It was recently reported that a woman had taken photos of Geoffrey Owens, who played Elvin Tibideaux on “The Cosby Show,” leading to Fox News and the Daily Mail “job-shaming” the actor. When the news hit the headlines, Tyler Perry of the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) sent a tweet suggesting Owens could have a role in a drama series.

Since that time, Owens has received an official job offer to star in 10 episodes of “The Haves and the Have Nots” on OWN. Meanwhile, the woman who took the offending photos has spoken up.

Geoffrey Owens has role in a TV show

There was much drama after Karma Lawrence took photos of Geoffrey Owens working behind a till in Trader Joe's in Clifton, New Jersey. While the Daily Mail and Fox News “job-shamed” Owens for his menial job, celebrities and fans alike stood up for the actor, saying he was just doing an honest day’s work.

As reported by the BBC, Owens told ABC News at the time that the amount of support he received was somewhat overwhelming, but he added this wasn’t all in a bad way. That support has now paid off, which is good news, especially after Owens said he now feels uncomfortable with the attention he is now getting working at Trader Joe’s.

Tyler Perry tweeted to say he had a role for Owens in a drama series on OWN and now Owens will officially be starring in 10 episodes of the show.

Somewhat appropriately, “The Haves and the Have Nots” tells the story of three families living in Savannah, Georgia. Two of the families are powerful and rich, while one is poor. Perry, the writer and director of the show, adapted the TV series from his play of the same title in 2011.

Karma Lawrence speaks up about the notorious photos

While Owens is now comfortably employed on the OWN show for at least 10 episodes, Karma Lawrence, who took the offending photos of the actor at Trader Joe’s, has spoken up. She said how much she regrets the impulse that led her to take the photos.

As reported by Newsweek, Lawrence told US Weekly that it was an impulse that led her to taking the snaps.

After all the uproar online, she feels terrible for embarrassing the actor, while she was trying to avoid doing exactly that. She said she was a fan of Owens and wanted a photo of him. She believed he would be embarrassed should she approach him directly for a photo, so she surreptitiously took the images without him knowing. However, the problem began when she shared the images online, where they went viral.

Newsweek reports that she told NJ Advance Media last week that she figured everybody did that and she didn’t even think twice before taking the photos, adding that she had done it on an impulse, which turned out to be a bad impulse.

Lawrence went on to add that she didn’t believe sending the images to websites would lead to them job-shaming the actor. She figured Owens was working in the grocery shop because with all the bad attention Bill Cosby was getting, she thought his residual payments had been cut. Reportedly many TV stations have dropped re-runs of “The Cosby Show” since the scandal aired. Karma said in instances like that, people are forced to take a “normal job,” which she didn’t think badly about, as she herself works a normal job.

It seems ironic that her name is “Karma,” as her actions were karma indeed after Owens landed his TV role on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
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