Terrence Howard Says Salary on ‘Empire’ Lower than ‘White Counterparts,’ Demands CAA Pay Him $120 Million

Actor Terrence Howard says that Creative Artists Agency (CAA) owes him over $120 million for his work on Empire, asserting he had been paid less than his “white counterparts” working in television.

Speaking with the Straight Talk YouTube channel, Howard said he sued CAA for $120 million – an amount owed for his six seasons on Empire.

“I want my money,” he said. “They owe me over $120 million based on what would have been paid to white counterparts.”

According to Urban Hollywood 411, Howard and his reps “based that figure on the $325,000 per episode he received during the final season of Empire, compared to the pay the cast of CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory received.”

“How do you negotiate $2 million for a white cat and negotiate $325,000 for a black cat?” he said.

Howard claimed white actors on The Big Bang Theory received $2 million to $3 million per episode. However, Forbes reported in 2017 that the actors were paid $1 million per episode.

“Howard’s lawsuit accused his former agents of self-dealing because they represented Empire co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, as well as the show’s producers at Imagine Entertainment, while also representing him,” noted the outlet. “The practice of representing producers or directors, and talent on the same project is known as ‘bundling’ or ‘packaging’ in Hollywood.”

“Every year I’m asking my agents, ‘What’s going on? What’s going on?’ I didn’t know that with the packaging deal, my agents were incentivized to keep my pay low,” Howard asserted.

Howard even suggested that he was sent a check for $666 as a means to intimidate him.

“When I asked them about my money, they sent me a check for $666… $666 exactly, not saying where it’s from. So I was like, ‘Oh you’re trying to threaten me, this is a threat. Y’all think I’m scared? You think I’m going to be quiet about this, because I wonder what you’re doing to every other Black artist,'” he said.

CAA has denied Howard’s claims

“Howard was on actual notice of the facts underlying his claims … that CAA acted as packaging agent for Empire and was paid separately out of the show’s budget more than 10 years ago,” the agency’s attorneys stated in documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

“It would be highly prejudicial to CAA to require it to defend a deal that was negotiated a decade ago in February 2014,” the attorneys added.

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed for FREE on YouTube or Tubi. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.