Has anyone watched this show? I have not, but my girlfriend is addicted and keeps insisting l come there and watch every episode On Demand. Swears l will be hooked. IDK tho... "YOU STOLE MY LIFE STORY!!"
Empire is one of my guilty pleasures. Very over the top, but in an entertaining way. Think of it as a new century, "Dynasty" style tv show set in the music industry. It's a lot of fun if you don't take it too seriously. As for this guy's case, it will get thrown out. The scripts were done before Terrence Howard's involvement, I believe. He won't see a dime. I doubt it makes it to court. But, anything is possible, I guess.
I myself hate singing-and-dancing shows (for reasons that I won't get into). So no, I will not watch the show. HOWEVERRRRRRR, I wouldn't put it past the creators of the show to have lifted the theme, plotlines & such from this guy. I'm convinced people in the game do this kinda crap to the outsiders they see as easy marks. I don't know the details, but it seems likely that they pounced on the dude when he didn't have his deal properly protected. That's pure speculation, but the guy's beef could have merit.
Plus a lot of those "similarities" are in every other show on television. Drug dealers being shot? People going to prison and getting back out? People wearing hats? Under that logic, the creators of Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Justified, The Shield, and a dozen other shows could be sued, too. In all honesty I haven't seen either that movie or the TV show but nearly everything mentioned in the article is a trope that's been used in movies and television for decades. If he can't show any more than what's in the article I'd be surprised if his lawsuit gets that far.
Any rags to riches 'hood drama is going to have similarities. The experiences are in many ways commonplace. Just like most mafia flicks have similarities. The retired pimp is still hustling.