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This has been quite a week for former Cosby Show star Geoffrey Owens, who was job shamed for bagging groceries at Trader Joe’s — something he did to keep his family afloat after his acting gigs ran dry.
He’s garnered major support in the entertainment realm and most notably Tyler Perry recruited him and said he’s got a spot on his extensive TV show roster just waiting for him.
Now, rap star Nicki Minaj has offered to help Owens secure the bag by offering him $25,000 cash, the Daily Mail reports. Minaj was angered after learning that a customer snuck a photo of Owens just doing his job at a New Jersey Trader Joe’s and shared it with Fox News.
“They took a picture of Geoffrey Owens and put this motherf***ing man on the motherf***in’ internet while he was f***ing baggin up some f***ing ‘groceries to feed his muthaf***ing family,” said the Grammy-nominated artist on her Beats 1 program Queen Radio.
“I personally want to donate, on behalf of Queen Radio, $25,000 to Geoffrey Owens today.
“Let me tell you something: This man is a whole f***in’ legend in these streets,” said Minaj.
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Karma comes back to bite
The woman who took a viral pic of Owens has apologized for the hurt and humiliation she caused.
Karma Lawrence snapped a couple pictures of the actor as he worked a cash register at a New Jersey Trader Joe’s grocery store. She then went the extra step of offering up the pics to several websites. The Daily Mail took the bait and several other outlets followed suit with click-bait headlines shaming the actor for working at a retail grocery chain.
For her part, Lawrence says she is sorry about her involvement in the whole debacle. And because Twitter is undefeated when it comes to outing a person’s identity, she was herself shamed online for what some people saw as her attempting to shame Owens.
“So much hate. So much nastiness. Oh, it’s been terrible,” “They write ‘Karma’s a b*itch.’ It’s bad,” Lawrence said in an interview with NJ Advance Media. She has since deleted her social media accounts.
Minaj doesn’t have a shred of sympathy for Lawrence.
“Karma you and your b**** is stupid for that bulls***. You gonna try and embarrass this hardworking man.”
‘Cosby Show’ star Geoffrey Owens quits grocery store job, gets acting offer from Tyler Perry
No Handouts
So the question remains of Owens will graciously accept Minaj’s monetary offer since he made his media rounds saying that he didn’t want handouts. Owens made sure to also reiterate to Entertainment Tonight that he does not expect handouts. He wants to earn work the good old-fashioned way.
“I don’t expect to be offered things. It would be lovely as one of the results of this, some doors open in terms of giving me the opportunity to audition. That, I would appreciate — always, as all actors do,” said the husband and father. “I don’t necessarily feel comfortable being given things as a result of this. I mean, I’m not in a position to turn things down but… I don’t expect that kind of thing. I like the idea of, you know, put me in the room with everyone else and see if I’m the right one for the job.”