A woman has filed a lawsuit against the creators of the FOX hit Empire for allegedly stealing her life story, TMZ reports. Sophia Eggelston claims that she is the real “Cookie,” the character played by Taraji P. Henson, and that many aspects of that character fit her real life. Her lawsuit is for $300 million.
Eggleston said that she gave a copy of her autobiography to a screenwriter in 2011 and that that screenwriter later pitched the book to Lee Daniels, who later became the co-creator of Empire.
Eggleston isn’t the first to claim that the Empire creators stole their life story. Ron Newt, claims that when he met Terrence Howard, he pitched him a documentary he was working on about his life as a gangster and a pimp. After the FOX series premiered, he reportedly filed a lawsuit for $1 billion because the similarities hit too close to home.