Terrance Howard sued by former management company for $250,000

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- Terrance Howard is facing a $250,000 lawsuit from a former talent management firm that claims it helped the actor obtain and keep his role as Lucious Lyon on Empire.

The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday, says Authentic Talent and Literary Management stopped receiving post-termination commissions from Howard after he cut ties with the company in 2014.

Authentic Talent says it is entitled to 10 percent of all gross revenue Howard received during his time on the hit Fox drama. According to court documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the company claims it played "a key role in the resurgence of Howard's career."

"In addition to defending Howard and providing professional, personal, and other advice and career guidance to him, along with Howard's talent agents at the preeminent talent agency CAA, Plaintiff was an integral part of many discussions with Howard that led to his acceptance of the starring role of 'Lucious Lyon' on Empire that had previously been procured for him by CAA," the lawsuit states.

Authentic Talent also says in the suit that Howard's position on the show was in jeopardy until it "intervened with the Los Angeles-based executives of Imagine and effectively saved Howard's job on Empire by convincing those executives not to terminate Howard from the show."

Howard continued to pay the company through 2015 and into 2016 as part of their agreement covering seasons 1 and 2 of Empire, but those payments stopped in March 2016, the complaint says, People magazine reports.

Notably, Authentic Talent is being represented by attorney Mathew Rosengart, who previously represented Sean Penn in his lawsuit against Empire co-creator Lee Daniels after the filmmaker compared Penn to Howard in his maltreatment of women.