'Cosby Show' Actor Geoffrey Owens Addresses Trader Joe's Job Shaming
Former "Cosby Show" actor Geoffrey Owens is not ashamed to work at Trader Joe's. In fact, he proudly wore his employee name tag for all to see on "Good Morning America" Tuesday morning.
Last week, a Daily Mail article about a Trader Joe's customer spotting Owens, who played Sondra's boyfriend-turned-husband on "The Cosby Show," bagging groceries went viral. Then, many people on Twitter jumped to his defense and called out the job shaming.
"I had been a working actor for years. Jobs stopped, as they do. I worked in retail. At a flower shop. I passed out flyers. It’s about the work," Pamela Adlon tweeted.
Owens finally spoke out to Robin Roberts about the entire incident. At first, he said he was devastated that his Trader Joe's job was depicted as lowly work.
But, he added, "The period of devastation was so short because so shortly after that, the responses, my wife and I started to read [them] … and fortunately the shame part didn’t last very long. It's amazing."
Owens thanked everyone for their support and said he hopes this will spark conversations about "what it means to work, the honor of the working person, [and] the dignity of work.”
He continued, "There is no job that’s better than another job. It might pay better, it might have better benefits, it might look better on a resume and on paper. But actually, it’s not better. Every job is worthwhile and valuable."
Owens continues to act, most recently in an April episode of "Elementary."
“No one should feel sorry for me,” he said. “I’ve had a great life. I’ve had a great career. I’ve had a career that most actors would die for. So no one has to feel sorry for me. I’m doing fine!”