Lee Daniels

Lee Daniels is an openly gay Black American director and producer known for Monster's Ball (2001, which he produced), Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (2009, Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director), The Butler (2013), and Empire (Fox, 2015–2020, which he co-created). He came out publicly as gay in 2009 and has spoken about the intersection of his Blackness and his gayness and the ways both have shaped his work and his experience in Hollywood. Empire featured Jussie Smollett as a gay Black musician and was one of the most-watched network dramas of the mid-2010s.