Terrance Howard Sues 20th Century Fox For Unauthorized Usage Of His “Hustle & Flow” Image On “Empire”

Terrance Howard has filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox, the production company that housed the hit show Empire.

The 51-year-old portrayed Lucious Lyon for Empire‘s six seasons but he claims he never did a photo shoot for the show’s promotional assets.

Howard says the photo is from the studio scene from the 2005 drama when he sang the Grammy-award winning song, “It’s Hard Out Here For a Pimp.”

The lawsuit states “the still frame was selected, reversed (face looking left, not right), and subjected to CGI that simply distilled the cinematographer’s skilled capture of the head with vibrant light and shadow” to create the logo for Empire.

Howard is suing for damages because he says he would’ve gotten paid by Paramount Studios — the studio behind Hustle & Flow — if Fox would have went through the proper licensing paperwork.

He also wants an accounting on all merchandise where the logo appears.