01x09 - Unto the Breach

Episode transcripts for the 2015 TV show "Empire". Aired January 2015 - April 2020.*
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Hip-hop artist and CEO of Empire Entertainment receives a medical diagnosis predicting he will be incapacitated within three years, prompting the sharks to circle. Without further damaging his family, he must decide which of his three sons will take over...
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01x09 - Unto the Breach

Post by bunniefuu »

Previously, on Empire...

Billy Beretti tried to ruin me. He is my enemy.

Without me, you'd still be selling CDs out of the trunk of your car.

Are you here to thr*aten me?

Give it your best sh*t.

This is Ryan.

He's gonna be sh**ting our Legacy doc.

I've been trying to come out for months.

Ryan: This is just who you are.

Do it for yourself.


Andre: He just came out.

You know why my family hates me?

Because I'm not talented.

I will have you committed

if you do not take those damn pills.

(Clicks)

(Gasps)

Anika: I already know about the little reunion that you and Lucious had.

Cookie: Did he tell you about the big reunion we had last night?

After he promised he would never do it again.

Anika: Anika Calhoun to see

Billy Beretti.

Woman: As soon as we've gotten word that you've left the chapel, the Chateau's gamekeeper will release the doves just as the bridal party makes their entrance.

George and Amal had doves.

Well, to hell with them.

We'll have more doves, more champagne, more everything; and with this funny bitch racking up my bill.

(Both laughing)

Cookie: Lucious!

Hi, grandma.

Hi, baby.

Where your grandfather?

Lucious!

Lucious!

Lucious.

She playin' you.

E-excuse me, we are in the middle of planning a wedding.

Excuse me! You in the middle of getting your ass gone.

Cookie: You, too, fake-ass Jackie O.

Kick rocks! It's family business.

What are you doing?

She working with Beretti.

Yeah, while you up in here planning weddings, this bitch planning how to steal everything you got...

Which is everything I got...

And I'm not finna let that happen.

Tell him, boo boo kitty.

I'm... she-she...

Oh-oh, ah-ah, she-she, buh-buh-buh-buh. Oh, now you can't speak English?

(Chuckles) Yes, she did, Lucious.

And she tried to take Porsha. Sho' did.

You paid Porsha to spy on me?

And I spied right back on your ass.

Lucious, this is not how I... You know what?

You 'bout to break yourself.

Believe that.

Bye, Felicia! Come on, let's go grab this ho clothes, help her move out.

What did you do?

What did you do?

What did you do?

Get this damn... these ugly-ass debutante clothes out of here! Get out of here!

Get me Malcolm now.

Grandpa.

Not now, baby.

Malcolm, I need you to lock down Empire.

(Cookie shouting indistinctly) Veronica. V, hey. Okay, remember how we couldn't get Kanye on your next album?

Guess what. Empire couldn't, but Creedmoor can.

I'm leaving. Porsha! Phone check!

Anika: Beretti's coming to take me straight to his office... Meet me there.

Phone check!

But if anyone from Empire calls, don't take the call. Girl! Hey.

Let me get that.

(Quietly): I am not...

Anika!

Are you playing me with all those wedding plans, just trying to buy time?

You are accusing me of betrayal?

After all those women, all those lies, and now her?

I told you, that's over.

It's not over.

It's over.

It's not...

It's over!

The only way for this to be over is for me to leave, because you just keep stringing me along, Lucious, and I... I'm tired.

Baby, baby, baby, stop! With everything...

Stop. This is not even me!

I am not a treacherous person, Lucious, but you...

You...

You have twisted my love and made it some awful thing.

I was wrong...

But I'm scared... I'm dying.

And you have to understand, when a man in my position says "please," it means something.

Please, I need you to tell me what you planned with Beretti, so I can fix it.

Oh, my God.

You are sick!

So I can fix this.

Go away, Lucious!

Let me fix it!

Cookie: Hey!

Don't let her take that car!

That's Empire's property!

Anika! Keep the keys!

Keep the phone! Hear me out!

Yeah, when a man like you says "please," it means something... It means you're lying!

When a man like me says

"hear me out," you hear me out, 'cause your life could depend on it.

Are you threatening me?

If you tell Beretti about my ALS...

(Panting): And my IPO goes down...

Your father's gonna be convicted of fraud.

(Crying)

♪ ♪

Lucious.

You started it.

Now I'm gonna finish it.

(Gentle intro playing)

♪ ♪
♪ This ain't just some ♪
♪ Crazy sexy love song ♪
♪ And this ain't for ♪
♪ Just to get you in my bed ♪
♪ Said this ain't so ♪
♪ I can taste all of your body ♪
♪ And this ain't for us ♪
♪ To just be tainting heads ♪
♪ It's for all of the above... ♪
♪ Now we're here making love... ♪

It's really good. It's really good.

♪ It's for all of the above... ♪

Don't you have to be at the studio with Delphine?

Come on, divas on her level, they always show up last.

(Chuckles)

But, um...

She said that the cover of your dad's song, she thought it was brilliant.

Really?

Mm-hmm.

Why don't you come here and let me show you the other thing that I'm brilliant at.

Jamal? Mally-Mal, where you...

Damn.

We got all kind of emergencies poppin' off, and you ain't answering your phone?

We at w*r. Quit touching all on each other.

And put your chest up.

Wait, what do you mean, w*r?

Cookie needs you at Empire now!

Lucious: Yo, I need everyone in the conference room now.

Beretti already has the jump on us.

I need to know how much damage Anika has done.

I warned you about her, Lucious... I tried to tell you.

Give it a rest, Cookie.

Now, you know she gonna fight dirty.

This is personal for her.

Yeah, well, it's personal for me, too.

How bad is it, Malcolm?

Don't worry, we're on top of it, sir.

But we're sweeping hard drives, checking cell phones.

Rest assured, I will be defending your Empire, and I'm not gonna stop until we neutralize this enemy.

Thank you, Malcolm.

Thank you, Malcolm.

Lucious: As long as you are married to that stinkin' white bitch, you will never run my company...

("Company" echoing)

(Toilet flushing)

Rhonda (Calls): Babe?

(Sniffs)

Babe. Yeah?

Hey, something's going down at Empire.

(Electronic dinging)

Carlos!

Tiana didn't leave... She stays on the Empire side.

And Lucious is working his lawyers to get Titan out of jail.

(Sighs) Elle, please. She's doing this to hurt Lucious.

It has nothing to do with what's best for you... Which is me and Empire.

We need personal stuff...

Artists' and managers' home addresses, what clubs they hit, who they're sleeping with, how they party, how they get down, all right?

Elle stayed with us... she said she'd rather go to jail dad, we got this. Chicken scored some C-4.

We're gonna blow Creedmoor to the ground.

What?!

Do you know who serious this is?

This isn't a video. You want to learn something?

This is w*r. Tuck in and learn.

Listen up, everyone.

This morning, Beretti tried to test our heart.

Now, where I'm from, someone tries to test your heart, you take their head off.

Now, the heart of Empire is its family.

And like any family, we've had our differences, but when a family is in crisis, they put the differences aside and they come together.

So we have less than 24 hours to assure these streets that Empire is stronger now than it's ever been before and this family can take whatever artists it wants and can keep the artists it has.

You draw blood!

I'm gonna try to sign Delphine today, and I talked to Martina, Lowboy and Coagulation.

They're all staying at Empire... Lowboy wouldn't even talk to Anika What are you doing talking to Lowboy?

Why wouldn't I talk to Lowboy?

He's just worried some about artists trippin', 'cause you came out of the closet at that white party.

It's for damn sure gonna hurt us with Royale-T.

You don't contact Royale-T.

Why don't you relax? I don't even roll with dudes like that.

Whatever happens, we don't lose Royale-T.

He's a top-tier artist.

Let me get at him, MC to MC.

No, no, no.

Right now it's about who shows up, son... he's way too hood, and you got to be a real monster to deal with him.

I got you. Where they at?

They're at ghetto ass studios right now.

Oh, I should have asked before I volunteered.

That place is nasty.

Becky: Um...

Where the hell is Andre?

Here, let me call him for you.

Veronica: ♪ What are we fighting for ♪
♪ Ah, ah ♪
♪ What are we fighting for ♪
♪ Ah, ah ♪
♪ Why can't we make love ♪
♪ Not w*r ♪
♪ Ya b*at my heart until you ♪
♪ Made it black ♪
♪ And blue ♪
♪ Black ♪
♪ And blue ♪
♪ Made it black ♪
♪ And blue ♪
♪ Black ♪
♪ And blue ♪
♪ Ooh... ah. ♪

Simple and beautiful.

Kanye's verse with that is going to k*ll.

It's gonna be a monster hit, V.

The first of many.

(Softly): Okay.

I want you to book Lachapelle for a fashion sh**t.

I want the big push.

Okay?

Yeah.

I'm going to do more for you in a week than Lucious did in a year.

And a year from now, everyone's gonna know your name.

Thank you, Billy, so much.

You're welcome. You deserve it.

Thank you.

Um...

I spoke to the managers for Lil Cherry, Black Mythology and Industry, and they're all gonna come with me to Creedmoor.

How about Tiana?

That's gonna be a little bit more difficult.

She was the girlfriend of Lucious's son.

That's why I want her.

I can get Travie Wild. We partied in Belize a couple months ago, and I think he in town talking to labels or something.

Yeah, then he needs to be talking to me.

I'll hit him up.

Get him on the phone, let me do the talking.

Lucious: Where the hell have you been?

Delayed at the bank.

We'll need enticements for artists and managers...

That's just a must... And those auditors, those damn auditors, they can't know it's from a cash account. They will never catch it.

I'm 100% sure of that.

Yo, we're buying loyalty with hookers and blow?

That's not Empire.

Lucious: Now, this is the music business, and it may take hookers and blow to try and reclaim some of the artists that took off after you went prancing about with your little freak flag.

You know what? You're right about one thing.

Sexual proclivity is what put us in this position.

Your proclivity, and the fact that you can't manage to simply keep it in your pants.

And if the creeps and the bigots want to be over at Creedmoor, I don't give a damn, let them. I don't want them at my company, and neither should you.

Dad, Travie.

Oh. Your company?

You better hold on there.

Travie.

I miss him, too.

Even after all these years.

After my son d*ed...

Lucious was the first artist that I signed.

And when he took the money and ran, I didn't produce an album for almost a year.

I had no idea you lost a son.

Leukemia.

He was nine.

Tell me what I don't know about Lucious that will help us...

Take him down.

Is he gambling again?

Doing dr*gs?

Lucious doesn't use.

Why are we even talking about this?

I'm here for the music, Billy.

This isn't about the music...

And you know that.

Lucious hurts people all the time, and he gets away with it.

That stops now.

I think that...

We should keep this relationship professional, Billy.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

♪ She can be a thot, be a dime turnin' ♪
♪ Up for the night, get it down, down low ♪
Down low
♪ Get it down, get it down, down low, get it down ♪
Down low
♪ Get it down, down low ♪
Down low
♪ Get it down, get it down, down low ♪
Down low
♪ get it down ♪
♪ Get it down, down low ♪
♪ West Side ♪

(Knocking)

♪ West Side, they wonder why I say West Side ♪
♪ I ride, till I die ♪
♪ R.I.P. To the girl left eye... ♪

Tyree, you still working that same bowl of cereal?

What's up, girl?

I need to see him. That's my artist.

I'm going in. Let me in there.

Man: Damn, dude, that hook was hot.

Yeah, you worked that.

Hey, Royale-T, friend of mine, Cookie, wants to see you.

Cookie Lyon, as in Lucious Lyon, as in Empire...

Your label.

Cookie Lyon, Empire.

Are you really doing this, hanging with these roaches from Creedmoor?

You see, T, that's the problem with these thots, man.

(Others laugh) They don't know how to let men drink in peace.

I only see one man in here...

And he's been happy and prosperous at Empire.

Am I right?

I could be happy a lot of places, Cookie.

Why don't you let G's do what they do?

And then you come back when it's time to clean up.

You ain't no G.

You's a Mark.

I did 17 years in the feds.

I know a Buster when I see one. Mark.

Oh, so you did time, huh?

Yep.

Look at that.

Mixin' pruno in my cell...

Which is way more potent than this little...

Sissy purple drink y'all sippin' on.

Tyree: Cookie, you gonna die half a sip in.

(Others laugh, chatter)

Oh, yeah? Well...

Let's see who goes harder, Empire...

Or Creedmoor...

(Sets bottle down)

G.

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, huh ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ Oh, oh ♪
♪ ♪

Oh, my God, I love sh**ting you.

You just make my job so easy.

Thank you.

That was really, really strong.

Thank you. Oh.

Jamal's here.

Come on.

(Chuckles)

Hi!

Oh, no.

Hello!

I'm a big fan.

Oh, the feeling is so, so mutual.

I am so honored to meet the amazing Ms. Delphine.

Thank you, thank you. I mean, what you did, coming out to the whole world at the white party, singing your dad's song, that was amazing.

Thank you.

Nah, Lucious must have loved it.

Uh... no.

(Laughs)

But, I mean, yes and...

Mm, are you ready to do this?

Get him some headphones. We're gonna sing this song.

We gonna do this, then.

We can do this. Come on.

We're gonna do this.

Take off that coat! Come on!

Travie, there's not a more artist-focused label than the Empire.

No, no, no, no. It's not about your label.

It's that you're a label at all. I mean, the Internet k*lled you; You know that, right?

You know I can't give you 30% when I can release my stuff online.

You're old.

You're dying.

Then why'd you take this meeting, Travie?

Like I told Hakeem, I respect your dad.

Back in the day, you changed the game.

I just wanted to shake your hand. But look, man, I'm done sharecropping, all right?

Paying for your fancy offices and your private jets.

Well, you're right, you're absolutely right.

And the main reason that we are taking the Empire public is to give the artist an opportunity to be back in control of the music again, and to participate in the profits of it.

You won't be robbed by streaming services, Travie, because you're not going to need streaming services. The Empire catalogue is going to be its own streaming service...

A joint venture with our artists.

But that's just one component of our model...

A new paradigm. You see, music...

Isn't the cargo anymore, my man.

It's the track, and faster than ever.

Right?

Literally, the speed of light. Every car on the train is another exploitation of your brand...

Concerts, endorsements... And you're an equity partner, in everything. Can't no other label do this, man.

Not one. Why?

Because we...

Are independent.

I'm not paying you 30%.

Brother, we can cut that in half and both make more money.

A lot of money. (Lucious laughing)

Andre: Yeah? You know what I'm saying? Right?

Mo' money, mo' money, mo' money...

Thank you, Dre.

Thank you, Dre. Thank you.

Your brother's a smart guy.

Yeah, and he's gonna make us a lot of money.

I like the sound of that, Lucious.

My people will call you.

Good man. Thank you.

Good man. All right.

Hakeem: I'll show you out.

(Sighs)

(Line ringing)

Lucious (Recorded): Yo, what up? This is Lucious.

Dad, dad, I'm still up here with Delphine.

Let's get her at Empire.

I'm telling you, we could do this. Call me back.

Delphine: You know the words?

Jamal (Laughs): I know the words.

Don't mess up my song.

I know your song.

Okay. You got it.

♪ ♪
♪ Life is like a big merry-go-round ♪
♪ You're up and then down ♪
♪ Going in circles ♪
♪ Trying to get to where you are ♪
♪ Everybody's been counting you out ♪
♪ But where are they now? ♪
♪ Sitting in ♪
♪ The same old place ♪
♪ Just faces in the crowd ♪
♪ Well, we all make mistakes ♪
♪ You might fall on your face ♪
♪ But you gotta get up ♪
♪ I'd rather stand tall ♪
♪ Than live on my knees ♪
♪ than live on my knees ♪
♪ 'Cause I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ And I won't accept defeat ♪
♪ Try telling me no ♪
♪ One thing about me ♪
♪ One thing about me ♪
♪ Is I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ Whoa, oh, oh... ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
♪ I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ We all make mistakes ♪
♪ You might fall ♪
♪ On your face ♪
♪ But you gotta get up ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ We all make mistakes ♪
♪ We all make mistakes ♪
♪ You might fall ♪
♪ On your face ♪
♪ Don't ever give up... ♪
♪ I'd rather stand tall ♪
♪ Whoo, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Than live on my knees ♪
♪ Than live on my knees ♪
♪ 'Cause I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ And I won't accept defeat ♪
♪ And I won't accept defeat ♪
♪ Try telling me no ♪
♪ Try telling me no ♪
♪ One thing about me ♪
♪ One thing about me ♪
♪ Is I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ Yeah... ♪
♪ Oh ♪
♪ Oh, oh ♪
♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Oh, oh, whoa ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
♪ Ooh ♪
♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
♪ I am a Conqueror ♪
♪ Oh, oh. ♪
♪ ♪

My cousin's heart stopped right after what you put down.

Hey.

Mm?

I'm the last man standing.

(Laughing)

But you ain't... You-you ain't a man, though.

And you ain't standing, neither. You...

Well...

You ain't gonna leave us, is you?

All right, look, I-I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what.

If you... if you could walk after that next sh*t...

Or round... then I'm gonna stay at Empire, and we gonna be a family.

All right, hit me. Come on.

I'll get it.

Stir this up a little bit.

Mm-hmm.

Mm...

(Sniffs)

Come on-on-on-on-on.

Okay.

Just pour...

Cookie: To the Empire.

Here's to Empire.

(Sputters)

(Gags)

Mm.

Mm-hmm.

Mm.

Well, mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

(Quiet belch)

See you at the Empire.

(Both laugh)
(Hits piano keys)

I got it, I got it.

Why you go off on Andre like that and make me sit there like your little pet dog?

Instead of treating me like the man that's gonna run Empire someday, huh?

Dad, I'm literally in the studio right now with Delphine.

Her contract is up after this album, and I talked her into meeting with you tonight.

So call me back, 'cause we can do this.

(Sighs)

Why do you think I picked you to be the one who watches and learns firsthand?

I'm handing you the Baton.

But I'm not doing that until I know you can run like the wind and can handle it.

(Cookie groans softly, mumbles)

Cookie: What was I thinking, hey, hanging out with these kids?

(Mumbling)

(Yelling)

Yeah! Yeah!

Cookie: Now what, bitch?!

That's what happens when you mess with Cookie!

You okay?

Oh, what you doing here?

You know, this is a bad neighborhood.

Aw, you worried about me?

I'm fine.

So are you.

Cookie, come on.

Yeah, that's my name... Take a bite.

You know I got rules, right?

Oh, man, break the rules!

Rules are made to be broken.

Don't follow the rules.

Look, Lucious is my boss, and he's still in love with you.

Cookie (Slurring): Lucious, Lucious, Lucious, Lucious.

You okay?

Lucious don't care about nobody but himself.

Well, it's my job to study people.

Study me.

Watch yourself.

And the way he looks at you...

(Mock groaning)

Whatever that is, that's too intense.

So you're off limits to me.

Aw, come on, take these cookies.

Take 'em. I won't tell.

Come on, Cookie.

Take these cookies!

All right. All right.

Lucious! Lucious!

Lucious, Travie Wild is with Beretti.

He just sent him his private jet to go to Heathrow.

No, that's impossible.

I have a source.

Look, I don't need you to follow me around like a lost puppy.

You want to help me, find your brother Andre! I need that cash.

Yeah, but how he gonna have Travie Wild and then lose him?

You know, it's like, what the hell's going on?

But where is Dre?

Dad is looking for him.

Did he even hear my voice mail about Delphine?

Fool, dad looking for you.

What are you talking about?

What's this?

Picking up the new car, brother.

Lamborghini.

Have to wine and dine our artists in style, right?

That's my job. You do know that's my job, to wine and dine the artist in style? That's what I do...

I take care of everybody.

You bought a new car?

With the slush fund money?

Dad want that money, and he looking for you.

You gonna be in big trouble.

Oh, don't you worry about Andre, baby brother.

Andre is good. (Kissing)

Yo! Stop, man!

Come on with that gay stuff, man.

(Andre yells)

Hakeem: Yo!

What the hell's wrong with you!

Why would you do that, man?

Jamal: What the hell's wrong with you!

Why would you do that?

Hey, get off me, man.

Get off!

Dre! Dre!

(Loud clattering) Get off him!

Hakeem: What's that? What's that?

Get off him!

Hold on, what's that?

We're stuck. Hold up.

Hang on, hang on.

No service, man!

Chill.

I-I... we-we could just give it away.

(Pants)

Come on.

I can explain the car. It-it has value.

Uh, uh... if we give it to somebody, then... then they'll take it.

Then that's what we'll do. They'll take it if we give it to some... And dad doesn't have to know.

Dad doesn't have to know.

Well, Dre, we get it, man.

No, Andre got this.

It's all right.

We'll-we'll-we'll give it away, Andre'll give it away.

He can take over anything; He's sharp.

(Snapping fingers)

Dre...

We cool, all right?

Billy: Too late, Lucious.

So you bought yourself another punk-ass rock star, but you'll never have any talent.

I'll produce all the hits, but the artists will be the stars.

That's what you hate about us, and that's your tragedy.

Your tragedy talks in her sleep.

She mumbles your name.

(Men speak indistinctly)

I got what I needed from her, and I got rid of her.

Oops, I think I did that to you, too.

This doesn't happen here.

You know, I used to pity you...

When you first lost your son.

You're beyond pity.

You and that punk Travie Wild deserve each other.

Malcolm: The elevator's not a malfunction.

We're being hacked from the 18th floor.


Elevators, phone, Internet.

Reprogram Delta. I'm on my way.

(Quietly): No, no, he'll never see me, not like he sees you.

No matter what I do, he'll never see me, man. God!

Andre, just chill, man. Please.

Oh, you got no idea!

Dre.

You weren't even there when it was really hard!

When we were kids and that struggle was pitch black, it was only me!

Me! Me!

You were babies!

Dre, we were babies.

I worked harder than anybody up in here.

I made Empire!

8:00 to 10:00!

8:00 to 10:00! 8:00 to 10:00!

Every day!

I'd go home and work!

Dre, 'cause we just... Yeah, 'cause we were babies.

Remember-remember when we were kids and there'd be sh*ts outside, or aunt Carol acting crazy, all high or whatever, and we'd freak out and you'd calm us down? You and mom, you'd always sing a song to calm us down. Dre.

You remember it? I don't even remember it.

You got to remember it.

(Humming "lean on me")

♪ Sorrow ♪
♪ But ♪

(Hakeem beatboxing)

♪ If we are wise ♪
♪ We know that there's ♪
♪ Always tomorrow ♪

That's your part, fool.

Come on, Dre.

♪ Lean on me ♪

(Snapping fingers)

♪ When you're not strong ♪
♪ I'll be your friend ♪
♪ I'll help you ♪
♪ Carry on ♪
♪ For ♪
♪ It won't be long ♪
♪ Till I'm gonna need ♪
♪ Somebody to lean on ♪

Jamal and Andre: ♪ You just call on me, brother ♪
♪ When you need a hand ♪

All: ♪ We all need somebody ♪
♪ To lean on ♪
♪ I just might have a problem ♪
♪ That you understand ♪
♪ We all need somebody ♪
♪ To lean on. ♪

Becky (Sighs): They're b*ating us!

We can't afford to lose more artists.

Y'all got stuck in an elevator?

Hey, did you get my voice mail about Delphine?

Andre: I know how we get Travie back.

Give him the Lamborghini I bought.

Cookie: What are y'all doing sitting on your asses?

Tiana's on her way to meet Anika.

If we lose Tiana...

It's open season.

That's your girlfriend!

No.

Look, Lucious, Tiana's my responsibility.

I shouldn't have been so smug about her.

No, she's mine now. Where are they meeting at?

Uh, Sidney's in Chelsea.

Okay. Got it.

I'll get the car.

Wait, no, no, no. Dad, dad.

Delphine is gonna meet me at Laviticus. I can sign her.

I just need for you to be there with me.

Did you not hear what's going on?

Yeah, but...

Cookie: Lucious.

Delphine is bigger than Tiana.

Three Platinum albums, a sold-out tour.

Don't be stupid.

I don't need her.

Hakeem: But...

She's bigger than Travie Wild.

You know what?

Lucious, why don't y'all deal with Delphine.

I'll get Tiana back, baby. Believe that.

You, come with me.

You want me to come?

I need you to come with me.

Cookie: Come on.

Why would you not want her?

'Cause I don't want her.

Because if I bring a big star that was at the white party and doesn't care that I'm gay, then all of a sudden I have more leverage, huh?

You don't want it looking like your gay son is taking over the Empire.

Don't act like you know me.

Dad...

Dad... dad!

Hey!

This is a heart check right now, okay?

They are coming for us. You can sit and you can stew over some embarrassment about some party that doesn't even matter anymore, or you could step up and you could take some heads off.

Now, Delphine idolizes you, all right?

But she wants to work with me, the gay one.

You said that families put aside their differences.

So put aside your played-out h*m* unless it's more important to you than Empire.

Call Andre's wife.

Get her down here. don't let him leave.

Yes, sir.

Do not let Andre out of the building.

Andre better find Travie Wild.

That's what Andre's got to do.

He's got to find Travie...

Oh, excuse me. Andre.

Excuse me.

Get your hands off me.

I'm... Whose business is this? Come on.

Andre.

Get out of the way, man.

I need you to stay here.

You know you're fired, right?

Go home, baby.

Andre.

Just joking, man. It's all good.

Your dad just asked...

Yeah, my dad knows where I'm going.

Yeah, I know.

Hey. Get your hands off me!

Hey. Hey...

(Laughing): Okay.

Okay, okay.

Get off of me!

It's okay. It's okay.

It's okay. It's okay.

It's okay.

Hakeem (Calls): Anika, wait!

Anika!

Why are you doing this? Huh?

Look, Keem, you wouldn't understand, okay?

Just leave it alone.

My dad hurt you.

He hurts us all sometimes, you know that.

But we forgive him.

Yeah, I forgave him, too, and look what happened, Keem.

See? That's the problem with your family.

You're my family, too.

You've been there through everything.

And it's not gonna be right without you.

You belong with us.

Look, I tried.

Okay? But nothing was what I was promised, Keem.

Yes, I love your father, but I can't do this anymore.

I'd come back if I could, but I have to make the best of this.

All right.

You little bastard.

Hakeem: Look, I know dad ain't do right by you, but I got to do right by him.

Sorry.

Keem...

Keem, Hakeem...

Can't let you do that.

Empire was ready to dump me as soon as I wasn't Hakeem's girl anymore.

Anika told me that that was Lucious's orders.

Oh, hold up, now. Now, that's not true.

Cookie: She said that to lure you from us.

Lucious cares more about business than he does about Hakeem's hurt feelings.

It's sad but true.

You will never find somebody who's gonna work harder for you than Cookie.

Mm, that's not what you said about her before.

I wish I didn't say that.

And I'm hoping she'll forgive me.

Oh, my love for you is unconditional, boy.

Well, I want to be at Empire, but I want it to be how it was.

You mean...

You and me.

Look, if she can forgive you, then...

Maybe you can forgive me and we can be together again.

I do...

But I can't be with you like that again.

I'm still in love with Camilla.

I know we're supposed to do whatever it is to get Tiana back...

I'm not gonna lie to you.

Cookie: Look, no matter what, Tiana, you're family to us, and Empire was built on family.

And now we're building your career.

Trust me, Beretti don't care about you.

This is about a w*r he started with Lucious a long time ago, and now he's just trying to settle the score.

So I trust that you will make the right decision for your career.

♪ ♪

Your son blew me away. I mean, you must be so incredibly proud of him. I mean...

Jamal is...

A beast.

He is. (Chuckles)

You know, I brought Delphine to Empire six years ago, before she blew up.

Your A-and-R girl wouldn't sign her.

Yeah, well, that A-and-R girl is no longer with us.

And I will be handling you personally.

Oh, wow.

Oh, my God! I mean, I told Jamal how much of a fan I was of you.

Like, ever since I heard Lucious Lyon booming out of boom boxes in west London, It was, like, aah! And I thought, you know, I'm gonna do a song with him, the crowd's gonna go wild...

Crazy.

Well, what is your favorite song?

"You're so beautiful," of course. I mean...

Well, we can make that a reality right now.

Oh, God. And Jamal, too?

(Chuckles softly)

Yeah. Yeah. (Laughs)

Let's do it!

Come on.

Come on, come on, come on.

Lucious: Nah, nah, nah.

Y'all like to talk. Y'all like to...

(Crowd cheering, whooping)

Man: Come on, Lucious!

Yeah, Lucious! You know you're the man!

Ladies and gentlemen, this beautiful, talented young woman was just telling me how much she likes my earlier stuff, so I thought, let's give her something, all right?

(Cheering, whistling)

♪ ♪
♪ Bum, bum, bum, bum ♪
♪ Bum ♪
♪ Bum, bum, bum, bum ♪
♪ Bum ♪
♪ You're beautiful ♪
♪ Sometimes you feel insecure ♪
♪ Trust me, babe, I understand ♪

(Lucious chuckles)

♪ Even with no manicure ♪
♪ Just know that I'll still hold your hand ♪
♪ Yeah, listen, you look so good when you're walking by ♪
♪ Sexy comes in every size ♪
♪ Keep wearing that, baby ♪
♪ You ain't playin' ♪
♪ You got yourself a new man ♪
♪ Don't need no workout plan ♪
♪ I call that baby fat ♪
♪ Baby fat ♪
♪ You sure look good to me and I think ♪
♪ You're so beautiful ♪
♪ Shake it, shake it ♪
♪ So one, two, three ♪
♪ Let's go ♪
♪ Move it, move it ♪
♪ Go up down, up down, up down ♪
♪ Up and down ♪
♪ Go up down, up down, up down, shake it fast ♪
♪ Come on ♪
♪ It's yours ♪
♪ It's yours ♪

Hey!

Ladies and gentlemen, please give it up for Empire artist Tiana, my baby brother Hakeem and the queen of Empire, Hakeem: ♪ You're so pretty ♪

Ms. Cookie Lyon! Come on!

♪ Wit'cho fine ass ♪
♪ Beautiful curves looking like a wine glass ♪
♪ Beautiful heart, something like a bypass ♪
♪ You can go first, I can get you high class, baby ♪
♪ I love girls, girls, girls, girls, girls ♪
♪ I do adore ♪
♪ I take 'em all around the world, world, world ♪
♪ Yeah ♪
♪ Damn, you're so perfect ♪
♪ Underneath the surface and you got a ♪
♪ Smile like the sunshine ♪
♪ You keep it sexy ♪
♪ Your shoes are Giuseppe and hot damn it ♪
♪ You got my tongue tied, baby ♪

Hakeem: ♪ Good girl with a bad side ♪
♪ I'm a dog, we can get into a cat fight ♪
♪ If you act right, I can hit you back right ♪
♪ Make me wanna k*ll the kitty like your cat d*ed ♪
♪ You're so beautiful ♪
♪ Shake it, shake it ♪
♪ Give the world a show ♪

Hakeem: ♪ Hands up, hands up ♪
♪ Move it, move it ♪
♪ Go up down, up down, up and down ♪
♪ Go up down, up down, up and down ♪
♪ Shake it fast ♪
♪ We the Lyons ♪
♪ You're so beautiful. ♪

(Song ends, applause)

Oh!

(Laughs)

Damn!

He's right. I can't.

I can't get it right, I can't get it right.

Andre, baby, you got to calm down.

Don't tell me to calm down.

Don't you ever tell me to calm down, you hear me?

Ever!

(Sighs)

You taking his side now?

You taking his side?!

I'm on your side, baby.

Damn!

(Grunts)

You never been on my side!

What you doing to me, man?

I'm trying to help you, son.

Oh, son?

Oh, so you acknowledge I exist now?

I'm your progeny, huh?

Yes, you exist. Yes, you are my son, and I love you.

Oh, you love me, too?

He loves me, too. (Chuckles)

You choosing me to take over Empire, since you love me?

You know I haven't decided which one of my sons...

Piece of business advice from that Wharton education you paid so handsomely for.

You pick the one who knows you're a m*rder*r.

Huh? (Laughs)

You scared?!

You scared? Huh?

Son, son, son.

Yeah, son. Son what?

Calm down.

Don't like it when Andre talking the truth?!

No, Andre, Andre, calm down?

The real truth! What?

Andre don't have to relax.

Andre doesn't have to relax.

You need to relax.

Andre is carefree, baby.

You need to relax.

You need to relax.

Andre is carefree, baby.

Calm down, bro.

Touch me, I'll k*ll you.

Touch me, I'll k*ll you!

Andre.

Hey, relax.

Get your hands off me.

Touch me, I'll k*ll you.

Get your hands off me!

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

(Shouting)

Stop fighting! Stop fighting!

Andre, calm down.

Hold him down. Relax.

Take it easy, sir.

Easy.

Calm down, sir.

(Groaning)

Okay, we're good.

Man: Need you to sign this, sir, for a 48-hour hold, next of kin.

Man: Let's get him out of here.

That's his wife.
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