Terrence Howard Was Almost Booted Off of ‘Empire’

Can you imagine an Empire without a Lucious Lyon? Apparently, the show’s executives could and were willing to give him the axe.

While it’s not clear as to why Terrence Howard’s role as the ruthless Lucious Lyon on FOX’s Empire was in jeopardy, a complaint obtained by People states that Howard’s former management company, Authentic Talent and Literary Management, “intervened with the Los Angeles-based executives of Imagine and effectively saved Howard’s job on Empire by convincing those executives not to terminate Howard from the show.”

The formal complaint was filed Tuesday and claims that the actor owes the company $250,000 after they helped save Howard from getting the boot. Howard made a series of payments throughout 2015 and 2016, but the payments stopped back in March.

A court date has yet to be set; as if there’s not already enough drama going on in Empire.

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