When Empire's Taraji P. Henson received her first ever Emmy nomination, co star Jussie Smollett took to his Instagram and posted a video he secretly took of Henson on set of the Fox drama. Yup, she's just minding her own business, snoozing, resting her eyes in between takes, totally unaware that Smollett is recording her every move. Henson made history along with How To Get Away With Murder's Viola Davis. This is the first time that two black women have earned an Emmy nomination in the same year for Outstanding Lead Actress In a Drama Series.
Taraji Penda Henson is an American actress and singer. Henson studied acting at Howard University and began her Hollywood career in guest-roles on several television shows before making her breakthrough in Baby Boy. In February 2014, several months after her last episode of Person of Interest aired on CBS, Henson was hired by Fox to star in the new TV series pilot Empire, a musical drama set in the hip hop recording industry.
Fox ordered the pilot to series in May 2014 and the TV series debuted on January 7, 2015 with positive reviews from critics and wide commercial success. Her work as Cookie Lyon gave her widespread recognition and positive reviews. Henson became pregnant her junior year of college, and gave birth in 1994 to her son Marcel. Her son's father was her high-school sweetheart. Henson claimed her 20-year-old son Marcell Johnson had been racially profiled by police and that his car had been illegally searched during a traffic stop on October 18, 2014 in Glendale, California.
A video obtained by the Los Angeles Times showed Johnson had driven through a lighted crosswalk while a pedestrian was crossing, that he had given verbal consent to search his vehicle, that he had admitted to smoking marijuana two hours before going behind the wheel, and that hash oil, marijuana, and a knife were found inside his car.
