Terrence Howard’s lawsuit against CAA over salary negotiations for Fox’s “Empire” won’t pan out.
On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cherol Nellon ruled that the actor’s suit against the agency – and the accompanying alleged damages – was too speculative to continue.
“The immediate economic result of an increase in compensation would have been an increase in revenue to Universal Bridges only,” Nellon shared in her ruling.
Howard’s suit was dismissed because Fox worked more with loan-out company Universal Bridges, from which the star was paid his fixed salary as an employee. The court asserted that even if Howard’s contract negotiations, which had him looking for an episodic bump of $325,000 all the way to $750,000, might not have led to him getting more even if it was negotiated successfully because he was working through a third party.
The 2023 civil suit originally alleged that Howard’s CAA agents who packaged the deal with Fox prioritized their interests and the interests of other clients — including the producers of the show, whom they also represented — above him when negotiating his talent salary for “Empire.” As a result, the agents were said to have encouraged Howard to accept a deal that the suit alleges was “far less than what he should have been afforded.”
His agency’s confidence in the deal led Howard to believe the salary was up to industry standard and he accepted the wages as the musical drama television series aired for six seasons from January 2015 to April 2020 on Fox.
Created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, “Empire” ranked as the No. 1 most-watched broadcast drama in the 18-49 key demographic at the time and averaged more than $100 million a year in ad revenue per season over the course of its run, per the original suit.
Howard starred in the drama series alongside Taraji P. Henson, Yazz the Greatest, Jussie Smollett and Trai Byers as well as supporting cast members like Grace Byers, Kaitlin Doubleday, Gabourey Sidibe, Ta’Rhonda Jones, Serayah, Malik Yoba and Vivica A. Fox.
TheWrap has reached out to CAA for comment.
