Tyrese Gibson is finally sharing his opinion about Taraji P. Henson’s criticism of gender disparities in Hollywood, a topic brewing since her role on “The Color Purple.”
The two entertainer got their boosts in the film industry when they became the lead love interests in John Singleton’s 2001 hit film “Baby Boy,” a classic Black movie that instantly became a cultural moment in Black Hollywood and helped kickstart both of their acting careers.
However, as Henson points out, the opportunities in their careers have not been equal. She noted in the September 2024 interview “Making Space with Hoda Kotb” that while she has not been in a franchise film yet, Gibson had been in two: “Fast and Furious” and “Transformers.”
During an April 17 interview with “The Breakfast Club,” Gibson opened up about Henson’s comparison of their careers.
One of the radio show’s hosts, Loren Lorosa, asked, “There was from an older interview when Taraji was talking about after ‘Baby Boy,’ you should have been way bigger like just movie star role wise but her as well too, like she should have been in bigger films. She was talking about that. Did you see that?”
The “Sweet Lady” singer responded, “Yea but that’s been the unfortunate of Black Hollywood in general and Black women in Hollywood.”
He then referred to Viola Davis’ infamous 2018 chat on Women in the World Los Angeles Salon, where she expressed that her talent often gets her compared to three-time Academy award-winning actress, Meryl Streep. However, she was not compensated like Streep nor was she given substantive movie roles.
“[Davis] went down her parallel of Viola Davis and Meryl Streep and then went into the financial disparity between what she’s getting paid versus Viola Davis. And so, yeah, I just think for me, Mona Scott-Young has a really big announcement — not now — but we’re about to do something with Taraji,” Gibson explained.
Scott-Young, who currently manages Gibson, is most famously known as the executive producer of the VH1 franchise “Love and Hip Hop.” She was previously a manager for Busta Rhymes and several other artists.
When “The Breakfast Club” hosts tried to probe further on this mystery project he and Scott-Young are doing with Henson, Gibson said, “Well, no one knows this but as y’all are speaking to funny as y’all are speaking to the alpha male, I’ve never done a romantic comedy. I’ve never done a ‘Love Jones,’ I’ve never done anything in that space.”
It’s not clear if the two will be reuniting in this rom-com film as love interests again, and how far in the process they have gotten. It will mark there being more than 20 years since we’ve seen the “Stay” singer and the “Empire” actress on screen together since their 2005 movie “Four Brothers.” Henson played the wife of Gibson’s adopted brother.
Henson told Kotb that even though booking the “Baby Boy” role was “huge” for her, she felt that her journey wasn’t going to go in the way that everyone else expected.
“I don’t know, discernment told me something different.” Henson said. “And I just knew it wasn’t gonna be that way. Something sat on my heart, and it was like, ‘I don’t know that that’s gonna happen like that overnight for me.’ And so, sure enough … but I knew deep down it would for Tyrese.”
She added, “Been in the game almost 30 years. No franchise film. I’m not gonna cry about it. I mean… I know what it is now. I’m on the other side of the table now. You can’t hurt my feelings anymore because now I know there’s politics involved.”
Fans shared their thoughts on Henson’s criticism, mainly on Facebook, noting their chemistry. One person evaluating both of their careers said, “She may be right about what happened after Baby Boy, but I’d argue that she’s having a better career, overall, than he is.”
A second person explained why Gibson’s career may look different than Henson’s.
“But Tyrese was well known already. This was your introduction. At least for me. Because it was my first time knowing who she was,” they said, referencing the fact that Gibson was an R&B singer prior to his first movie role.
A third person typed, “It’s tough to pull off but she’s both an advocate and a whiner,” while another offered, “Tyrese got lucky by getting into the fast and furious franchise…..otherwise he hasnt been doing too much.”
Henson also talked about this back in 2019 in an interview with Refinery29. She opened up about having false starts in the industry where it was expected that she would take off after movies like “Baby Boy” or “Hustle and Flow.”
She said, “I knew that it was going to be very different for me and Tyrese after Baby Boy. I just knew because he was a guy, his career was going to take off. And, what happened? Tyrese booked Transformers, he booked two big franchise movies, Transformers and Fast and Furious right after Baby Boy. And where did I go? To a show on Lifetime that no one, pretty much, watched.“
She recalled joking to the film’s creator, John Singleton, saying, “it’s easier for men. I’m going to turn myself into a guy.”
Though Henson hasn’t received any major on-screen franchise roles, she has booked a few animated voice acting roles in films that were part of a franchise, such as, “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” and “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie.” She is also a repeat in several Tyler Perry movies, including last years, “Straw” and “I Can Do Bad All By Myself.”
On April 25, she is making her Broadway debut in August Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone,” which will be directed by Debbie Allen.
