Terrence Howard has said he’s been shunned by Hollywood after he sued Disney.
The 56-year-old actor is best known for his roles in the movies Hustle & Flow, Iron Man, The Butler and as the voice of James in the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog.
On TV he’s also played Jackie Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream, Al Cowlings in The O. J. Simpson Story, Cassius Clay in King of the World and the lead character Lucious Lyon in the musical drama series Empire from 2015 to 2020.
However, in 2021 he sued 20th Century Fox, owned by Disney, over allegations of unpaid royalties related to his starring role in Empire.
A few years on the actor has said his career has stalled because of the legal case.
‘My whole goal now is to disappear from that side of it,’ he said on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast.
When asked if that meant he intended to quit acting he replied: ‘I’ve got to, dude. I’m on the Chitlin’ Circuit now, after I sued Fox.’
He was then asked to clarify his comment, continuing: ‘No studio movies. No big television stuff. Everything is on the outskirts. Why? Because you don’t f*** with the Mouse. I f***ed with the Mouse. I sued the Mouse, I sued Fox, and I’m suing CAA right now. But it’s about my money. If someone takes $300 million from you, you’re like: “Dude!’ You’ve got to go for it”.’
After Disney purchased Fox in 2019, the two huge studios merged.
At the height of its popularity Empire brought in around $100 million (£74 million) in advertising for 20th Century Fox.
However, Terrence later sued his talent agency, CAA, alleging they’d pressured him to accept a below-market salary during his six seasons on the show, claims which CAA has denied.
During the same interview, the actor declared he would rather ‘cut off his lips’ than kiss a man for a movie role.
He was talking about declining the opportunity to star as Marvin Gaye in a biopic, which would have apparently required it – ‘and I wouldn’t have been able to do that’.
Revealing the ‘biggest mistake’ of his career, he said it was the chance to portray Smokey Robinson in a biopic, a part the musician had personally asked him to play.
However, he declined the Robinson role because he had ‘just had conversations with [director] Lee Daniels about playing Marvin Gaye’ in a separate biopic.
Howard, who previously appeared in Marvel’s Iron Man, says he was ‘being faithful’ to Daniels and their talks by not pursuing the project with Robinson – even if it broke the Miracles star’s heart, as he claims.
But he then revealed he ended up turning down the Marvin Gaye biopic after all because music legend Quincy Jones ‘confirmed’ to him rumours that I Heard It Through the Grapevine icon Gaye was gay.
‘I was over at Quincy Jones’ house and I’m asking Quincy, “I’m hearing rumours that Marvin was gay,” and I’m like, “Was he gay?”’ Howard recalled. ‘And Quincy’s like, “Yes”.’
Howard then said he ‘could not’ star in the movie after hearing that because he ‘couldn’t fake it’.
‘They would’ve wanted to do that, and I wouldn’t have been able to do that,’ he said of portraying a gay man in Gaye, and being required to kiss a male co-star onscreen.
‘That would f**k me,’ Howard added. ‘I would cut my lips off. If I kissed some man, I would cut my lips off.’
Host Maher said he wouldn’t go as far as Howard but could understand his discomfort, commenting: ‘It does not make me homophobic to not want to kiss a man.’
Howard also clarified that it was more about his commitment to the role as an actor than his view on sexuality.
‘I can’t play that character 100 percent. I can’t surrender myself to a place that I don’t understand,’ he insisted.
Gaye was married twice to women: producer Berry Gordy’s sister Anna and Janis Hunter, with whom he shared children, Nona and Frankie.
He adopted son Marvin III with Anna, who was the biological son of her 16-year-old niece, Denise.
After earning the titles ‘Prince of Soul’ and ‘Prince of Motown’ with hits like How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You), Let’s Get It On and Sexual Healing, he was shot and killed by his father aged 44 after intervening in a fight between his parents.
In a separate interview on the PBD podcast, Howard recently claimed that Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs once made sexual advances towards him while he was offering his services as an acting coach.
However, the Oscar winner cut contact after his assistant suggested that, in his opinion, the music artist was ‘trying to f**k’ Howard during their hangouts.
‘I was like: “Oh, okay. Now I get it.” So now, no more communication. Now you know to be hands-off with somebody,’ he said.
He further claimed that he had always strived to ‘be the man in the room, and that’s always been my whole thing’ as he spoke about his ‘man card’.
‘I’ve lost businesses because I don’t bend over in that way,’ he added. ‘I don’t compromise. I don’t play gay roles. I don’t kiss a man. I don’t do that s**t because the man card means everything.’
Combs, who is currently awaiting trial for charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution – which he denies – has been held in police custody in jail since September.
Metro has contacted Disney for comment.
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