Lucious Lyon Is Reportedly Locked Up on 'Empire' Because of Terrence Howard's Abuse Allegations

Empire star Terrence Howard may have inadvertently sent the fictional Lucious Lyon to prison thanks to his recently resurfaced abuse allegations. Originally believed to simply be a clever plot device aimed at dramatically increasing the number of newsworthy guest stars, Lyon's murder arrest at the end of last season is now being considered an equally clever maneuver by the show's team to diminish Howard's screen time in the wake of several reignited scandals.

“What they are doing is two-fold,” an unnamed source tells esteemed literary journal Page Six. “They have him locked up so you won’t be seeing him in as many scenes. But they are bringing in so many, and I mean so many, guest stars and cameos that the average viewer won’t realize it because there is so much going on.” Part of this "so much going on" plan will include highly tweetable appearances from Chris Rock, Mariah Carey, Marisa Tomei, Ludacris, and a presumably not naked Lenny Kravitz.

As part of Howard's diminishment, Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) will reportedly be "pushed to the forefront" of the hit series. Howard's personal troubles, including an ongoing battle to overturn a prior divorce settlement and the continual resurfacing of multiple domestic abuse allegations from his first wife and an ex-girlfriend, may finally be taking their toll on his career.