‘Cosby Show’ alum Geoffrey Owens struggles to ‘make a living’

“The Cosby Show” alum Geoffrey Owens said he’s still struggling to “make a living” six years after going viral to work at a grocery store.

“I struggle every day to make ends meet,” Owens, 63, said on Atlanta radio station V-103 recently, “and people can’t figure it out because they see me in movies.”

The actor — best known for portraying character Sondra Huxtable’s partner, Elvin Tibideaux, on the NBC sitcom from 1985 to 1992 — noted that he’s “not much better off” these days than he was when a customer infamously took photos of him work. behind the register at a Trader Joe’s in 2018.

“People have the wrong impression of what the average middle-class actor does and their ability to make a living in the industry,” he said.

Owens — a Yale University graduate and son of former New York congressman Major Owens — has continued to perform since “The Cosby Show” ended, but he had lived primarily out of the spotlight until snaps of his side hustle as a cashier got on the internet.

“In the beginning there were some negative things about basically job shaming. A ‘Where is he now?’ kind of thing,” he said during the radio interview. “But then, very shortly after that, there was all this support and encouragement from around the world.”

Geoffrey ended up leaving his position at Trader Joe’s because he was concerned about the viral moment invading his privacy.

“It was strange because someone had been in the shop taking pictures,” he said. “And I thought, now that this is broken, I’m not going to feel comfortable working in this store wondering who’s got a camera. That would just be too weird. I’m a very private person .”

He continued: “It wasn’t that I stopped knowing that I was going to make a lot of money or anything. I just felt that I wouldn’t be able to handle that kind of scrutiny and invasion of my privacy .”

The TV star also noted that after dozens of women accused “Cosby Show” star Bill Cosby of sexual assault, the series was pulled from syndication and Geoffrey’s remains were suddenly “gone.”

After making headlines for his supermarket concert, several people came forward to offer him financial help.

Nicki Minaj even sent Geoffrey $25,000, but he donated the money to a charity because he said it “didn’t feel right to keep it” without earning it.

He accepted acting jobs on several projects, including a role in Tyler Perry’s “The Haves and the Have Nots” and the 50 Cent shows “Power” and “Power Book II: Ghost.”

Geoffrey currently stars in the CBS show “Poppa’s House” which also stars Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. He also appears in the new movie “Mr. Santa: A Christmas Extravaganza.”

Despite returning to Hollywood, Geoffrey said he has returned to his job at Trader Joe’s because he still doesn’t make enough money to live comfortably just by shopping.