Never Bites His Tongue
Lee Daniels is an out and proud brotha who represents the LGBTQ community in everything he does. He tackles taboo topics in a way that makes people think, yet he has encountered many struggles along the way. In a prior interview with Vulture , he shed a few layers about how life has taken him down many different roads. For example, the cancellation of his popular FOX shows Empire and Star.
When Daniels was asked if the media circus surrounding the alleged Jussie Smollett attack, in 2019, played a part in FOX’s cancellation decision, he kept it real:
“Certainly, that played a major part. But come on, man. I think that it’s been a good run. Empire in its current iteration may be over, but Empire is far from over.”
When asked to explain his confusing comment he stated:
“I’m sorry. Well, we’re trying something out, and if it works, then Empire is over and we have a great spinoff. And if it doesn’t, then Empire may not very well be over.”
Further in the interview, Daniels confessed that the now-infamous Empire scene [where “Lucious Lyon” throws his young son “Jamal Lyon” in a trashcan] actually happened to him in real-life when he was a child. Daniels says he had a very rough relationship with his Father, who was shot and killed in 1976. When asked how he felt about his Dad’s passing at that time, Daniels revealed:
“I have come to terms with the love I have for my father, but I would be a liar to say that I wasn’t relieved that he was gone.”
Patti LaBelle Gave Daniel’s A Wake-Up Call
Lee Daniels has been open about his struggles with substance abuse in the past. He mentioned crack-cocaine being his drug of choice, relaying a story about a time when he was high as hell and decided to call legendary singer, Patti LaBelle. After she asked him “Do you know Jesus?,” Daniels recalls “I said a prayer, and I think that was the end of my drugs.”:
“I wanted my life, you know? Bob Fosse was a real hero of mine, and I watched All That Jazz over and over again. I remember watching that film and calling Patti LaBelle early in the morning that night, a little high. Not a little high, a lot high. And she asked, “Do you know Jesus?” I said a prayer, and I think that was the end of my drugs.”
He also mentioned that he drank heavily, because of the fear his Father instilled in him, due to his sexuality. And although Daniels admits he’s been through many storms, he’s not miserable at all…just sober:
“I’m angsty and I’m sober, so that is really weird to be going to the Met Ball and to other social activities not intoxicated. I hate f****** being sober. It’s a bore. It’s a f******* snooze.”
Check out the rest of Daniels’ eye-opening interview here.
