'Empire' TV Show Cast: Sean Penn Hits Creator Lee Daniels With $10 Million Defamation Lawsuit, Details Inside [VIDEO]
The creators of Empire have seen more than their fair share of lawsuits, but they might have to take the latest seriously as it was filed by a famous actor.
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Actor Sean Penn has hit Lee Daniels with a defamation lawsuit for $10 million. Penn just filed the papers yesterday with the New York Supreme Court, according to The Hollywood Reporter Tuesday.
Penn claims that Daniels' comparison between him to Empire star Terrence Howard, who is facing domestic violence allegations, was completely out of line.
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In an attempt to prove that Howard’s legal trouble is being highlighted because he’s black, Daniels told the publication recently, “[Terrence] ain’t done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he’s some demon…That’s a sign of the time, of race, of where we are right now in America.”
Penn caught wind of the comments and has decided to sue, with federal prosecutor Mathew Rosengart on his team.
A portion of the complaint reads, “As a result of Penn’s status as a public figure, he has for years been the subject of scandalous, scurrilous, and baseless attacks. But Penn, like any citizen, has the right to defend himself and will no longer tolerate the reckless and malicious behavior of others, who seek to aggrandize themselves or their projects at his expense.”
Penn also points out in the documents that Howard has actually confessed to physically assaulting women and notes that Daniels “seems to condone Howard’s reported misconduct.”
Read the full complaint here.
Empire is also facing lawsuits that ring up to billions of dollars from viewers who claim that their real life stories were stolen to create the popular Fox series.
