Woman Behind Geoffrey Owens Trader Joe’s Photos Expresses Guilt Over Sharing Them

The Trader Joe’s shopper who snapped the photos of actor Geoffrey Owens working at the grocery store said she regrets taking the photographs.

Karma Lawrence told Us Weekly that she feels “terrible” for revealing the Cosby Show alum’s job as a cashier.

“I feel terrible for embarrassing him,” she said, adding that she “did not” expect the photos to get as much traction as they did.

“I didn’t really think about any of that when I posted the photos,” she explained. “I wanted to go up to him and take a picture as a fan, but I thought he would be embarrassed by that, so I took one of just him.”

Lawrence added that she’s “received so much hate from people shaming [her] for the photos” that she “had to deactivate some of [her] social media.”

She said that she’s a fan of and “still loves” the 57-year-old actor, who she “hopes” to speak to soon.

Owens, who played Elvin Tibideaux for five seasons on The Cosby Show, opened up about the incident on Good Morning America and to Entertainment Tonight this week. He told both outlets that despite those shaming him for his job as a grocer, he has received more positive feedback than negative as a whole.

“It’s really overwhelming, in a good way,” he told GMA Tuesday morning. “I kind of feel like that character in that Woody Allen movie that wakes up one morning and he’s a celebrity all of a sudden.”

He said that at first while he was “really devastated” by the photos leaked by the Daily Mail, he said that the “amazing support and positivity” he’s received have been “quite astonishing.”

One of the perks of being shamed for his seemingly less-than-stellar job (which he called a “great place to work”), he says, was the opportunity to speak about the importance of working any job, even if it doesn’t seem as glamorous as being an actor.

“There is no job that is better than another job. It might pay better, it might have better benefits, it might look better on a resume and on paper,” Owens said, sporting his Trader Joe’s name badge. “But actually, it’s not better. Every job is worthwhile and valuable, and if we have a rethinking about that because of what has happened to me, that would be great.”