{"id":4592453,"date":"2021-12-01T18:09:20","date_gmt":"2021-12-01T23:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/?p=4592453"},"modified":"2021-12-01T18:09:20","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T23:09:20","slug":"taraji-p-henson-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/feature\/taraji-p-henson-son-4592453\/","title":{"rendered":"Taraji P. Henson\u2019s Son: 5 Things To Know About Marcell Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Learn about Taraji P. Henson&#8217;s son Marcell Johnson, who she welcomed with her late high school sweetheart William LaMarr Johnson.<\/h3>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-1\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-2\">Award-winning actress <a  href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/celeb\/taraji-p-henson\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noopener\"  ><strong>Taraji P. Henson<\/strong><\/a> did not let National Sons Day pass this year without paying homage to her son, <strong>Marcell Johnson<\/strong>. The Hollywood star, 51, welcomed her son, 27, with the late <a  href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/2016\/10\/19\/taraji-p-henson-abuse-ex-mark-johnson\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noopener\"  ><strong>William LaMarr &#8220;Mark&#8221; Johnson<\/strong><\/a>, her high school sweetheart who was murdered at the age of 34 in 2003. In an Instagram post on National Sons Day in September, Taraji celebrated Marcell, calling him her &#8220;heart.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CUZESDirrsd\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:500px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);\">\n<div style=\"padding:16px;\"> <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CUZESDirrsd\/?utm_source=ig_embed&#038;utm_campaign=loading\"  style=\" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;\"  target=\"_blank\"  > <\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: row;align-items: center\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 40px;margin-right: 14px;width: 40px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 100px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 60px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px\">\n<div style=\"color:#3897f0;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:550;line-height:18px\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: row;margin-bottom: 14px;align-items: center\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px;flex-grow: 0;margin-right: 14px;margin-left: 2px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 20px;width: 20px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 2px solid transparent;border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom: 2px solid transparent\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right: 8px solid transparent\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;flex-grow: 0;height: 12px;width: 16px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left: 8px solid transparent\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center;margin-bottom: 24px\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 224px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 144px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-3\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CUZESDirrsd\/?utm_source=ig_embed&#038;utm_campaign=loading\"  style=\" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;\"  target=\"_blank\"  >A post shared by taraji p henson (@tarajiphenson)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-4\"><script async src=\"\/\/platform.instagram.com\/en_US\/embeds.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-5\">&#8220;Happy #nationalsonday,&#8221; she captioned a series of photos of the duo. &#8220;my heart my love my baby forever!!!&#8221; So, who is the<em> Empire<\/em> star&#8217;s son? Below are five things about Marcell.<\/p>\n<h2><strong style=\"font-family: 'Playfair Display'; font-size: 30px; font-style: italic;\">Marcell is Taraji&#8217;s only son<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-6\">Marcell, born on May 10, 1994 to Taraji and her high school sweetheart William, is the actress&#8217; only son. In an interview with PEOPLE&#8217;s <strong>Jess Cagle<\/strong> on <em>The Jess Cagle Interview<\/em> in 2019, <a  href=\"https:\/\/people.com\/movies\/taraji-p-henson-worries-about-son-every-day\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noopener\"  >Taraji expressed the fears<\/a> she has as a Black mother to a Black son amidst the onslaught of police killings. &#8220;He has a really good heart. It\u2019s just hard to know that the world can pick him out and turn him into a monster at any given moment,\u201d she said. &#8220;That\u2019s what I fear, that\u2019s something that I carry \u2014 I think every Black mother does. All parents worry about their kids, but then when you see the news and you see people getting off for killing innocent children with no weapon it\u2019s like, that doesn\u2019t exempt my son.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><strong style=\"font-family: 'Playfair Display'; font-size: 30px; font-style: italic;\">Marcell&#8217;s father passed away when he was a child<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4592518\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4592518\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4592518 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Taraji-P-Henson-Marcell-Johnson-ss-post-3.jpg?w=620&#038;resize=620%2C905\" alt=\"taraji p henson and son marcell johnson\" width=\"620\" height=\"905\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4592518\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taraji P. Henson and son Marcell Johnson (Matt Baron\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-7\">The details surrounding the death of Marcell&#8217;s father William are horrific: he was stabbed to death at the age of 34, when Marcell was only 9 years old. In an episode of her Facebook Watch series &#8220;Peace of Mind with Taraji&#8221; in January, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/parents\/taraji-p-henson-opens-about-how-she-told-her-son-t205112\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noopener\"  >Taraji recalled being unable to break the news<\/a> to her son, telling him instead that he died in an accident. Marcell later learned the truth. &#8220;My son&#8217;s father was suddenly taken \u2014 murdered \u2014 when he was 9, and I didn&#8217;t know how to tell him that. I couldn&#8217;t tell him he was murdered, so I told him he died in an accident,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Later on in life he found out and he came back to me and was like, &#8216;Why didn&#8217;t you tell me my daddy was murdered?&#8217; And so then we had to get therapy. . . It was the worst way you could die, and I just didn&#8217;t have the words. I didn&#8217;t know how to tell a 9-year-old.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><strong style=\"font-family: 'Playfair Display'; font-size: 30px; font-style: italic;\">Marcell follows in his mother&#8217;s footsteps as an actor<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-8\">The apple does not fall too far from the tree, as Marcell also has a career in Hollywood, both in front of the screen and behind the scenes. Marcell has worked behind the scenes for the film <em>Little<\/em> with <a  href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/2021\/07\/26\/issa-rae-married-louis-diame-wedding-ceremony\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noopener\"  ><strong>Issa Rae<\/strong><\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/celeb\/marsai-martin\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noopener\"  ><strong>Marsai Martin<\/strong><\/a>, and has made appearances in films <em>Misled, Needlestick, A Girl Like Her<\/em>, and the TV series <em>Detroiters.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><strong style=\"font-family: 'Playfair Display'; font-size: 30px; font-style: italic;\">Marcell has starred opposite his mother on the small screen<\/strong><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4592520\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4592520\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4592520 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/hollywoodlife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Taraji-P-Henson-Marcell-Johnson-ss-post1.jpg?w=620&#038;resize=620%2C823\" alt=\"taraji p henson and son marcell johnson\" width=\"620\" height=\"823\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4592520\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Taraji P. Henson and son Marcell Johnson (Matt Baron\/Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-9\">Most recently, Marcell&#8217;s TV credits have included a familiar title: the acclaimed Fox drama series <em>Empire<\/em>, wherein his famous mother stars as Cookie Lyon. The actor has appeared in 16 episodes as a character named Marcel, sharing the small screen with his formidable mother.<\/p>\n<h2><strong style=\"font-family: 'Playfair Display'; font-size: 30px; font-style: italic;\">Marcell attended Howard University<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p id=\"content-paragraph-10\">Taraji previously told <em>Uptown<\/em> magazine in 2015 that her son would be transferring to her alma mater, Howard University. The admission came after she said that <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcwashington.com\/news\/local\/taraji-p-henson-says-son-transferring-to-howard-u-after-racial-profiling\/1967289\/\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noopener nofollow\"  >Marcell was racially profiled by campus<\/a> police at the University of Southern California. \u201cI\u2019m not paying $50K so I can\u2019t sleep at night wondering is this the night my son is getting racially profiled on campus,\u201d Taraji said. USC released a statement shortly after, with campus public safety director <strong>John Thomas <\/strong>stating that an investigation was underway. The <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2015\/03\/28\/entertainment\/taraji-henson-apologizes\/index.html\"  target=\"_blank\"  rel=\"noopener\"  >actress later apologized for her comments<\/a>, writing on social media, &#8220;A mother\u2019s job is not easy and neither is a police officer\u2019s. Sometimes as humans we overreact without gathering all of the facts. As a mother in this case I overreacted and for that I apologize.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn about Taraji P. Henson&#8217;s son Marcell Johnson, who she welcomed with her late high school sweetheart William LaMarr Johnson.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191609812,"featured_media":4592516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exclude_post_from_river":false,"_cr_original_post":"","_cr_replace_post_id":"","_cr_replacing_post_id":"","mt_seo_title":"Taraji P. Henson\u2019s Son: Learn About Marcell Johnson","mt_seo_description":"Learn about Taraji P. 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