Terrence Howard (Empire) is getting sued by his ex-wife for assault and defamation.
Terrence Howard’s ex-wife filed a lawsuit against the actor on Tuesday claiming he assaulted her in 2013. In the complaint filed in Los Angeles, Michelle Howard claims the alleged assault took place while they were staying in a rental house in Costa Rica.
The civil complaint describes Terence Howard followed Plaintiff into the restroom of the rental house and punched her on the left side of her face. Defendant also grabbed Plaintiff by her neck and pushed her against the bathroom wall and strangled her for several seconds.” In addition, “grabbed her neck again and pinned her against the shower glass and her head hit the wall” when she tried to run away, leading theTerrence Howard’s son-in-law Billy tried to intervene.
“While Billy tried to pry Defendant’s hands from Plaintiff’s neck, Defendant whispered to Plaintiff, ‘Remember what I told you in Bora Bora? That is what I’m gonna do,’ referring to a a time  where Terrence Howard told Michelle Howard that her body would never leave the island,” states the civil complaint. “Plaintiff interpreted the reference to mean that Defendant was going to kill her.”
Later on that night, Michelle claims, he charged at her and she pepper-sprayed him in the face. “Defendant continued swinging his arms and caused Plaintiff to fall down. While Plaintiff was on the ground, Defendant repeatedly mule-kicked Plaintiff in the head and shoulders,” states the complaint.
Michelle Howard claims assault and battery intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. In the same civil complaint, she claims he defamed her by “mak[ing] false accusations disseminated to the public through the media that Plaintiff had made death threats and other threats against Defendant and his family through various social media accounts.”
This is not the first time Terrence Howard has been accussed of spousal abuse. He was arrested in 2001 on charges of assaulting his then-wife Lori McCommas, and in Michelle’s 2011 divorce papers she claimed he repeatedly threatened to hit her throughout their marriage. In 2013, she ordered a restraining order against him on claims including the allegations regarding the Costa Rica trip.
Recently, executives, creators, and producers were questioned about Terrence Howard’s history of domestic violence and they said they were not aware of the accusations until December 2014, when they were already in business with him. “A lot of the things I did were the product of not knowing how to deal with frustration, not knowing who Terrence Howard is,” said the actor. “I’ve grown so much from anything that’s happened in the past.”
Terrence Howard is currently filming season 2 of ‘Empire‘ in Chicago, Illinois.
