‘Sabrina The Teenage Witch’ Actor Nate Richert Defends Geoffrey Owens, Admits He Is Now A Janitor
After years off the radar, actor Nate Richert of Sabrina the Teenage Witch spoke out today against recent job-shaming attacks on Geoffrey Owens, who was recently photographed working at Trader Joe’s, according to People. In his statement, he admitted that among other jobs, he has been recently working as a janitor. His response came in the midst of viral photos and job-shaming attacks on the former Cosby star, Owens.
Richert is best known for his role as Sabrina’s love interest Harvey Kinkle, who he portrayed from 1996 to 2003. His response was tweeted just days after a Daily Mail article created a huge controversy by revealing photos of former Cosby star Owens working as a cashier at a New Jersey Trader Joe’s grocery store. In response to the article’s criticism of his current job situation, Owens appeared on Good Morning America for an interview.
“The period of devastation was so short because so shortly after that, the responses, my wife and I started to read [them] … and fortunately the shame part didn’t last very long,” Owens said.
Now, Richert has added his experience working less-than-glamorous jobs to the discussion via Twitter.
“I’ve been an actor for 32 yrs (since age 8). I’m extremely lucky to have had any success at all, let alone solid work in film and TV for 6yrs (20yrs ago). I’m currently a maintenance man, a janitor, a carpenter, and do whatever random jobs I can get to pay the bills.”
people decide to be mean. GeoffreyOwens is an actor of a very high caliber; long before and long after playing “Elvin” on Cosby. I can’t wait to see what’s next. #GeofferyOwens #ActorsWithDayJobs #SabrinaTheTeenageWitch
— Nate Richert (@NateRichert) September 4, 2018
Richert also claimed in his tweets that the lifestyle of many actors is less than glamorous. Often, acting work is not consistent, so they are forced to do whatever jobs possible in order to keep paying the bills.
The former Sabrina star is not the only one taking a stance against public criticism toward Owens. On Twitter, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation (the benefiting charity of the Screen Actor’s Guild Awards) issued a call for other actors to share their experience of working day jobs, using the hashtag “#ActorsWithDayJobs.”
This #LaborDay, we honor #geoffreyowens & ALL of the hard-working actors & artists who work 1, 2, 3 day jobs in order to pay the bills, take care of their families & still work to entertain us. #ActorsWithDayJobs, please share yours! We’re here for u & will RT #ActorsWithDayJobs
— SAG-AFTRA Foundation (@sagaftraFOUND) September 3, 2018
The tweet garnered responses from many, including former General Hospital actress Julie Berman, who shared that she worked as a hostess after leaving the show.
Karma Lawrence, the woman who took the detrimental photos of Owens at Trader Joe’s, reported to NJ Advance Media on Sunday that she now regrets submitting them to media sources. Reportedly, Lawrence’s social media profiles exploded with hate mail in defense of the actor after the photos went viral. She reports that she didn’t mean any harm. Instead, Lawrence claims that she simply shared the photos on impulse and that “it was a bad impulse.” The woman also claims that she did not receive any compensation for submitting the photos she took.
Geoffrey Owens reported to People that he has quit his Trader Joe’s job after all of the public attention he had been receiving. He also noted that he still acts and has been doing so for over 30 years.
