A federal judge in Philadelphia has ruled that actor Terrence Howard must pay nearly $1 million in back taxes, interest, and penalties.
This decision stems from allegations that Howard threatened a Justice Department lawyer and argued that it was immoral for the U.S. government to tax descendants of slaves.
Howard reportedly evaded attempts by the IRS to collect $578,000 in income taxes that he allegedly failed to pay between 2010 and 2019. The Justice Department initiated a lawsuit against him in 2022.
Despite ongoing efforts to engage Howard in court proceedings following the lawsuit, his only response was a voicemail left for the case’s lead tax attorney in November.
In the voicemail, Howard expressed his perspective on the matter, stating, “Four hundred years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it… Now you have the gall to try and prosecute and charge taxes to the descendants of a broken people that you are responsible for causing the breakage.”
The recording was cut off midsentence, but Howard continued the conversation when he called the attorney back, suggesting that the entire United States should belong to the descendants of slaves. He challenged the attorney to face him in court, stating, “We’re gonna bring you down.”