On Friday, Tyler Perry released his second full-length film of 2025. His latest psychological thriller— “Straw” —stars Taraji P. Henson, Sherri Shepherd, and singer, Teyana Taylor. Prior to its release, Bevy Smith hosted a town hall on SiriusXM Bevy Smith featuring all of the aforementioned actors plus Tyler Perry himself, to talk about the film and their time in Hollywood.
Henson has been very vocal and honest about the fact that Tyler Perry was the first person to pay her equitably for a role, famously sharing that she was paid $500,000 for her starring role in 2009’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself.” So in a recent conversation with Bevy Smith, both she and Sherri Shepherd got emotional when speaking about their treatment in Hollywood and praised Perry for being who he is and how he respects and treats actors. Henson, in particular, spoke about that time in her life when she took the role in Perry’s 2009 film…and why. Read more at www.thegrio.com.
