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 and the ex-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 Lucious' multi-million dollar record label, which was initially funded by her drug money.