Terrence Howard Gives Details on His Lawsuit Against CAA
Terrence Howard is suing his former agency, the Creative Arts Agency, for allegedly keeping his pay low during his tenure on Empire.
“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 stated during an interview with radio host, Daphne Wynn. “Those white kids that had no name recognition, no Oscar nominations, none of that. But we had 28 million viewers, and these jokers are paying me $325,000 an episode,” he continued.
Empire first aired in January 2015, quickly becoming a critical and commercial success. It chronicled the story of hip-hop mogul, Lucious Lyon (Howard), who must choose a successor for his multi-million-dollar empire. His three sons battle against one another to be the successor, while his ex-wife, Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson), fights to reclaim her rightful place within the empire. The series was nominated for multiple awards, including the Primetime Emmy Awards, and the Golden Globes; however, it ended in 2020 because of the pandemic.
The Oscar-nominated actor explained that his agents were incentivized to keep his pay low for his role in Empire. Howard calculated that he should be paid $120 million based on what was paid to his white counterparts, and filed a lawsuit in December 2023, discussing, “I trusted CAA to look after me, and they looked after themselves.”
Howard mentioned that he was never compensated as a producer or for his behind-the-scenes work on music and scripts. He also talked about CAA’s response to his claims, stating, “When I asked them about my money, they sent me a check for $666, not saying where it’s from. So, I was like, ‘Oh, y’all trying to threaten me? This is a threat. Y’all think I’m scared and going to be quiet about this because I wonder what you’re doing to every other Black artist.’”
The 55-year-old has been in the film industry for over 2 decades and has starred in multiple films, including The Best Man, Awake, and Cut Throat City. In his most recent film Shirley, he stars as Arthur Hardwick Jr., an advisor to the presidential candidate.
You can watch Howard’s full interview below.
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