(EXCLUSIVE) Lee Daniels Responds to The Cosby Show Actor Accusing Him of Stealing

Lee Daniels

theJasmineBRAND.com exclusively reports, Lee Daniels has returned to court to fight another lawsuit accusing him of stealing the idea for Empire. This time, he’s blasting a former The Cosby Show actor -who sued over the hit show – demanding the entire case be thrown out because he didn’t steal his work.

An actor named Clayton Prince Tanksley – who has a small role as Denise Huxtable’s boyfriend on The Cosby Show – filed a federal lawsuit against Lee Daniels, Danny Strong and FOX, accusing them of stealing his project called ‘Cream’ and illegally turning it into the hit show Empire.

Empire Cast (Upfronts 2015)

Tanksley claimed he pitched Daniels his project entitled, Cream during an event back in 2008.

The lawsuit said the two works had significant similarities including part of the story taking place in Philadelphia along with the main character rising above their criminal past to run a successful record label.

Further, he said that his story also had a character with a son dealing with mental illness. He demanded compensatory & punitive damages along with attorney fees.

Then on April 4th, Daniels along with his production partner, Strong, and Fox fired back at Tanksley’s lawsuit over Empire.

Daniels explains the similarities the man points out are generic and unprotect-able ideas. The director says following further examination, the two works are not even close to similar. He claims that Cream focuses on domestic violence, sexually transmitted diseases – specifically Herpes – and the importance of adoption of children born to unfit parents, none of which were included in Empire.

Chris Rock, Lee Daniels, Terrence Howard

The director blasts the entire lawsuit saying the theme, characters, plot, sequence of events and mood are vastly different. Daniels is demanding the entire case be thrown out and the man be awarded nothing from his complaint.

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