The Cookie Lyon depicter is baffled as to why the 'Power' star and co-creator tries to tear down another show starring black actors, claiming, 'Our show has nothing to do with his show.'
- Jan 16, 2020
AceShowbiz - Taraji P. Henson has called out 50 Cent for blasting her show "Empire". The Golden Globe Award-winning actress clapped back at the rapper/actor during her recent appearance T.I.'s "Expeditiously" podcast.
Insisting that the Lee Daniels-co-created series did not copy's 50 Cent's "Power", the actress said, "Our show has nothing to do with his show, we're talking two different subject matters." She went on slamming the notorious Internet troll for picking out a show which has predominantly black cast and crew, "Does he understand what I did to get here? Why tear down another black person for competition? There are a million other shows he can compete with? And to do that publically, it's embarrassing."
Taraji's comments were in response to Fif's numerous diss at the FOX drama series as he accused the show of copying "Power" marketing campaign. " 'POWER' Season 2 is unbelievably good trust me. I have the best writers and show runner. I like Terrence Howard and Taraji Henson. I don't like that they would copy the marketing," he wrote in a since-deleted post on Instagram.
Comparing a picture of the cast of "Empire" and an old image of Fif's hip-hop group G-Unit, he additionally claimed, "They Copy my s**t, but it's cool that's my old s**t. LOL."
Taraji replied on Twitter, "I pay attention to $'s NOT cents."
The 49-year-old star changed her tone a bit when speaking with TheWrap, saying, "50 Cent is a comedian. He loves to push buttons. He's a funny guy. I never took offense to it. If anything, I thought he was trying to jab at [Howard]. He's jealous of his looks."
Meanwhile, "Power" star Naturi Naughton was more deliberate when talking about the comparison between the two shows. "There is no comparison, really," she said. "I feel like the community, it could be the urban community, it could be Hollywood, trying to loop us all in together because there's a black lead, there's a black female wife who is like the boss, Tasha and Cookie [Taraji P. Henson]. We're not all the same. And if you watch 'Power', you'll know we're not the same. I actually think that they've outgrown that facade."
