Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images 
 
 Terrence Howard, star of Empire, does not have the best of reputations. He’s long been known for being an alleged domestic abuser (as exhaustively chronicled in this Defamer post). And in a recent Rolling Stone profile, he admitted to at least one of the allegations made against him by an ex-wife. Of course, none of this has stopped him from earning an Oscar nomination or starring in one of television’s biggest hits. “That poor boy,” Empire co-creator Lee Daniels told the Hollywood Reporter recently. "[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." 
 
 Aisha Harris Aisha Harris is a Slate culture writer and host of the Slate podcast Represent. 
 
 That statement didn’t sit well with Penn, who’s now filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against Daniels. According to the Hollywood Reporter, part of the complaint reads, 
 
 Daniels falsely equates Penn with Howard, even though, while he has certainly had several brushes with the law, Penn (unlike Howard) has never been arrested, much less convicted, for domestic violence, as his ex-wives (including Madonna) would confirm and attest. 
 
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 Whoo, boy. Well, let’s see: In case you’ve forgotten, Penn, like Howard, is known for for using violence and rage to get his point across. The actor is familiar with being sued himself, like when he kicked a photographer a few years back (he pleaded no contest), and he served a little over a month in jail for assaulting a photographer back in 1987. The following year, he also allegedly attacked his then-wife, Madonna. 
 
 “Attacked” might not do justice to what happened. J. Randy Taraborrelli, in his extensively researched Madonna: An Intimate Biography, published by Simon & Schuster, details the police reports of the December 1988 encounter, which occurred after the pop star asked for a divorce from Penn. According to the reports, the actor broke into her Malibu home and began arguing; he then “tried to bind her hands with an electric lamp and cord,” but Madonna fled. He chased after her, and then tied her to a chair with twine, where, Taraborrelli writes, he abused her physically and emotionally over the course of several hours while drinking heavily. The book continues: 
 
 In desperation—again, according to official documents—Madonna finally persuaded Sean to untie her by telling him she needed to go to the bathroom. Finally free, she ran out of the house. Sean stumbled while racing after her, which gave her an edge. She got into the coral-colored 1957 Thunderbird, which Penn had bought her on her 28th birthday. She locked herself inside the car. 
 
 From there, she spoke with police via cell phone, then drove to the Malibu sheriff's office; Penn was arrested and handcuffed at the house. Later, as Taraborrelli reports, Madonna withdrew the charges against him. 
 
 These details, as well as other instances of Penn’s alleged abuse towards Madonna, have been brought up again and again and again. Lee Daniels hardly conjured his remarks out of thin air—they are representative of public perception of both Penn and Howard. ||||| UPDATE: Sean Penn is pulling the lawsuit after he and Lee Daniels came to a settlement that included an apology and a charitable donation to help those in Haiti. 
 
 "I am so sorry that I have hurt you, Sean, and I apologize and retract my reckless statements about you," says Daniels now in a statement that ends the lawsuit. "How thoughtless of me. You are someone I consider a friend, a brilliant actor and true Hollywood legend and humanitarian," Daniels said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "I too have been the subject of false attacks by others, like those made here. My most important role is as a father, and it is important to me that my children learn that it is wrong to reference gossip as fact, as I did here. That can be very damaging and hurtful Domestic violence is a very serious issue. My comments were cavalier; it was not my intention to diminish the severity of the issue, but rather to express a view regarding the disparate treatment of men of color in our national conversation. I apologize again for the distress that this has caused you and your family." 
 
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 Sean Penn has filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against Empire co-creator Lee Daniels. 
 
 E! News obtained the documents filed on Tuesday in New York Supreme Court, which claim that Daniels' recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter falsely accuses Penn of physically abusing women. 
 
 In the interview, Daniels discusses Terrence Howard's recent legal troubles surrounding the domestic violence lawsuit with his ex-wife Michelle Ghent. He says, "[Terrence] ain't done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he's some f--kin' demon. That's a sign of the time, of race, of where we are right now in America." ||||| FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2011 file photo, actor Terrence Howard arrives at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday granted Howard's estranged wife Michelle... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2011 file photo, actor Terrence Howard arrives at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday granted Howard's estranged wife Michelle... (Associated Press) 
 
 Terrence Howard was ordered Tuesday to stay 100 yards (90 meters) away from his estranged wife after she claimed the Oscar-nominated actor repeatedly threatened and hit her during their marriage. 
 
 The star denies the allegations. 
 
 Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon granted the stay-away order sought by Michelle Howard after she filed a lengthy declaration alleging abuse began within a week of the couple's January 2010 marriage. 
 
 Michelle Howard filed for divorce a year later. 
 
 The restraining order remains in effect until a Jan. 17 court hearing. 
 
 In a text message last week, she claims Howard, 42, has repeatedly hit her and threatened her. She stated in a sworn declaration that she is in constant fear of Howard and has chronic health issues caused by the actor's treatment. 
 
 Howard in his own sworn declaration wrote that he has never threatened his wife and that she has repeatedly vowed to ruin his reputation and release private details. 
 
 "I live in constant fear of Michelle's endeavors to ruin my reputation; even providing this declaration may well lead to my being subjected to a paparazzi blitz which would not be good for my career," Howard wrote. 
 
 Michelle Howard wrote that Howard has hit her several times and threatened to throw her from a hotel balcony in South Africa last year. She included a text message she said he sent to her on Thursday in which he begged her not to pursue the divorce and threaten his career, ending the missive, "I can't promise how I will respond." 
 
 Howard wrote in his filing that he immediately followed up the message with another text stating that he wasn't threatening her. 
 
 "Despite my efforts to remove myself physically from (Howard's) life, his periodic mood swings from anger, threats and violence to statements of love and requests for reconciliation continue and have not subsided," she wrote. 
 
 Howard appeared in the first "Iron Man" film and received an Oscar nomination in 2005 for his role in "Hustle and Flow." 
 
 His attorney Christian Markey III did not immediately return an email message seeking comment. 
 
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 Follow Anthony McCartney at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP
– Oscar-winner Sean Penn is suing director Lee Daniels for comparing him to another actor, Terrence Howard, in terms of their alleged history of abusing women, E! Online reports. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Empire co-creator Daniels discusses Empire star Howard being sued by his ex-wife for domestic violence. "[Terrence] ain't done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he's some [expletive] demon," Daniels says. "That's a sign of the time, of race, of where we are right now in America." Penn's lawsuit filed today in New York calls that statement "reckless, false, and defamatory," E! reports. He's seeking $10 million in damages. "Sean has been subjected to false, baseless, and reckless attacks for years, and this is only the most recent example," his attorney tells E! The lawsuit alleges Howard has publicly admitted to abusing at least one woman and has been arrested five or so times for violence against women. On the other hand, the lawsuit boasts Penn—who it refers to as one "of the greatest actors and humanitarians of our time"—has never been arrested or convicted for domestic violence. But Slate reports Penn was arrested for allegedly tying his then-wife Madonna to a chair and physically and emotionally abusing her for hours in 1987. Madonna later dropped the charges.