Terrence Howard Accused Of Attempting To Extort Producers Of His Film “Triumph”
Terrence Howard Accused Of Attempting To Extort Producers Of His Film “Triumph”
It looks like Terrence Howard is involved in another lawsuit! The 52-year-old actor is being accused of delaying the release of the film, “Triumph”, which was set to raise money for Cerebral Palsy. According to Radar Online, Howard’s former film partners are ordering him to recant the cease and desist letters he once released. As previously reported, in May 2021, Terrence Howard sent a cease-and-desist letter to Cinemark, Digital Ignition Entertainment, Argonaut Entertainment Partners and others, for allegedly using his name, image, and likeness within the movie ‘Triumph’ without his permission. According to the cease-and-desist letter, Terrence’s involvement within the film was,
“conditioned upon the satisfaction of material monetary and non-monetary promises made by the producers, which never happened.”
Howard is now being accused of trying to shakedown the producers for more money for the project. The film ‘Triumph’ was inspired by a true story about a “determined high school senior strives to be a wrestler one last time despite having cerebral palsy.” The film features Terrence Howard and co-stars Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte. It was released in April 2020 but only in limited theaters due to Howard’s alleged threats.
Reportedly, producers say Howard originally agreed to film for seven days for 15% of the net profits with 5% donated to the Cerebral Palsy Foundation. The producers of the film claim Howard was being difficult before production even began. The suit details how the actor allegedly demanded $75k days before cameras were set to start rolling. Howard was reportedly paid upfront to avoid the movie being delayed.
According to reports, the film was completed and ended up being licensed to a distributor. Shortly after, Terrence Howard started firing off cease and desist letters to the distributor, claiming they had no right to use his name of likeness. The legal letters attempted to block the release. Producers claim this cost them substantial damages.
The cease-and-desist letter reportedly threatened legal action if the situation wasn’t rectified and if Argonaut Entertainment Partners continued to involve Terrence in the,
“distribution, advertising, promotion, and/or exhibition of ‘Triumph’ in any manner”
The new lawsuit claims the ‘Empire’ actor attempted to block, “the release of Triumph to extort additional sums from the Plaintiffs.” According to court documents, the producers claim,
“The Defendants’ [Howard] greedy actions halted the goodwill that Triumph would have produced by making unreasonable, baseless demands for a charitable project.”
“The C&D Letters caused a significant loss of revenue from Cinemark and at least four other theater chains and caused an unnecessary delay in the digital release of Triumph.”