Terrence Howard has a long history of portraying unsavory characters on the big and small screens.
Unfortunately, his personal life has mirrored his acting reel at times. Here are some of
the disturbing details that have come out about Terrence Howard.
Back in 2007, Howard told Elle magazine that he has a specific deal-breaker with women,
who he apparently views as unclean. He said,
"Toilet paper — and no baby wipes — in the bathroom. If they're using dry paper,
they aren't washing all of themselves. It's just unclean. So if I go in a woman's house
and see the toilet paper there, I'll explain this. And if she doesn't make the adjustment
to baby wipes, I'll know she's not completely clean."
He later expanded on this to New York Magazine, saying,
"We've lost our moral values a little bit. [...] Do I think we need to readdress how
we clean ourselves? Yeah. It took a long time for soap to catch on. Now everyone uses soap.
So let's be a little more clean, you guys. Let's not be germaphobic, but let's be clean
when we can."
When Jezebel asked Howard later about his obsession with baby wipes, he said,
"I stated my position pretty clearly. More people need to use them. This is a very serious
subject. What more is there to say?"
His publicist then immediately ended the interview.
Aside from his views on women's hygiene, Howard also has issues with how some women choose
to dress themselves. In an unpublished portion of an InStyle interview, he said that women
have "lost modesty" in their clothing choices. The Empire actor reportedly explained,
"[Women who dress provocatively] create a response in [me] that [I] can't respond to
in a 'natural' way."
The writer of the InStyle article added,
"He then made a comment that women who expose [their bodies] to the public have no right
to get angry if people make remarks about it. He said something like 'What's worse,
someone exposing themselves or someone commenting on it? Who committed the first sin?'"
If you thought Howard's views on women may have been the result of low self-esteem and
a lack of confidence in himself, you may be wrong. He explained to Elle,
"I like women who look like me. Generally, you're attracted to women who look like you,
because the most beautiful thing in nature is your own reflection. [I like a woman] who
shares my features."
A source told The New York Post,
"He thinks that he is truly God's gift to women, and he expects subservience."
Howard married his third wife, Miranda "Mira" Pak, in October 2013. Entertainment Tonight
reported that he and Pak separated in August 2014 and had a quickie secret divorce in July
2015. By September 2015, they were back together. In 2018, Howard and Pak once again got engaged.
Howard told Rolling Stone,
"When you meet your one, it's completely balanced. I don't have any greater authority than she
does. It's the only thing that really works. [...] It's always been a hard road for me.
I run into bad luck. But I run into good luck too, so it's even-steven right now. I've got
a good wife."
Pak told the magazine about their relationship, and it sounds interesting, to say the least.
She admitted,
"He's not perfect. Doesn't do the dishes. Doesn't cook. Doesn't lift a finger. I probably
leave him 30 times a month. [...] He's so selfish. [...] In our two years together,
I've only gone to restaurants with him two or three times. We've never been to the supermarket
together. We've never been to the movies. I've never gotten a gift from him."
During a divorce hearing for his split from his second wife, Michelle Ghent a judge had
to tell a heated Howard to, quote, "cool [his] jets" and on another occasion, a judge even
called him a "bully." A television executive told The New York Post,
"Terrence has this reputation for being a hothead."
A former associate of Howard added,
"I don't think 'anger issues' quite covers it. Terrence has to be in control of everything,
all the time. When he doesn't get his way, he loses his s --- very easily."
In 1997, People reported Howard was accused of assaulting a Continental Airlines flight
attendant who attempted to return him to his seat when the seatbelt light came on; charges
were dismissed due to lack of jurisdiction and Howard later denied the claims entirely
and said he was just trying to take his daughter to the bathroom.
In 2005, Howard pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after allegedly attacking a man and
a woman at a Philadelphia restaurant. The woman reportedly accused Howard of cutting
the line; Howard insisted to Rolling Stone that he wasn't even in the line and was just
checking to see what the wait time was and he was acting in self-defense.
Howard even has beef with multiplication tables. The actor is convinced that one times one
actually equals 2, not 1. He told Rolling Stone,
"This is the last century that our children will ever have been taught that one times
one is one. They won't have to grow up in ignorance. Twenty years from now, they'll
know that one times one equals two. We're about to show a new truth. The true universal
math."
Howard said he left the Pratt Institute in college after arguing with a professor about
this very theory. He explained,
"How can it equal one? If one times one equals one that means that two is of no value because
one times itself has no effect. One times one equals two because the square root of
four is two, so what's the square root of two? Should be one, but we're told it's two,
and that cannot be. [...] I mean, you can't conform when you know innately that something
is wrong."
"So if you can prove that an action times and action equals a reaction, which science
proves, then one times one must equal more than one."
Howard's reputation may have preceded him when he got a bit too big for his supporting
role britches during negotiations for Iron Man 2, which led to the role being recast
to Don Cheadle.
Entertainment Weekly reported that the issue was cash. Howard was the first actor signed
to Iron Man and was paid $3.5 million for the movie, which was more than star Robert
Downey, Jr. When it came time to film Iron Man 2, a source said that producers weren't
thrilled with Howard's performance in the original, leading to re-shoots and cutting
of Howard's scenes. Upon learning that the role in Iron Man 2 would be reduced, producers
lowered their offer to Howard, giving him a 50 to 80 percent pay cut, which his agents
rejected.
Howard later told Rolling Stone that he actually took a $1 million pay cut to get Downey cast
in the Marvel hit, something Downey and producers denied — but something Howard took to heart
when Iron Man 2 came around. He said,
"I called Robby […] at least 17 times that day and 21 the next and finally left a message
saying, 'Look, man, I need the help that I gave you.' Never heard from him. And guess
who got the millions I was supposed to get? He got the whole franchise, so I've actually
given him $100 million, which ends up being a $100 million loss for me from me trying
to look after somebody."
"Am I gonna come back and be War Machine, I think they could have a huge franchise off
of it, but f--- em."
Howard has a poor reputation in the industry that extends beyond the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
A former associate told The New York Post,
"Once, Terrence found out that some of his scenes from a movie were being cut and he
was furious. He marched up to the director and started arguing with him like it was some
great injustice."
Howard admitted to Rolling Stone that during the filming of The Best Man he was hard to
work with, but insists it was for the good of the film. He explained that even though
the filmmakers kept pushing him to say a line a certain way, he wouldn't back down. He added,
"I was like, 'Y'all do what you want, but I'm not going to mutilate this moment.' And
I said the line like I wanted. [...] But after that, they spent the next year talking about
how difficult I was. Then the movie comes out, I get all these accolades, and now the
producers are like, 'Oh, you made the movie.' But now they've set it up that Terrence is
difficult, and so that has followed me."
An insider told The New York Post,
"They don't have time for drama and inflated egos. Terrence is, without question, a very
talented actor, but he is very opinionated and can upset people. As he found out, in
Hollywood, everyone is replaceable."
Perhaps as a result of his own fuzzy math and difficulty to work with, Howard told Rolling
Stone that he's poor, saying,
"You know, all my checks from Fox are being held for garnishment, because of my ex. I'm
broke as can be. But my [current] wife, she did well for herself, so she's covered us.
This place, she's renting it. I'm suffering. There's nothing worse than being a broke movie
star."
He added that once he had access to his money again, he and Pak would buy a house "in the
suburbs."
In March 2020, The Blast reported that Howard and 20th Century Fox were in mutual lawsuits
over his paychecks: Howard and Pak's company, Universal Bridges, sued 20th Century Fox for
breach of contract, alleging that Fox agreed to pay Howard through the company but failed
to pay him for three recently produced episodes of Empire.
Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox sued Howard and Universal Bridges after Howard's second wife
filed legal documents with 20th Century Fox demanding they give her Howard's Empire paychecks
to go towards an alleged $1.3 million she claims he owes in child support.
Essentially, The Blast reports that 20th Century Fox's lawsuit against Howard is just a means
of determining who should actually get checks from them so they aren't held liable for any
potential messiness in Howard and his ex-wife's ongoing issues.
Not long after the battle over his paychecks hit the headlines, it was revealed that Howard
was being investigated for tax evasion, too. According to court documents obtained by The
Blast, Howard and Pak, as well as Universal Bridges, were being looked into for alleged
tax crimes as of June 2019.
Just two months earlier, The Blast reported that Howard was hit with a tax lien for more
than $143,000, stemming from "taxes owed for 2010." This was the third time liens were
placed on Howard's earnings; in 2010, he was hit with one for $1.1 million, and in 2006
it was for more than $600,000.
Howard and Pak were reportedly informed of the latest investigation in May 2019 and were
said to have hired an attorney in the case, as well as to have spoken with investigators.
Howard's reps have not yet commented on the allegations.
In September 2019, Howard announced that he planned on retiring from acting. When asked
what his plans were for when Empire ended, Howard told Extra,
"Oh, I'm done with acting. I'm done pretending. [...] No, not philanthropy, I'm just focused
on bringing the truth to the world."
Howard later expanded on his "truth" in a red carpet interview with KTLA at the 2019
Emmys, saying,
"Everyone keeps trying to tell me, 'Don't say it's forever,' but I've spent 37 years
pretending to be people so that people can pretend to watch and enjoy what I'm doing
when I've made some discoveries in my own personal life with the science that Pythagoras
was searching for. [...] Why would I continue walking on water for tips when I've got an
entire generation to teach a whole new world?"
So, what does that mean in terms of next steps? He explained,
"I'm going to be able to prove that gravity is only an effect and not a force. I'm putting
something on YouTube where I will build the planet Saturn without gravity, and build the
Milky Way galaxy without gravity."
In any case, as of March 2020, he's currently filming a project called Selfie.
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