Empire Spinoff With Taraji P. Henson’s Cookie Lyon Not Picked Up

Alas, this is the way that the Cookie crumbles. A previously proposed series that would have followed the continued exploits of Empire breakout character Loretha Holloway Lyon, AKA Cookie, is not moving forward at FOX.

No Empire Spinoff

Deadline reports that the Cookie-centered spinoff is still being shopped to other Disney affiliated outlets including ABC and Hulu. The series, which would have been shepherded by Empire co-creator Danny Strong alongside stalwarts Yolanda Lawrence and Stacy Littlejohn, with Taraji P. Henson as executive producer and star, was set to explore Cookie’s life in the aftermath of Empire’s final episode.

That installment, which aired back in April of this year, saw Cookie reckon with her past and present – especially her complicated, volatile, and frequently violent relationship with husband Luscious Lyon (Terrence Howard) – before concluding that her future lay far afield from the New York-based entertainment company that she and her family owned and operated.

For her work on the serial, Henson won a Golden Globe and a Critics Choice Award, and she also received two back-to-back Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Empire, which concerned itself with the trials and tribulations of the Lyon family and the drama wrought by the infighting over Empire Records, the entertainment company founded by Luscious and Cookie, aired on FOX for six successful seasons.

In the seven-plus months since the Empire finale, Henson has not wanted for work – nor will she anytime in the near future. The actress hosted the 2020 American Music Awards back in November, and she is poised to make both her directorial debut (with the film Two-Faced) and launch her own mental health-focused talk show. That project, Peace of Mind With Taraji, will arrive on Facebook Watch sometime in 2021.

Henson also possesses a two-year first-look deal with 20th Century Fox Television through her production company, TPH Entertainment.