“The Cosby Show”'s Geoffrey Owens joins “The Pitt” 7 years after viral photo of him working at Trader Joe's
“The Cosby Show”'s Geoffrey Owens joins “The Pitt” 7 years after viral photo of him working at Trader Joe's
Leigh BlickleyFri, March 27, 2026 at 3:19 PM UTC
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Geoffrey Owens in 2024Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/Variety via Getty
Trader Joe's might've been a nice gig for a while, but Geoffrey Owens is still hustling in the entertainment industry.
The Cosby Show alum — who went viral in August 2018 after a Trader Joe's customer photographed him scanning grocery items at the Clifton, N.J., location — is checking into The Pitt as Dr. Clay Barrett, a cardio-thoracic surgeon. Variety first reported the casting news and shared that Owens appears in episode 13 of season 2, which airs on Thursday, April 2.
Owens is best known for playing Elvin Tibideaux for seven years on The Cosby Show. He continued to book guest roles on various TV shows, including Law & Order, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Leftovers, and Billions, but never sugarcoated the struggles of a working class actor.
"People have the impression that, 'Well, you're making a lot of money. What's the problem?' Why would you have financial troubles?,'" Owens said in a 2024 interview with Atlanta radio station V-103. "They don't understand the specifics of how my industry works."
After he was spotted at the Trader Joe's, he quit due to the scrutiny and attention he was receiving.
"It was strange because someone had been in the store taking pictures… And I was like, well, now that this is breaking, I'm not going to feel comfortable working in this store, wondering who's around with a camera," he said. "It's gonna be just too weird. I'm a very private person."
He added, "It wasn't like I quit knowing I would be making a lot of money soon or anything. I just felt like I wasn't going to be able to handle that kind of scrutiny, that kind of attack on my privacy."
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Geoffrey Owens during his 'Cosby Show' daysCredit: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
Following the viral Trader Joe's moment, Owens received support from many in the industry including Tyler Perry, who offered him a role on the OWN drama The Haves and Have Nots. Nicki Minaj also gifted Owens $25,000, which he donated to charity as, "at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do."
From 2020 to 2024, he booked TV roles on Power, All Rise, and Poppa's House before appearing in the films A Merry Little Ex-Mas and Nonnas in 2025. Still, Owens said Trader Joe's is a "wonderful place to work" and admitted he's "gone back" to ask for more hours.
"Even today, right now, as we speak, I still struggle to make a living," he told V-103. "I struggle every day to make my ends meet. And people can’t get their heads around that because they see me in movies, whether it's Mr. Santa or, you know, I'm on Poppa's House on CBS."
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Owens also shut down assumptions that he must receive "wonderful" residual checks for The Cosby Show. It was "never particularly wonderful for me," said the actor, noting that he did only "maybe 20 percent" of the show's 201 episodes. "Plus the show went away for a while," he added, referencing the downfall of creator and star Bill Cosby, who has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct by over 60 women. Cosby maintains that any encounters were consensual.
The Pitt is a solid place for Owens to land, as the show recently earned the Emmy, Golden Globe, and Critic's Choice awards for Outstanding Drama Series.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
