Everyone Wants A Piece Of 'Empire'

There is no arguing that Fox's Empire is the hottest series till date and everyday somebody is claiming to be an inspiration behind a character in it. Love & Hip Hop reality star Joseline Hernandez thought Cookie Lyon was all her before Taraji P. Henson quickly killed that noise and revealed her character was inspired by Lil Kim. Diddy’s youngest son, Christian, posted up a picture recently, implying that he and his brothers Justin and Quincy are the real Lyon boys.

Now NBA player, Iman Shumpert is side-eying the show because Tiana, who plays Hakeem’s industry girlfriend, reminds him of somebody — his girlfriend Teyana Taylor!

The Cleveland Cavalier is not okay with Empire producers seemingly swagger jacking Teyana, who like Tiana, is also a R&B singer, dancer and actress, and not cutting a check. Speaking with Cleveland.com, Iman notes the similar styles and the fact that both women have the same name as enough receipts to prove Empire’s Tiana = Teyana.

 He said ' They’re using my girl’s character, her style, her look and she’s not getting anything for it. They didn’t even change her name. They could have at least let my girl audition for the part instead of stealing her character completely.'

He even thought that Hakeen was actually swagger jacking him;  'And come on man, they’re really using a guy [Hakeem Lyon] with a flat-top like me. Come on. That’s ridiculous. They never called us. We were blindsided. We found out by our family and fans when the show aired. Her fans are more mad about it than I am. I’m a ball player, but that’s her field. That’s what she does. Me personally, I don’t plan on taking any action but I don’t know about her.'

However Iman later on apologized in an interview with TMZ Sports and said that his words were taken out of context. 

'Fans of the show and friends have told us on many occasions that couple favors us but we do not all feel that our lives are being copied/stolen. I apologize to the actors on the show because they’re just being professionals and don’t deserve slander that’s not what I was trying to portray and I have to be more careful with my choice of words.”

“I do not appreciate the writer using his questions with my question to draw quotes like I was making these elaborate answers but that’s the media. The writer took a 2-3 min convo of locker room talk after a GREAT TEAM WIN and made it look like a sit down interview and it wasn’t.”