Fantasia Barrino's Net Worth Is Small, but 'The Color Purple' Shows She's a Star

The Gist:

• In spite of some major Broadway and film roles, Fantasia Barrino's net worth is lower than you might think, and she's been open about being unable to afford basic necessities at various points in her life.
• Taraji P. Henson has been similarly open about how, in spite of regular work, it can be difficult to pay for the basics once everyone takes their cut.

Now that The Color Purple is a box office smash, those who saw the movie are paying more attention to its many stars. Although the movie has a wonderful combination of veteran talents and new stars, much of the focus has understandably been on Fantasia Barrino, the film's star.

Fantasia, who first won American Idol 20 years ago, has had a complicated history of stardom, but The Color Purple proves that she has plenty of star power. Following the overwhelming success of the movie, many want to know what Fantasia's net worth is.

In spite of her recent success, Fantasia has gone viral recently for a video in which she talks about being poor enough that she couldn't even afford to buy pizza. She reminded everyone that she had been working steadily on Broadway for years, but because she had such an extensive team, she rarely made any money herself. “I would get home and couldn’t even order a pizza. But I was never home. So, how’s that I ain’t got no money, but I’m always working? [sic]” she explained.

"Everybody saw the gift, but they saw the opportunity to make money from the gift. So, I felt like I was carrying my cross ... and that was heavy for me," she continued.

Fantasia also said that much of her earnings had gone to surgeries to remove tumors from her vocal cords, which were certainly necessary if she wanted to continue performing the way that she had been.

Fantasia Barrino's salary for The Color Purple has not been disclosed, but her co-star Taraji P. Henson has been public about the fact that she asked for $500,000 for the movie and only received $150,000. Like Fantasia, Taraji has been open while promoting The Color Purple about the issues she's had with making money in Hollywood.

This remarkable honesty about pay disparities in Hollywood has many taking note, especially because major Black female stars seem to be unable to pay for the basics. One can only hope that Fantasia and Taraji will be able to share in some of the success that The Color Purple has achieved, and that it will lead to better pay for them on future projects.