In case you missed it, a clip from Terrence Howard‘s interview on Straight Talk with host Daphne Phaneē has gone viral for several reasons.
Once viewers got past the initial surprise of seeing the Hustle & Flow actor in the gray ’70s-style suit and orange feathered wig, they learned the details of his lawsuit with the Creative Arts Agency.
The 55-year-old actor expressed his gripes with the entertainment industry for misusing his image and discrepancies over trademark details.
“I had an issue at Fox and Disney because…the image that you see of us on Empire, profile, that came from a still shot from Hustle & Flow,” Howard said. “They took that, flipped that, and put it on everything. They took the trademark of it, sold it around the world, didn’t ask my permission…That image is worth $100 million, at least for how much money that they made from it. We got a forensic photographer to find the actual frame.”
He then began to detail how former talent agency CAA was also on his list for doing bad business.
“CAA, they represented me. They also represented some of the people from Big Bang Theory. They also did the deal with Fox. My show was with Fox, the people from Big Bang was with Fox. We had 28 million viewers. They had 11 million viewers. They were getting $2 million, damn near $3 million an episode. Those white kids, they had no name recognition, no Oscar nominations, none of that. We have 28 million viewers, and these jokers are paying me $325,000 an episode.”