EXCLUSIVE: 'Cosby Show' Star Geoffrey Owens Spotted Working in NYC Bar
'Cosby Show' star Geoffrey Owens was spotted working at a bar located in New York City, reports say.
Oct. 24 2026, Published 7:00 a.m. ET
Forgotten Cosby Show star Geoffrey Owens has become the poster child for starving actors after being spotted serving tables and greeting astounded customers at New York City's legendary White Horse Tavern in the West Village, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Owens, who played Elvin Tibideaux on the sitcom, was photographed handing out menus and chatting with diners despite landing a role as Dr. Clay Barrett in season 2 of the blockbuster HBO drama The Pitt earlier this year.
Geoffrey Owens Spotted Working New Job Years After Trader Joe's Scandal
Geoffrey Owens was photographed handing out menus at New York City's White Horse Tavern.
"Very cool to be seated by Geoffrey Owens from the Cosby Show at the White Horse Tavern today (heart emoji), kind and a gentleman," gushed a couple in an Instagram post posing with the jovial 65-year-old.
The new gig comes more than eight years after RadarOnline.com exclusively revealed Owens was scanning groceries at a Trader Joe's in Clifton, N.J., earning about $11 an hour.
"It made me feel really bad. I was like, 'Wow!' all those years of doing the show and you ended up as a cashier," a customer told RadarOnline.com at the time. "I would have thought after The Cosby Show he would maybe be doing something different."
Owens played oldest daughter Sondra Huxtable's boyfriend and eventual husband on the NBC show from 1985 to 1992, but after the series ended, he found himself on the outside, and many wondered why his TV dad, legendary comedian turned disgraced pest Bill Cosby, didn't help him along.
Geoffrey Owens' Hollywood Comeback After Financial Struggles
Tyler Perry cast Owens in 'The Haves and the Have Nots' after his grocery job made headlines.
"He was a star of the show, but they forgot about him after it went off the air," his mother told RadarOnline.com in 2018.
After The RadarOnline.com story surfaced, sympathetic stars like Tyler Perry had him appear in the OWN drama The Haves and the Have Nots, and he also starred in A Merry Little Ex-Mas and The Nonnas.
Over the years, Owens has also appeared in Elementary, NCIS: New Orleans, The Blacklist, The Affair, Lucifer, Blue Bloods and several films. In 2018, he revealed that a loss of income started in 2014 after Cosby reruns were yanked from the air following allegations that the disgraced comic drugged and abused about 60 women.
Cosby has consistently maintained his innocence.
Geoffrey Owens Admits He Still Struggles to Make Ends Meet
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Despite ongoing acting roles, Owens said in 2024 that he struggled to make ends meet.
"Right now, as we speak, I still struggle to make a living. 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," he revealed in 2024.
"People have the impression that, 'Well, you're making a lot of money. What's the problem? Why would you have financial troubles?' They don't understand the specifics of how my industry works."
