Terrence Howard was sued by the producers of the 2021 film Triumph and actor RJ Mitte earlier in February 2022.

The actor — nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Hustle & Flow — was reportedly accused of dragging out a lawsuit accusing him of screwing over producers on the film that was meant to raise money for Cerebral Palsy.

According to court documents obtained by Radar Online, the producers, therefore, sued the actor and his wife Mira while demanding the court to order Howard sit for a deposition.

How It All Started

In May 2021, Howard was reported of hiring legal guns to wrestle with the producers of Triumph, as he claimed that the producers didn't have his consent to use him in the film, which was already released.

As per TMZ, the actor's legal team even sent a cease and desist letter to employees at Cinemark, Digital Ignition Entertainment, Argonaut Entertainment Partners, and others, alleging the actor's name, clips, and likeness were used in the feature film without his permission.

According to the letter, Howard's involvement with the movie was "conditioned upon the satisfaction of material monetary and non-monetary promises made by the producers, which never happened."

The actor's attorneys further claimed that the producers acknowledged Howard's consent had not been obtained, and the film could not release until they had an agreement as of April 15, 2021.

But despite that, the film was theatrically released on April 30.

The Producers' Allegations against Terrence Howard

Fast forward to the present, and the producers have now come forward to accuse the actor of refusing to answer questions about the alleged attempted extortion.

They claimed that they had properly served the Empire star with notices of his depo. However, it was he who failed to make himself available.

Terrence Howard poses for a picture for one of his shows' promotions.

Terrence Howard poses for a picture for one of his shows' promotions. (Photo: Instagram)

Due to that, they are requesting the court to order him to show up and for sanctions in the amount of $5,100.

Howard had reportedly agreed to work on the film for seven days for 15% of the net profits. He had also agreed to donate 5% of his salary to the Cerebral Palsy Foundation.

But in their lawsuit, the producers stated that Howard started causing trouble after agreeing to take on the role. They said he demanded an additional $75,000 days before production began, and they had no option but to pay him the money to avoid any delays.

They further accused him of refusing to sign the written contract when he was on set.

Hence, when the movie was on the verge of its release, the actor began sending off cease and desists, claiming they had no right to use his name or likeness.

His notices allegedly messed with numerous deals and cost the producers a ton of money.

For all those reasons, the producers are now suing for damages in excess of $1 million.

Terrence Howard Fights Back

In the wake of the situation, Howard denied all the claims made against him at the court.

Not just that, he shared he was originally offered $150,000 in addition to a $500,000 tax credit donation to the charity in a lawful manner to provide his company a tax credit/deduction for said amount.

In his court docs, he further expressed that he had his worst working experience on the set of Triumph.

As of this writing, the final verdict is yet to come out.