Cosby Show’s Geoffrey Owens Sparks Debate After Donating $25,000 “Handout” From Nicki Minaj to Charity

Geoffrey Owens' response to a star's generous offering is raising eyebrows. 

After he admitted to experiencing financial hardships back in 2018, the Cosby Show alum—who played Elvin Tibideaux on the classic sitcom—received a check for $25,000 from Nicki Minaj to help him get back on track. But Geoffrey recently admitted that he didn't keep her "handout" for himself, instead donating the money to charity. 

"It was a very generous, lovely handout,” Geoffrey said during a Dec. 12 appearance on V-103 Atlanta's Big Tigger Morning Show. “But I wasn’t comfortable with that.”

For the 63-year-old—who confessed to struggling to "make ends meet" after he was spotted working at a Trader Joe's in 2018—taking Nicki's money without earning it through a job didn't feel right at the time.

"If she had paid me $25,000 to do something," Geoffrey explained, "I would have said, 'Thank you for the work, I accept.'"

Clarifying that he didn't find her gesture "inappropriate" and insisting his rejection didn't mean he was "not grateful,"  the Hide and Seek actor went on to provide some insight into why he chose to give the money to a charity. 

"I felt like, well, yeah, I'm in need to a certain amount extent," he continued, "but there are other people that are much more in need of this money than I am."