Read more about Cookie Lyon at: Wikipedia

Official Site: Fox

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 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.

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 Lucious 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 severed 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. During the finale of Season 3, Cookie and her family are together once again at the Laviticus nightclub in Las Vegas, where Jamal performs 'When Cookie Met Lucious'. Lucious is then involved in a car explosion, giving him amnesia and causing him to forget his wife and family. In Season 4, Cookie is the CEO of Empire while Lucious is receiving 'help' from Nurse Claudia after the devastating explosion. Cookie has her suspicions when Claudia begins to inappropriately amuse Lucious, but eventually his memory returns and he kicks Claudia out of the house, satisfying Cookie. Eventually, Cookie and Lucious get remarried in the Season 4 finale. In the Season 5 premiere, it has been revealed that two years has passed since Cookie and Lucious lost Empire to Teddy Barker which is then turned over to Jeff Kingsley after Teddy unexpectedly dies. Eventually, Lucious learns that Jeff is actually Lucious' son that he had with another woman, Tracy Kingsley, before he married Cookie. In the Season 5 finale, Lucious has to temporarily leave New York City since he is wanted by the FBI. He asks Cookie to go with him, but she refuses and tells Lucious that him and Empire aren't good for her. She also reveals to Lucious about the affair she had with Damon Cross and leaves, while Lucious gets on the helicopter and leaves New York City. In the Season 6 premiere, it's learned that six months has passed since Cookie and Lucious separated. Cookie and Lucious get divorced again later in Season 6.

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 Colby. 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."

On February 26, 2014, it was announced that Taraji P. Henson, best known for her Academy Award-nominated performance in the 2008 film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and her most recent stint on the CBS drama, Person of Interest had been cast in the role of Cookie Lyon. After being released from a 17-year prison stint, Cookie challenges her husband Lucious for half Empire Entertainment, which was initially launched with money Cookie made from selling drugs. Knowing they would need well established actors to carry the series, executives at Fox reached out to Henson. Henson who had just ended her stint on Person of Interest in 2013 said she was done with television. However, Henson's manager sent her the script for Empire anyway. Lee Daniels said that Henson was who he "envisioned" when he first thought of the character. Actress and comedian Mo'Nique who also co-starred in the film Precious as the mother of the title character (portrayed by Sidibe)—for which she won an Academy Award—revealed that Daniels had also offered her the role of Cookie, but the network rejected the idea accusing her of being "difficult."

Cookie Lyon has not been a contender in any CBUB matches.