Nia Long Threatened To Sue ‘Empire’, Crew Calls Actress Disrespectful

Lee Daniels & Nia Long

Nia Long Threatened To Sue ‘Empire’

There was some SERIOUS alleged drama that went on behind the scenes while Nia Long was filming on ‘Empire‘. This week, reports surfaced that while Nia filmed this season, there were some issues between her and some members of the cast and crew. Nia and one of the show’s leads, Taraji P. Henson, were at war on set, according to a report.

Nia was such a nightmare on the set of “Empire” that the hair and makeup team lodged an official complaint against her. According to production sources, Nia also threatened to sue the show over an improper goodbye.

Multiple people — cast, crew and production people — claim Nia was disrespectful and unprofessional throughout her run on the show.

Allegedly,  Taraji was irate over the way Nia treated the staff, and it got so bad producers were trying to figure out how to shoot scenes with the two of them where each actress did their part separately. It was so tense neither would speak to the other.

The hair and makeup people say she was extremely disrespectful, at times deciding she didn’t like her look at the last minute and then chewing them out.

Sources say Nia was “habitually late” and at times, Taraji and Terrence Howard would sometimes be waiting on set for 30 minutes and Nia was a no-show. Producers would finally use a stand-in for Nia so Taraji and Terrence could rehearse a scene.

It is custom on the set when guest stars finish their last scene for the Assistant Director to call it out … “This is (name of actor) last scene,” followed by a “thank you” and applause. When Nia did her last scene, Terrence was having some sort of allergic reaction and his lip began swelling. The A.D. was looking for Benadryl when Nia left. It’s unclear if the A.D. was distracted or just didn’t want to thank Nia, but we’re told as Nia walked out she told someone in production she was going to sue the show because the “goodbye” was in her contract. Production sources say it was not in her contract.

Nia’s rep, states the following:

We stand by our comments this morning that Nia has always, and continues to be, a consummate professional on set. In respect to her working relationships with the cast, she came onto this project, in the first place, because of her long-standing friendship and professional relationship with Terrence Howard. We are not aware of any complaint, suit or case against her from anyone involved in the show, and we find the timing of all of these stories to be very suspicious, given that the series returns tonight.

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