Empire creator Lee Daniels fears for his life after receiving death threats for his gay storyline on Empire.
The openly gay movie director and producer made the shocking revelations at a producers conference in LA on Sunday.
Daniels said some viewers were not pleased with the gay storyline on his hit Fox TV show Empire, according to The Wrap.
He said he and the show’s openly gay star, Jussie Smollet, both receive death threats.
“Homophobia is real. It exists… Jussie and I both get death threats,” said Daniels while speaking on a panel. “But we will continue to do our thing until homophobia is done.”
It’s hard to know if Daniels is being genuine or attention-seeking. Daniels’ claims comes at a suspicious time when Fox is gearing up to promote season 2 of Empire, which premiers in September.
“I have to relate to these people honestly. That trash can scene? It happened,” Daniels said, referring to the scene where his father (played by Terrence Howard) dumps him in a trash can for wearing his mother’s high heel shoes.
Meanwhile, there are unsubstantiated rumors that Daniels is pressing Fox to let him bring in more openly gay actors. “He wants the cast to be 50% gay,” said an insider.
More from Sandrarose.com:
