Empire Debuts To Big Numbers & 50 Cent Responds To Taraji's Diss

Fox’s Empire Debuts With K.O. Ratings As 50 Cent Fires Back At Taraji P. Henson’s Shade!

The cast and crew over at Empire have tons of celebrating to do. The Fox freshman series debuted to a jaw-dropping 9.9 million in total viewers! TVLine is reporting, the Lee Daniels/Danny Strong vehicle starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson also has the distinction of being Fox’s highest-rated series premiere in three years and tied with another new broadcast series, ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder. Speaking of Taraji, the actress who plays the tough as nails matriarch Cookie Lyons popped by The Wendy Williams Show to do a bit of promoting about the primetime drama. Taraji discussed her what drew her to the role and reveals how Howard was brought onto the series. Taraji told Wendy while she was having a Skype conference with Daniels she recalled:

When I opened up the script, I saw Terrence and I. I heard the words coming from his mouth. I said to [Lee] – I didn’t even have the job yet, and I said, ‘So if you can make that work, hire Terrence, great. If not, good luck with the show.

Good move with that Taraji! Taraji also dishes on if she and No Good Deed co-star Idris Elba took their on-screen chemistry off-screen. Peep Taraji’s interview below:

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Meanwhile, 50 Cent has once again decided to say a little something about Taraji’s comments regarding his dig that Empire is a rip-off of his Starz series, Power. Taraji threw a jab herself at 50 by saying on Twitter:

Now 50 has come back swinging on Instagram remarking: