<Ul> <Li> Bunkie Williams </Li> <Li> Jermel Stubbs </Li> </Ul> <P> Loretha "Cookie" Lyon (née Holloway) is a fictional character from the American musical drama Empire on Fox . Portrayed by Taraji P. Henson, Cookie is one of the main characters within the series, the queen bee and the ex-wife of former drug dealer turned hip - hop mogul, Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) who gets released from prison and strikes out to lay claim to half of their multimillion - dollar record label, which was initially funded by her drug money . </P> <P> In the show's first episode, Cookie gets released from prison and immediately visits Jamal, her gay son (Jussie Smollett), the only member of the family that has kept in touch with her . Cookie then confronts Lucious (Terrence Howard) demanding half of the company, but he refuses and instead offers her a seven - figure income and living arrangements . She quickly realizes that her youngest son Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray) wants nothing to do with her . The oldest and most qualified businessman, Andre (Trai Byers), convinces Cookie to manage Jamal's career, which puts Jamal and Hakeem head to head . This action also results in Cookie and Lucious being at odds . Cookie is devastated when her cousin Bunkie is discovered murdered . When she was in bed with Luscious Lyon, this was confessed in his sleep . At the same time she schemes to get Jamal to come out publicly during Hakeem's debut performance at Lucious' club . While that plan falls apart, Jamal ends up performing with Hakeem anyway . He later performs a song (You're so Beautiful) that reveals his sexuality to the public, infuriating Lucious . Cookie is later confronted by federal agents who want her to testify in front of a grand jury against the drug dealer that she ratted out to obtain her release who was Frank Gathers . In Season 2, after the arrest of Lucious, she attempts to make a hostile takeover in Empire but fails due to their investor siding with Lucious and Jamal, further damaging Jamal and Cookie's relationship . Frank Gathers then sends Jermel's decapitated head to Cookie and Carol and realises that he is out to get her . She then tells Lucious to take care of it, which then leads to Gathers being killed by his own goons . She then creates a new company with Hakeem named Lyon Dynasty after the failed hostile takeover, which then causes a conflict with Lucious' Empire and Cookie's Lyon Dynasty . After Jamal is shot by Freda Gatz, Frank Gathers' daughter, she tries to fix the Lyon family's mistakes . In Season 3, further conflict occurs in the Lyon family as Rhonda is killed, Andre gets into trouble and Shyne attempts to eliminate one of her sons . Her family then starts to fall apart after the arrival of Giluana, Lucious' former lover and the removal of Bella Lyon by child services . The season finale of Season 3 sees Cookie and her family together once again during the Lativicus Las Vegas' When Cookie Met Lucious' but goes downfall after an explosion leads to Lucious having amnesia, forgetting his offsprings and ex wife . </P> <P> Executive producer Lee Daniels revealed that Cookie was loosely based on the women in his life including his sister as well as Joan Collins' Dynasty character, Alexis Carrington . Cookie will stop at nothing to get what she wants and she will cause "havoc" along the way . Henson said in an interview with TV Guide, that Cookie is the "hood version of Mama Rose from Gypsy ." </P>

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