Empire

A couple of kids are trying to take down "Empire" -- or at least take some of the show's money -- for stopping them from getting an education ... behind bars.

The kids are teenage juvenile detention center inmates in Chicago ... and they say their home away from home was upset when Terrence Howard and Chris Rock swooped in last year to shoot scenes for season two's premiere episodes.

According to them all the kids at Cook Co. Juvenile Temporary Detention Center were put on lockdown -- held in cells and pods -- during nearly 2 weeks of shooting. While in lockdown, they had no access to the rec yard, library, and chapel ... and family visits were interrupted.

The teens say their education was turned upside down too because although teachers were sent to cells and pods ... they say the tutoring was not effective. As they put it, "This was 'school' in name only," and often times "chaotic."

The teen inmates have boned up on TV accounting too -- they point out the "Empire" episodes made a ton of cash ... up to $750k per 30 second commercial, and they want a cut. They've filed the class action suit against FOX, Cook County and the warden.

The Lyon family is gonna need another seat at the table ... because "Empire" co-stars Trai Byers and Grace Gealey tied the knot in a very real wedding.

The private ceremony and reception went down Thursday at a mansion on Grand Cayman Island ... the guest list was limited to close friends and relatives ... none of their "Empire" co-stars attended.

Guests dined in style -- steak and lobster -- and danced to hip-hop, disco and, of course, reggae.

#Congratulations

Ron Newt ... the former pimp who's suing Terrence Howard and Lee Daniels for jacking his life story to make "Empire" has created a reality version of the show, and he's shopping it around.

"The Newt Empire" follows Ron and his family full of music hopefuls as they try to make it in the biz -- and Ron tries to repair relationships he's destroyed over the years. Based on the promo reel ... Ron clearly thinks he's the real Lucious Lyon.

Unlike Lucious ... Newt doesn't have a white daughter-in-law. Instead his is a very light-skinned black woman -- but you've gotta see her describe her first meeting with Ron.

Brian Grazer and Ron Howard think we're absolutely crazy for even raising the question ... Would Obama take a job running a studio after he leaves office ... but if he's interested, they're hiring.

Brian and Ron appeared on "TMZ Live" Wednesday, and Brian made it clear ... the Prez is overqualified for the job.

BTW, Brian, the exec producer of "Empire," would absolutely offer Obama a role on his show, but being a Lucious hack won't cut it.

President Obama has an in when he leaves office if he wants a piece of "Empire."

Exec producer Brian Grazer never thought of it until our photog raised the question Tuesday outside Craig's in WeHo ... is there a place for the Prez on his show?

Grazer jumped at the idea, but talk about typecasting.

Amiyah Scott, the transgender woman who tried to get on "Real Housewives of Atlanta," is getting a bigger break now in Hollywood because she's been cast in the "Empire" spin-off.

Amiyah didn't make the 'RHOA' cut, but we're told all the transgender 'Housewife' buzz got her a call from "Empire" creator Lee Daniels in late August asking to read for his new show.

Our production sources say Daniels loved Amiyah's look and thought she'd be perfect for one of the singers in a girl group.

The spin-off is a prequel to "Empire," showcasing a young Cookie Lyon.

We're assuming her look was more important than her acting chops ... she's never acted before, but she's getting a crash course with some acting coach hot shots.

Amiyah dropped a clue she was on to bigger things in her caption on a recent Twitter pic that read "next chapter."

Vivica A. Fox fired the first shot at 50 Cent, and now he's launching missiles back at her -- after Vivica hinted he has issues with "gay stuff."

Vivica, who's guest starring on "Empire," was on "Watch What Happens: Live" ... and Andy Cohen brought up Fiddy's infamous Instagram re-post ... which claimed "Empire's" ratings decline was due to "gay stuff."

Check out her dramatic pause before blurting out ... "The pot calling the kettle black, is all I'm gonna say."

She tried to backpedal a little, recalling good times when she dated 50 -- but then did even more damage by questioning his magazine cover shot with Soulja Boy.

50's fired back the way you'd expect, writing on IG ... "Now she thinks I'm gay because I let her lick my Ass. LMAO."

Akon has no regrets he didn't sign his hairdresser to a record deal ... now that she's a big deal on "Empire."

We showed Akon a pic of Bre-Z at LAX Monday and he immediately recognized her. She plays rapper Freda Gatz on the show.

Akon has an interesting take on signing talent ... his takeaway seems to be that if you try to sign everyone, you end up screwing yourself.

Lee Daniels and Terrence Howard say there's no way they ripped off the idea for "Empire," because the guy suing for a billion dollars couldn't hack it in the music biz.

Daniels and Howard are responding to the lawsuit filed by Ron Newt -- as TMZ first reported ... the self proclaimed "gangsta pimp" claims Empire is based on his life, and he pitched his autobiography to Howard years ago.

According to the docs, Daniels says Newt's unsuccessful effort to break into the music biz as "manager of his sons' teen bubble gum pop trio," is nothing like the successful Lyon family on "Empire."

Also ... they say Newt's story is so violent and sexually graphic, it could never have aired on network TV.

If Diddy's son doesn't start stretching his mind, he could miss out on the role of a lifetime -- even if it's a gay role -- according to Eric McCormack ... who should know.

Quincy Combs told us he would have passed on playing the gay character Jamal on "Empire" because he didn't have enough experience as an actor. Considering how popular the show became, Eric thinks Quincy might have shot himself in the foot.

Eric played Will on "Will & Grace" -- which worked out pretty well for him -- and thinks Quincy's just not pushing himself. As he put it, "I've played murderers, and I never killed anybody."

Solid metaphor.

Quincy Combs is drawing the line on the subject of family loyalty -- it doesn't matter that his pops, Diddy reportedly has issues with "Empire" ... he'd love almost any role on the show, except Jussie Smollett's.

Quincy was leaving 1 OAK Tuesday when our photog asked if he'd toe the line with his dad in his beef with "Empire." Rumor is the show wanted Quincy for the Hakeem role, but Diddy squashed it because FOX would own all the music he made.

Check it out ... Quincy makes it sound like the rumors were false, because he says he'd absolutely take a role, but he's not experienced enough to play a gay character -- presumably because there are scenes involving overt affection.

50 Cent just learned why it's important to get the full story ... after he shared a homophobic post about "Empire" ... but he didn't read the whole thing.

A rep for 50 tells TMZ the rapper reposted a photo to his Instagram making fun at the show's decline in ratings ... but he missed the part about the drop in ratings being due to the show's "gay stuff."

50's rep says he deleted the post once he saw the homophobic comments attached to it. The rep says the comments were "not a reflection of his views at all."

50 has been beefing with the show for a while now ... mostly because he says it's inferior to his show "Power." It doesn't help that "Empire" singled him out during the season 2 premiere episode.

Being unemployed has its benefits ... if you're Michael Sam ... 'cause the outta-work football player has some new friends in high places ... hanging with the cast of the hit Fox show "Empire."

Cookie Lyon was damn near upstaged on the season premiere of "Empire" by Bravo star Miss Lawrence ... who, coincidentally, got the gig because of his spot-on Cookie impression.

Lawrence tells us, he got the role of a lifetime while goofing off with co-star Bevy Smith on the "Fashion Queens" set. Bevy recorded Lawrence doing an homage to Taraji P. Henson's character, and sent the vid to her pal Lee Daniels ... with the message, "Hire him!"

Lee responded, "Done!" ... and a few weeks later, Lawrence got to audition. He picked Sylvester's "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" for the big moment, and obviously slayed it.

Taraji P. Henson and the "Empire" writers should know ... 50 Cent doesn't sweat people taking shots at him -- been there, done that -- so, he's firing right back with a direct shot at Cookie's ... cookie.

During the "Empire" premiere ... Taraji's character made a crack about Fif being "thirsty," and it didn't take long for him to respond.

Check out the video -- 50 wants everyone to know he's got a sexual past with Cookie.

So, is it just faux TV beef, or is Fiddy really talking about Taraji? We're guessing it's door #1.

But who really knows?

Sean Penn has sued Lee Daniels for $10 million, claiming the "Empire" creator dragged him through the mud and accused him of hitting women, just to make Terrence Howard look better.

Daniels did an interview in which he said, "[Terrence] ain't done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he's some f***in' demon.... That's a sign of the time, of race, of where we are right now in America."

Penn claims in his lawsuit Daniels' comments were "reckless and malicious" and Sean has falsely "for years been the subject of scandalous, scurrilous, and baseless attacks."

Penn has been caught on video attacking paparazzi and prosecuted for it. As for women, there have been numerous reports that he allegedly brutalized Madonna in the late '80s, and numerous publications reported he was charged and convicted. We did some checking, and it appears the story about being charged and convicted is incorrect ... he was never charged.

Penn says in the lawsuit, "Daniels' defense of Howard (and his improper invocation of two of the greatest actors and humanitarians of our time, Brando and Penn, in doing so) is apparently part of a misguided campaign to profit and further bolster and brand his show 'Empire.'"

Penn is suing Daniels for $10 million.