'Empire' Fox TV Show: Woman Claiming to be the 'Real' Cookie Lyon Sues 'Empire' Creators

Seems like everybody wants a piece of the hit TV show "Empire." A 53-year-old woman named Sophia Eggleston from Detroit, Michigan just filed a lawsuit against the creators of the FOX original series for a hefty amount of $300 million. Eggleston claims that co-creator Lee Daniels based the character of Cookie Lyon on her life story.

Eggleston claims that she's the "real-life Cookie Lyons" and that the show copied everything about her, from her mink coats to her gay brother. According to a report by AV Club, Eggleston gave a copy of her memoir titled "The Hidden Hand" to Rita Miller, one of the screenwriters of "Empire," back in 2011. Months later, Miller has informed Eggleston that she would be meeting with Daniels to "pitch him her life story."

The memoir shows similarities between her real life story and Cookie Lyon's storyline on the show. She proclaims to be a "drug kingpin" that also went to jail, just like the fierce character.

Based on the public document regarding her just-filed lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Michigan, she was "dismayed to see the various similarities of events and characters, so numerous and specific, especially Cookie Lyon, that independent creation was obviously impossible."

She also claims that people have been insisting that Cookie was indeed based on her. She tells Page Six that "the whole city's been telling me Cookie is basically me. Any jury would rule for me - $300 million is a very small price for taking my whole life and stealing it."

Eggleston is slated to represent herself in court.

The same report indicates that reps of the show and its creators declined to comment. Danny Strong, one of the writers of the show, reiterated that the show came about after he heard Sean Combs on a radio show and pitched it as "Hip Hop's King Lear."

"Empire" stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson. The much-awaited second season will premiere on September 23 on FOX and will feature 18 episodes.

Join the Discussion
Real Time Analytics