Actor Terrence Howard — who has dealt with his fair share of the legal system — is now suing his former agency CAA for allegedly lowballing him deliberately.
Howard, best known for his starring roles in Hustle & Flow, The Best Man and “Empire,” said he was forced out of retirement because he spent millions defending himself in a criminal tax case. He is now suing Creative Arts Agency for allegedly lowballing him on the iconic “Empire” TV series. The Fox show ran from January 20215 to April 2020.
Howard originally filed the suit back in December 2023, saying he “trusted CAA to look after [him], and they looked after themselves” and that he “never received the compensation as a producer or any of those things that are immediately given or asked for by agents of White actors.”
The actor, who also starred in The Best Man Holiday, said he didn’t receive the compensation for the “Empire” series that his White counterparts would have with a similar show.
“Creative Artists Agency, they represented me and they also represented some of the people from ‘Big Bang Theory’ who also did the deal with Fox … We had 28 million viewers, and they had 11 million viewers. They were getting $2 million, damn near $3 million an episode,” Howard said. “Those White kids had no name recognition, no Oscar nominations, or none of that. But we had 28 million viewers, and these jokers are paying me $325,000 an episode.”
Terrence Howard reveals he was forced out of retirement after paying millions to defend himself in a criminal tax investigation case, and calls out Disney/Fox for using his image from "Hustle & Flow" for the "Empire" logo without his permission and making over $100 million… pic.twitter.com/d7MG7a7z82
— The Art Of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) April 8, 2024
While Howard elaborated on the reasoning for his lawsuit, fans were having fun with his striking hairdo.
“He should’ve played Ike turner with that look😂,” one fan said on The Shade Room, while a second fan said, “But who is calling the police about that hair? I know it’s def a crime somewhere.”
“He got a good wig on too😂. But I got the message 😢,” assessed a third fan.
Others on X got a good chuckle out of Howard’s mane. Check that out as well as the complete interview.
What’s up with the pimp hair cut
— intricateone (@intricateone) April 8, 2024
Class A drugs are a problem. He went back to the 60s smh
— Just_Different (@CharlieMyles7) April 8, 2024
He's rocking the Farrah Fawcett look 💯
— Kaybelle (@mylazareth) April 8, 2024
hustle and flow! whoop that trick!😅😅😅
— Nooby Myth (@SummervaleMills) April 8, 2024
