Article content

Actor Geoffrey Owens had to seek alternative employment at a grocery store because his royalty cheques for the Cosby Show dwindled following Bill Cosby’s sex scandal.

Owens, 57, recently hit headlines after a customer at a Trader Joe’s store in New Jersey spotted him bagging groceries and shared a photo on social media.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Bill Cosby sex scandal forced Geoffrey Owens to take job at Trader Joe's Back to video

The image went viral as he was shamed by critics for taking on a side gig, but many of his acting peers jumped to his defence and applauded him for doing what was required to feed his family.

Now Owens has revealed he began working at the grocery store over a year ago as his finances took a big hit in the aftermath of Cosby’s sex assault controversy, because TV bosses pulled reruns of the family sitcom off the air as the veteran comedian was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 50 women.

“It impacted me financially,” he explained to People magazine. “At the time that the show was pulled, that did make a difference in our income.