You don’t mess with Empire’s Cookie Lyon — and you especially don’t mess with her portrayer, Taraji P. Henson. Both women are tough Empire ladies who know how to stand up for themselves. And Henson’s advice to empower themselves is just as blunt and straight to the point as you’d expect, according to People.
“Just don’t take no s–––,” Henson told People at the 2016 Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards in Los Angeles on Wednesday. “You know, know you have a voice. Know that your voice is important, and fight until it’s heard. That’s what I did.”
Henson won the Lucy Award for Excellence in Television and her speech was so empowering. “People are honoring me, and that’s because I’ve worked my a–– off to let people know that my voice is important, and you will not smother me,” she said. “You will not tell me that I’m not important. You will not tell me. So that’s how I build a career. I watched a lot of people eat crow.”