Source: Jeffrey Mayer / Getty
Yesterday, the rumor reports were buzzing that Nia Long and Taraji P. Henson were at each other’s throats on the Empire set. We blew it off as a silly rumor.
But today, there is more detailed info from TMZ about Nia’s behavior on set. The site claims that a formal complaint was filed against Long by the show’s hair and makeup team. The team claims that Long was a nightmare to deal with and allegedly there are other cast, crew and production employees who cosigned the claim.
TMZ also says that the reason Taraji and Nia had issues was because Taraji didn’t like the way Nia was treating the staff. Apparently, things got so bad that producers were trying to figure out how to have them shoot there scenes separately.
Further, TMZ says that Nia Long was consistently late to the set and would hold up production. They also say that Long is threatening to sue over the “goodbye” she was given on set.
TMZ says:
— Our sources say in the history of the show the hair and makeup people have only filed one formal complaint for mistreatment … and that was against Nia. The hair and makeup people say she was extremely disrespectful … at times deciding she didn’t like her look at the last minute and then chewing them out. The sources say there have been numerous guest appearances on the show — “from rappers to Demi Moore, and no complaints were lodged against anyone but Nia.”
— Our sources say Nia was “habitually late.” They say Taraji and Terrence Howard would sometimes be waiting on set for 30 minutes and Nia was a no-show. Producers would finally use a stand-in for Nia so Taraji and Terrence could rehearse a scene.
— It is custom on the set when guest stars finish their last scene for the Assistant Director to call it out … “This is (name of actor) last scene,” followed by a “thank you” and applause. When Nia did her last scene, Terrence was having some sort of allergic reaction and his lip began swelling. The A.D. was looking for Benadryl when Nia left. It’s unclear if the A.D. was distracted or just didn’t want to thank Nia, but we’re told as Nia walked out she told someone in production she was going to sue the show because the “goodbye” was in her contract. Production sources say it was not in her contract.
Nia Long’s people say that none of these claims are true.
Source: In His Image Photography / In His Image Photography
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