Terrence Howard is suing his former agency over the salary he received for his starring role in Empire.
Howard played music mogul Lucious Lyon in the popular Fox drama, a role that spanned six seasons.
Many fans were left disappointed when the show came to an end in 2020, with the series as a whole sitting at an impressive 84 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
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However, problems have emerged since the show concluded over three years ago now, as Howard is now claiming CAA asked him to take a lower salary for the popular show, subsequently suing them for breach of fiduciary duty.
While Empire was produced by Imagine Entertainment and what was then 20th Century Fox TV, Howard says that the CAA represented the producers of the show.
The actor claims the deal was lucrative for the agency, with his team saying the CAA did not act in his best interests by pushing for a higher salary because it had a profit participation stake through its package.
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Since Writers Guild of America won a two-year battle against some of Hollywood's biggest agencies, such dealings are essentially forbidden in the industry.
The complaint, which was filed late Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, states that Howard was left in the dark about CAA’s packaging fee.
It puts the CAA at fault for representing Empire co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, alongside Howard and other actors on the show.
The complaint does not cite a specific dollar amount for damages.
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As per Variety, the complaint states: "Not only did it become abundantly clear that his agents led him on a path to rely on information that was misleading, he discovered that this was the result of the fact that CAA was not acting in his best interest, but in the interest of their own financial benefit as well as the interest of the Production Companies and the producers, Daniels and Strong.
"Under normal circumstances, had CAA not been the packaging agent, and had CAA not been concurrently representing the Production Companies, where their sole financial interest would have been the 10% fee from the compensation received by Howard, they would have most certainly fought for Howard in a manner that most producers are accustomed to seeing CAA agents engage in."
Howard spoke further about the situation at a press conference on Friday.
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Speaking to Rolling Stone after the event, the actor said: "I can’t say for certain this was a racial issue, but I can’t imagine another counterpart – a white counterpart – with the same accolades, name recognition, and numbers that I had, receiving the lowball pay that I was receiving."
The CAA is yet to comment on any of the allegations.
UNILAD has reached out to CAA for comment.
Topics: Film and TV
Callum Jones