Tex Allen, brother of choreographer Debbie Allen and actress Phylicia Rashad, is suing Terrence Howard for $5 million, claiming Howard assaulted him last winter. Allen and Howard were working together on the Broadway production of Cat On a Hot Tin Roof in January when Allen says Howard approached him at rehearsals and gave him a fat lip.

The suit alleges that Howard confronted Allen while he sat at the piano at around 2:30 p.m. during a Jan. 24 rehearsal at the Walter Kerr Theatre and punched him repeatedly in the face and head.

The suit does not divulge the reason for the fight.

Howard and Allen refused comment on the fight.

[From NY Post]

Tex Allen is a musician and is claiming that the injuries he sustained in the alledged assault have rendered him unable to play the trumpet. It’s a bit of a stretch, his main musical contribution is jazz piano and a fat lip doesn’t much affect that. It’s hard not to see something like this and not think someone is just trying to make a quick, easy buck off a celebrity. But at the same time, if you have that much to lose, you probably shouldn’t go around punching people.

Terrence Howard has had a pretty crappy couple weeks. First he loses his job in Iron Man 2, and worse still, finds out by reading it in the paper, now he gets hit with a $5 million lawsuit. One might think he’s angered the gods.

Terrence Howard is shown performing at The James Hotel in Chicago on 9/20/08. Credit: Adam Bielawski / PR Photos