Regrets? Karma Lawrence, a Trader Joe’s shopper who snapped photos of Geoffrey Owens working at the grocery store, opened up about the encounter in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly.
Lawrence revealed that she regrets revealing the Cosby Show alum’s current gig as a cashier.
“I feel terrible for embarrassing him,” Lawrence told Us, noting that she “did not” expect the pictures to go viral. “I didn’t really think about any of that when I posted the photos,” she explained. “I wanted to go up to him and take a picture as a fan, but I thought he would be embarrassed by that, so I took one of just him.”
Lawrence, who “hopes to” speak to 57-year-old Owens soon, added that she’s “received so much hate from people shaming [her] for the photos” and she “had to deactivate some of [her] social media.”
Even so, Lawrence “still loves” the Blue Bloods actor.
Owens, who played Elvin Tibideaux for five seasons of The Cosby Show, discussed the incident on the Tuesday, September 4, episode of Good Morning America. “It’s really overwhelming, in a good way,” he explained of the attention his cashier job has received. “I kind of feel like that character in that Woody Allen movie that wakes up one morning and he’s a celebrity all of a sudden.”
Although at first Owens was “really devastated” that a customer leaked photos of him to Daily Mail, he noted that the “amazing support and positivity” he’s received has been “quite astonishing.”
Among Owens’ supporters is Tyler Perry, who reached out with a job offer. “#GeoffreyOwens I’m about to start shooting OWN’s number one drama next week!” Perry, 48, tweeted on Tuesday, likely a nod to his show The Haves and Have Nots. “Come join us!!! I have so much respect for people who hustle between gigs. The measure of a true artist.”
Owens reacted to the job offer while speaking to Entertainment Tonight later on Tuesday. “That was kind of cool. I mean, that kind of sounded like he was saying, ‘Come work with me.’ I’m so, like skeptical. Like, really? Are you actually saying come work with me? because we’ve never worked together before,” Owens said. “So that’s a very generous thing for him to say. And we’ll see what happens with that. But that’s encouraging.”
