Source: FOX / Getty
According to Page Six reports:
Sophia Eggleston of Detroit has filed a $300 million lawsuit against co-creator Lee Daniels and Fox accusing them of stealing her life story for their hit show.
Eggleston, 53, claims she was a “drug kingpin” who did jail time for manslaughter for placing a “hit” on a man, wrote a memoir about her “early drug lifestyle” titled “The Hidden Hand.”
In 2011, she met with screenwriter Rita Miller and gave Miller a copy of her book. According to Page Six, her copyright suit filed in US District Court in Michigan says she got a call from Miller several months later saying she was going to pitch her story to Daniels.
Eggleston says character Cookie “was similar in behavior, style of dress, and background” to her. The suit says 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.”
“Cookie was a drug kingpin that went to jail. So did plaintiff Eggleston. Cookie is released from jail confinement and immediately places a hit on a certain individual. Plaintiff . . . actually was jailed for doing the actual hit on a man.”
Eggleston and Cookie share a taste for mink coats, both had a gay family member, and Eggleston adds in the suit, “There is no possibility the similarities are . . . mere coincidence. Defendants had access to and a copy of” her book.
Reps for Fox, Daniels and “Empire” co-creator and writer Danny Strong declined to comment.
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Detroit Woman Sues “Empire” Producers Claims They Stole Her Life For TV Show was originally published on ipowerrichmond.com
