. Now I’m just used-up…[she mouths the word ‘p—sy’].”
Men better not interfere with her business: “You have to stay professional. It is a business. I’m not letting no knucklehead dude come between my hard work and my money.”
She knows how to hustle & she’s run her own salon out of her home: “I come from a family of hard workers. Oh, yeah, I knew how to hustle and make money. We used to do wet sets…. I bought a hooded dryer, and I had my box of rollers. I could have gone to jail; I had no license whatsoever. But it was just my friends. They were like, ‘Girl, hook me up.'” Occasionally, Henson still does her own nails. “If I get bored, I’ll put a full set on.”
Taraji’s defense of Terrence Howard rubs me the wrong way, and it reminds me of Jodie Foster’s constant defense of Mel Gibson. Yes, Taraji is right in that everyone has BS and drama in their private lives. But she’s wrong in that Terrence Howard’s “drama” is not something to be set aside with a shrug and a “nobody’s perfect.” Terrence Howard abuses women. He assaults women. And he gets away with it because too many people shrug and ignore it.
As for Taraji thinking she would be seen as “used up” if she slept with or dated a costar…? I’m sure some men do think that way (men like Terrence Howard), but it just seems like she’s insulting the men she works with and she’s insulting herself.
Photos courtesy of Allure.
What is she supposed to say? She’s on a break show that is successful, and he’s her costar.
if she is so scared of losing her job, she can decline to comment instead of supporting her costar’s abuse of women by dismissing it like it was a accident.
Declining to comment on a costar’s behavior is on par/paramount to dissing them.
Exactly Kiddo, Even though she is the breakout star it is under his sway She got hired so I hardly think she was going or is in any position to diss him publicly.
Also I understand what she meant with Used P*ssy (NOT THAT I AGREE) but when you are in a community like the Black Or Latin communities ( and That IS where she mostly makes her bread and butter), Those prudish, ass backward, bullshit Patriarchal pedantic notions and stereotypes are indeed a Thing… I cannot TELL YOU the hell that broke lose in my house (and the melodramatics the family interventions) when I moved in with my first bf at 22 LOL I was called every name under the sun
Also She looks Fantastic on that cover
I agree, and they’ve actually worked together multiple times, been friends for years. Which is baffling to me considering his history but it’s true. It would come off extremely hypocritical for her to start denouncing his actions now. In a perfect world they wouldn’t even be friends in the first place, but that isn’t the case.
Taraji actually got Terrence the job on Empire, you know. Lee Daniels was ready to cast Wesley Snipes and Taraji went to Lee and told him he should cast Terrence. She’s not just an apologist for Terrence, she was instrumental in getting him this gig!
I read other ‘reasons’ on blind items, that had nothing to do with her.
I don’t watch the show because of Terrence Howard but I’m not going to assume anything about Taraji…She’s in a difficult position as his costar & she’s been friends with him. As his friend, she’s probably never seen the abusive side of him or she ignores it. Recently where I live, a cop killed his ex wife. He chased her down in traffic & pull his gun on her over an ongoing custody dispute. He killed her in front of theur 7 year old. The response was oh he must have snapped…He was such a nice guy. Nice guys don’t murder their ex wifes. Nice guys don’t assault people. Most people don’t understand domestic violence is more about power & control than anything else. So Taraji is no different here. If she dated him, I might side eye her though.
I like her and she’s great on the show, but it is always in the back of my mind that she got him onto it and has championed for him, even though he is truly unworthy.
We all certainly do have flaws, but abusing women is not a “flaw”.
break out, I meant, in top comment.
Agreed, whether you’re an actress or work an office job, you can’t go around publicly criticizing the personal actions of your colleagues without risking your livelihood. It doesn’t matter whether she or Terrence was hired first–she’s thinking about getting that next gig. I give her credit for phrasing it as she did–she defended her friendship with him as opposed to any of his actions.
Maybe she defends him because she has no other choice? What is she supposed to say about a person who is part of a successful show she’s part of?
Don’t get me wrong, I can’t stand the ahole and I dont watch the show and don’t care for it but you can’t expect her to turn on the guy if they’re still working together, maybe she should have limit her comments or said nothing at all
She looks great btw
Damn, that’s a gorgeous woman.
I disagree that she insults the men and herself. I think she’s just being pragmatic. As much I think we should all expect more from ourselves and from men (as far as men exist as a group), the reality is that sometimes it’s just better not to sh*t where you eat. The Terrence Howard thing is crap though. Being a bit of a douche is one thing, a friend is a friend even if they sometimes behave like a**holes but violence is inexcusable. Always. The question itself was a bit unfair though. It’s not like the actors/actresses who choose to work with Woody Allen. He’s her colleague, she didn’t choose to work with him exactly.
She sounds pretty conservative, I wasn’t expecting that. And I don’t like the way she talks about her friend having flaws. I mean, I assault someone, but in the end of the day, I’m just human, don’t judge me! *side eye*
I just can’t with all these apologists. I don’t beat up women or children or men either and I don’t molest children, so yeah – I think I am good to judge that people who do this are monsters.
No matter how many years have past, these are still crimes and abusers who get away with their actions always keep abusing. I have no doubt Josh Duggar is still abusing, Terrance is still beating up women, Polanski still likes drugging and raping 13 year olds. these are all addictions of power and abusers get off on that unless somebody stands up to them and stops them.
She looks beautiful. I don’t agree with her support for Terrance, he is a douche bag!! !
Oprah supported him to when they were promoting The Butler.
I agree with her comments on not sleeping with her co-stars. I think most men do have that “chase” gene. Some are just better at hiding it.
Not enough baby wipes in the world to clean up his shit
Agree with Kaiser 100% on this one. And grammarian that I am, I hate “we all got shi#%^” instead of “we’ve all got shi#%^”.
“we got”? WTH! Speaks volumes…..
I’m more forgiving of flaws that don’t bruise people, you know?
If it was just about acknowledging that nobody’s perfect, there would be no criminal justice system.
It’s possible Taraji is defending Terrence Howard because she likes him. She doesn’t have to hate him because all of you do. He’s not my favorite person in the world but he’s good on Empire.
Why do you always defend known women beaters such Terrence & Sean Penn?
I am not attacking you in any way and I am genuinely curious to know why.
It sure sounds like an attack but I’ll answer any how. I can separate the art from the artist. I can look at their work and not think about their personal life.
I can’t stand her! Dumbing down your race for fame!
Defending trash??
Any woman who defends a known abuser of women and downplays what the damage he’s done to them by referring to violent criminal as merely “human” has turned her back on her fellow women. She is not merely protecting her own job. She is calling him her friend of many years – an intimate, although platonic, relationship. How would she feel if she were beaten by a man and then heard other women talking about what a nice guy he is and his beatings were simply mistakes ’cause you know, we all have flaws.
And, please stop with the stupid “we got” language. She’s more educated than that and knows proper English. She’s dumbing herself down for popularity with the her target crowd but it comes off try-hard.
She’s a really great actress and it’s refreshing she admits her faults like with her son.
This though… She believes without question it seems. What justification did he tell her where she thought beating a woman on many occasions with a wide range of severity was OK?
Howard is awful and has displayed a pattern. It’s a case of where there’s smoke… If all the women you date end up beaten and fearing you enough to get protection orders… Well, maybe it’s you that is doing something wrong and not them creating drama?
I’m confident Taraji will be back peddling on these comments soon.
We got flaws? Don’t watch the show won’t watch anything with her in it.
I feel sorry for her in that her responses show us how she thinks. Basically everyman looks at her like a piece of ass. The quote about money. How sad she views men that way.
Announcing you do not sleep men you work with? Of course we have to hear she came from nothing.
Can I hear about your acting ? Your goals as an actor? Anything of interest? Can I hear about being a single mom and your work schedule? Will you stop defending domestic violence. She has no problem selling herself on this magazine cover as a piece of ass. That was the worst interview I read in a long time. Thanks dude.
Her saying that she doesn’t sleep with coworkers in no way indicates that she sees herself a s a piece of a**. It in fact reinforces that she values her work and would not want to compromise that for what could be viewed as simply a conquest to a costar. The second she sleeps with a costar the narrative is no longer Taraji’s breakout role a Cookie Lyon on a show that defeated the odds. She is now attached to whomever. There would be no mention of her name without mentioning the man that shares her bed. It’s an outdated system but still very much a system. Don’t believe it. Think about any woman (aside from Oprah…and even she’s not exempt) and then tell me you can’t think of a man attached to that woman.
Also: if you check out the round table discussion that she participated in other drama actresses, you will see mention of her goals as an actress, her acting, and single motherhood. But my guess would be that you’re not interested enough in her to research anyway.
I support her take on not sleeping with costars. Like she said she expects to come to work and have a good professional relationship, do her work and then return to the real world. In a job like acting people seem to blur the line all the time between their characters on the screen and reality. Then awkwardness for a decade before they work together again. She is a female POC with limited roles, can’t be burning bridges.
Time to stop reading her interviews – they don’t elevate my opinion of her.
+1 though they never did.
I used to be a big Terrence Howard fan and then I realize his respect for women only pertains to those rare few…such as taraji. I sorta understand her position if she’s the only woman he respects. :/
I’m a long time fan of hers but I am so disappointed that she’s friends with and continues to support Terrence Howard.
It’s kinda hard to be in a business where you have to apologize for or explain your friends because of their past actions or because some people feel a certain way about them.
In my opinion she put it as best as she could without defending him or castigating him.
He is still her co star after all. And she has to be careful what she says.