Last Wednesday, the season two mid-season premiere of Empire displayed the lengths the Lyons (and company) will go to for a seat on the throne. And it seems like everyone wants a piece of the Empire legacy, both on and off the screen.
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As reported by TMZ, some regular-degular named Jon Astor-White left empty handed after a judge shot down his lawsuit claiming his idea for a show called King Solomon—centered around a Harvard-educated Black man who started a record label—was ripped off and turned into Empire.
He claimed he shopped the show around to some of Hollywood’s big names, but none specifically connected to Empire. The judge wasn’t buying it. In a federal court ruling this week, the judge pointed out that he had no contact with any of Empire’s show runners and decided that there were no major similarities between his show and Empire.
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Astor-White dug himself into a bigger hole as the judge found offense to his claim that his lead character’s daughter was similar to Lucious Lyon’s gay son, Jamal, because “both [are] associated with the feminine gender.”
The judge replied, “The court rejects this outdated and offensive stereotype,” dismissing the entire case.
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