American actor Lee Daniels is in trouble for allegedly making a defamatory statement against his co-actor Sean Penn.

Sean Penn, who co-created Empire in 2014 with Daniels, has filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit at a New York Supreme Court on Tuesday, asserting that Lee Daniels made a malicious comment about him in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter—and he’s going the extra mile to compare him to Empire star Terrence Howard for maltreating women.

“[Terrence] ain’t done nothing different than Marlon Brando or Sean Penn, and all of a sudden he’s some f—in’ demon,” Daniels told THR in reference to to Howard’s recent legal troubles. “That’s a sign of the time, of race, of where we are right now in America.”

The first paragraph of the complaint states, “As a result of Penn’s status as a public figure, he has for years been the subject of scandalous, scurrilous, and baseless attacks. But Penn, like any citizen, has a right to defend himself and will no longer tolerate the reckless and malicious behavior of others, who seek to aggrandize themselves or their projects at his expense. Accordingly, and because of Daniels’ defamatory statements, Penn brings this action for monetary relief, and to deter Daniels and others from their defamatory actions.”

According to The Hollywood reporter; Penn nods to reports that Howard has publicly admitted to physically abusing women and says that Daniels’ statements are “egregious” on several levels, including that Daniels, who co-created the Fox hit series Empire and scored an Oscar nomination for directing Precious, appears to acknowledge Howard’s guilt and “also seems to condone Howard’s reported misconduct.”

Penn thinks it’s improper that Daniels came to Howard’s defense as “apparently part of a misguided campaign to profit and further bolster and brand his show Empire (on the eve of the Emmy Awards, when the statements were made).”

“Third, and most problematic,” continues the lawsuit, which mentions Penn’s accolades, including Oscar wins for Milk and Mystic River and charitable endeavors, “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.”

So far reps of Daniels are yet make any comment on the suit…