Lee Daniels Says Making ‘Empire’ Was ‘Absolutely The Worst Experience’ And ‘Horrible’

Fox’s hit musical drama Empire was once appointment viewing. But now, co-creator Lee Daniels is saying that working on the show was “absolutely the worst experience.”

He revealed his true feelings about the series starring Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard in an interview with The Film Stage. He said he hated working with the network executives, even though he wanted to know what that experience was like.

“I don’t like staying in the same lane just as a creative. When I got into television, I just wanted to be able to answer to suits,” he said, as reported by Variety. “I wanted to know what that experience was like. All of my friends, they get notes and s**t. And I’m like, ‘What is that like?!’ You know what I mean?”

“All of my s**t is independent. You know, my first movie was developed with drug money. Monster’s Ball. We won the first Black woman an Oscar. Every one of my films has been independently financed where I’m able to…do my thing and nobody is in my head,” he continued. “There’s so many filmmakers and writers that I respect that have to answer to people. So I only did Empire just so I could see what that experience was like.”

He described the experience as horrible. Absolutely the worst experience. Horrible!”

However he doesn’t regret doing it, because of the money.

“But guess what? F*****g that money, money, money! I was able to put my kids through college and s**t. So that in itself was worth it.”

Daniels’ latest film, The Deliverance, is now streaming on Netflix.