Geoffrey Owens has accepted a job offer from Tyler Perry after the actor, who appeared on The Cosby Show, was job-shamed for working as a cashier at grocery store Trader Joe's.
Moved after hearing online bullies had mocked Owens, Perry took to Twitter to invite him to appear in The Have and the Have Nots.
"Geoffrey Owens I'm about to start shootings OWN's number one drama next week! Come join us!!! I have so much respect for people who hustle between gigs. The measure of a true artist," Perry said.
Perry's spokeswoman has since confirmed Owens will feature in 10 episodes of the drama, broadcast on The Opera Winfrey Network, BBC reported.
Owens played Elvin Tibideaux on The Cosby Show from 1985 to 1992. He said he had worked at the grocery store for 15 months.
He told CNN he was initially upset at the negative attention but has since received overwhelming support.
"I was only devastated for an hour or two," Owens said. "It was hurtful but very short-lived.
"What has been sustained, now over days, is how much love and support there is - not just for me, but for working people, the idea that, 'Hey, what's wrong with working at Trader Joe's, or any job like that?"
Nicki Minaj also joined in supporting Owens, announcing on her Beats 1 Queen Radio show she is donating him $25,000.
The 'Side to Side' rapper explained how she would like to help after she was upset that a person would share a photo of him to social media while he was "bagging groceries to feed his family", ET reported.
"That man is now getting so many opportunities," Minaj expressed. "I personally want to donate on behalf of Queen Radio $25,000 to Geoffrey Owens. You know why? I'mma tell you something. This man is a whole f**king legend in these streets.
"What is the fascination with our culture - this Instagram era, instant gratification era - to continually humiliate people for no reason?" the rap star added. "What did you get by taking a picture of that man at the grocery store?"
Owens has revealed he has stopped working at Trader Joe's.
"Basically I left at that point because I felt like just for my personal sake, my dignity and my emotional wellbeing, I didn't want to be in the store while I felt like people might be staking out the place as they did, actually.
"People came to the store and they were staking it out and stuff. I didn't feel like that was going to be good for my spiritual being, so I felt like I needed to at least temporarily step out, and I think that was the wise thing to do, actually."
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