Geoffrey Owens Got The Last Laugh Against Job Shamers During The SAG Awards

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If it wasn’t already abundantly clear, Geoffrey Owens has recovered amazingly well after the so-called “scandal” that broke out last year when gossip rags outed him for working at Trader Joe’s between acting jobs. The former Cosby Show actor received a flurry of public support in the wake of the job-shaming, as well as a some choice job offers from Tyler Perry and an upcoming Hillary Swank thriller.

Owens likewise stole the spotlight at Sunday night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. In the opening segment, cameras focused on various actors seated at tables in the audience who spoke about their craft. When the cameras fixated on Owens, he opened up about his former gig at the grocery chain.

“So, somewhere in the middle of the road of my life, I found myself in the dark wood of unemployment and debt,” Owens said. “But instead of switching careers, like a sane person, I took a job at a local Trader Joe’s to see if I could hang in there with my career. And it’s actually worked out pretty well.”

“I’m Geoffrey Owens,” he continued. “And I am an actor!”

Heck yeah he is!

In the wake of his job-shaming, Owens later said that he braced himself for the worst-case scenario. “It was mean-spirited … I am a very private person, but I chose this life, so I accepted it. I didn’t feel any impulse to lash out, but I was devastated,” he said at the time. “Fortunately, that didn’t last very long when all the support came in.”

Who knew that it very may well have been the best thing to ever happen to his career? No disrespect to Trader Joe’s employees, of course, but it seems highly unlikely that he’ll return to that job.

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