Terrence Howard told a judge on Friday that his ex-wife repeatedly threatened to leak damaging information about him to get him to sign a divorce settlement in 2012.
The Oscar-nominated actor broke down into tears while discussing the threats during a hearing in which he is trying to overturn the settlement agreement because he signed it under duress. Terrence Howard said he was concerned his ex-wife, Michelle Ghent, would leak details about his sex life, and audio and video recordings of him.
Howard said the release of such information in 2012 would have ended his career.
“I was terrified of her releasing the private tapes,” Howard said, explaining that the video showed him in “intimate settings.”
According to reports, Terrence Howard lost his composure during cross-examination by Ghent’s attorney, who questioned the actor about a possible history of domestic violence, Howard requested a break after being questioned about several allegations of violence toward women. In fact, Ghent’s attorney showed the court a picture of Ghent with a black eye. Terrence Howard admitted that he had struck his wife out of anger. But he denied he had abused Ghent, saying any attacks on her were self-defense.
The actor revealed he married Ghent in 2010 but was already aware that she had taken private audio recordings he had made and downloaded them to her computer. He testified that she threatened to release them during their engagement, during which he admitted he was unfaithful to her with multiple women.
Ghent’s attorney then asked him, why would he stay in a relationship with someone who is trying to blackmail him. He responded by saying that he was in love.
Ultimately, it looks like’s like Terrence Howard is going through a bitter divorce.
Howard said he had hoped to get the recordings back from Ghent during their marriage but was unsuccessful. Among the items he said Ghent had obtained were a recording of Howard’s last conversation with his mother, phone sex conversations with other women, and recordings of songs he had written.
None of those materials have been played in court, but a key piece of evidence has been a 2011 recording of Ghent berating Howard and threatening to release embarrassing material about him.
Howard said he paid Ghent $40,000 after she threatened to release materials including a video of him naked and dancing in the bathroom. Asked by his attorney whether he considered the payment hush money, Howard responded, “I consider it blood money.” [Source]
Terrence Howard is currently filming ‘Empire’ Season 2 in Chicago, Illinois. If you are interested in seeing Luscious Lyon and Cookie drama, instead of Terrence Howard’s personal divorce predicament, check out the latest ‘Empire’ casting calls here.
