Racquel Palmer disclosed to TMZ on Monday, Aug. 9, that she landed a lead role in Tyler Perry‘s upcoming series “All the Queen’s Men” two years after the mogul blasted her on social media for purchasing a billboard in hopes of getting a job.
This initial incident occurred in May 2019, after Perry advised Palmer to save her money and audition while sharing the billboard photo that included Palmer’s head shot and the words “Attention Mr. Perry, Racquel Bailey Is Your Next Leading Lady.”
“All the Queen’s Men,” which stars Eva Marcille, is a BET+ series — produced by Perry and Tyler Perry Studios — based on the popular book “Ladies Night” written by Christian Keyes. The show focuses on the life of Marcille’s character Marilyn ‘Madam’ DeVille, as she runs a high-end male strip club named Club Eden.
Palmer told the publication that she would play a character named Blue, Madam’s head of security, on the one-hour drama set to debut on the streaming service on Sept. 9.
As the interview continued, the mother of two talked about prior gigs before being cast in “All the Queen’s Men,” which included several episodes of Perry’s hit show “Sistas.” She also opened up about her encounter with Perry on set. Palmer shared although she has interacted with the 54-year-old, they never spoke of the infamous billboard. “We’ve never spoke of the billboard… It’s just an actor-director relationship. It’s just like it never happened.”
Palmer also disclosed the main thing she did master during that 2019 experience. “One thing that I did learn was I want to be known for my talent, not my tactics. So I don’t think anyone understands the whole point of the billboard was because I wanted to show my kids that I wasn’t going to give on my dreams.”
She added, “I was at a point where I wanted to. But I didn’t want them to see me give up, and I was just for my last hurrah so. Even if it didn’t work out, they can say mommy went for it.”
When asked if she would recommend other people follow in her footsteps, she boldly stated: “absolutely not.” She added, “Like I said after Tyler says something on Instagram that should be key not to do that.”
Palmer concluded that sentiment by saying faith in your talent is what can unlock future opportunities. “Though I’m in favor of always having faith in everything that you do and even as actors, we have to believe in ourselves. We have to believe in this industry and so faith is all throughout for me.”
As Palmer’s news became viral, many people shared how the star manifested her dreams into reality, while others threw shots at Perry for his unsolicited comment.
“She spoke it into existence you can only respect that”
“Talk about MANIFESTATION 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾 YOU GO QUEEN 👸🏾.”
“He said all that to hire her anyway. TAKE THE RISK 💯♥️🙌🏽.”
“Lol tyler played himself by blasting her like that.. sis was DEDICATED lol big energy ❤️.”
In 2019, when Palmer purchased her billboard in Atlanta, Georgia, Perry initially addressed the tactic by writing a lengthy Instagram post, saying this move made him look at her sideways. He said, “uhhh…. soooooo…… here’s the deal. This is not the way to get my attention if you’re looking for a role in one of my shows. Please DON’T DO THIS, SAVE YOUR MONEY!! This is the third time that someone has done this. PLEASE STOP! To audition is FREE!! I’m sure you can use that money for a better purpose. I love that you want to work with me, and I love that you invest in yourself. But when you do things like this it puts my team on high alert and makes me look at you sideways.”
Perry added, despite the grand gesture that he did notice her from a previous show he attended years ago. “I know the message that you want to send is a positive one, but this comes across as the opposite. Again, the best way to work for me is to AUDITION and it’s FREE! We post breakdowns all the time for actors. JUST COME AND AUDITION.
And by the way, you were great in THE NIGHT OF! It was my favorite show a couple years ago. I ALREADY SAW YOU!! So just audition and keep your money!! Again, I appreciate your effort, but that’s not the way to work for me.God bless you dreamer. I have no doubt you will make it one day!!
