“HE WILL MARRY ME” Taraji P Henson Reveals Why She STOLE Ime Udoka | Nia Long Reaction | HO’
Taraji P. Henson isn’t losing sleep over what Nia Long thinks—not after the history they share. The Empire star has reportedly moved closer to Ime Udoka, the same man who was engaged to Long for over a decade before a cheating scandal blew up his career. And for Taraji? This isn’t about love. It’s about getting even.
“I’m not even dating right now,” Taraji recently said. “No, I’m not dealing with nobody’s unhealed son. Can I get an amen? I protect my peace at all cost. If you’re not on a healing journey, I can’t talk to you. Buh-bye.”
She added, “It cost me my peace, and I’m not willing to give that up. I finally got here.”
But that peace apparently made room for Udoka. The Houston Rockets head coach—who was fired by the Boston Celtics in 2022 after reportedly having an affair with a female staff member—was spotted with Taraji in Houston.
Sources say they started hanging out after she attended some basketball games and reconnected during a Sunday Supper Club event. And while Taraji wasn’t looking for love, she decided to go along for the ride.
That ride, however, runs straight through Nia Long’s driveway.
Long and Udoka were together for 13 years and share a son, Kez. After the cheating scandal broke, Long filed for primary custody, saying Udoka wasn’t in a position to give their son proper care.
But once he landed a $28.5 million contract with the Rockets, a source close to Long said she was open to working things out. Then Taraji showed up.
“Nia Long must hate to see Taraji coming,” one insider noted. And the feeling is mutual—going back years.
The bad blood started on the set of Empire. Nia joined the cast in season three, and things turned ugly fast. She reportedly showed up late, and when a male cast member joked, “Why are you always on Black people’s time?” Nia went off. Taraji jumped in and asked, “Why are you so mad? Are you on your period?” That was the spark.
Insiders say Nia tried to come for Taraji’s spot as the star of the show, walking into production and asking to expand her role—possibly writing Cookie out. Production shut it down. When Taraji found out, the tension escalated to the point that the two had to shoot their scenes separately. “They were literally about to throw hands,” a source said.
Taraji, who became a pop culture legend as Cookie, never forgot. And now, with Udoka, she sees no reason to show loyalty to someone who never showed her any.
“I don’t believe another person can break anyone up,” Long said recently, when asked about her own public breakup. “The relationship was rocky for a very long time.”
She also declined to comment further. “I don’t have any comment right now. I’m sorry.”
But the timing has fans talking. For Nia, this feels personal—like Taraji swooped in just as their family was trying to heal. For Taraji, it’s simple: Udoka wasn’t attached when they started dating, and she and Nia were never friends.
“If Nia feels some type of way,” one observer said, “she should take it as payback for how she treated Taraji and other Black actresses.”
Long has faced criticism before for comments about Halle Berry and Zoe Saldana. She once said she was disappointed Halle didn’t bring more Black actresses up after winning her Oscar. She also voiced frustration about not being considered for the Avatar role that went to Zoe Saldana.
Fans called her a hater. “To think they were going to pick her over Zoe in the first place is delusion,” one comment read.
Now, as news of Taraji and Udoka circulates, public opinion is split but leaning. “Nia doesn’t get to dictate who he or Taraji dates,” one person wrote. “Everyone is responsible for their own happiness. The relationship is over. Nia needs to move on and let this mess go.”
Taraji hasn’t confirmed or denied the romance. But she’s made one thing clear: she’s done protecting anyone else’s peace at the expense of her own. And if that means being the bad guy in Nia Long’s story? So be it.
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