ALEXANDRA ALL ANESTHESIOLOGIST ANNOUNCER ARLENE AYANNA BABY BAR_GIRL BATISTA CAMERA_ASSISTANT CARLOTTA CAROL COTTON CROSS DALLAS DEE DEREK DOCTOR ELLIOT ENTOURAGE_MAN GUARD JAHIL JAMAL JANICE JAY KAREN LEE_DANIELS MAN MANAGER MAN_2 MAN_3 MISS_BRUCE NEWSMAN NOAH OMARI PA PHOTOGRAPHER REPORTER ROSE RUBY SIMONE STAR TEEN_GIRLS WOMAN WOMEN YOUNG_GIRL CARLOTTA If you love Empire, take a look at what happened last season on Star. STAR I got a plan. We're starting a girl group. CARLOTTA Get on that stage. Sparkle. ALEXANDRA We're entering the Atlanta NextFest. JAHIL They need to put in the work to make it to the next round. SIMONE Yo, we ain't got a manager. CARLOTTA You need somebody who is gonna act in your best interest, and I would never lie to you. ANNOUNCER The winner of a million dollar contract, Big Trouble. DOCTOR It's unlikely that you will walk again. ALEXANDRA I'm pregnant. STAR I think y'all will be really good parents, but I'll never babysit. ALEXANDRA STAR The next time you put your hands on a woman, I will kill you. CAMERA ASSISTANT Background, starting at the top. PA Back to one. LEE DANIELS And action. ROSE Push. CARLOTTA Come on, we need you to push this baby out! Yes, yes! Yes! ROSE Oh, it's a boy! BABY CARLOTTA You had a baby boy, Star. You got this. ARLENE You're wrong, sister Carlotta. Move, I got this. Move. You took my kid, I'm taking yours. Clean yourself up. STAR No! STAR JAY You all right? STAR Yeah, I just keep having these damn dreams. JAY Girl, you know you went in last night, Star. STAR Did I? JAY And, you know, I've never done this before with a new artist. You legal? STAR Yeah. Well, you're, like the second dude I've ever been with. JAY Really? Wow. STAR I know that's crazy. JAY Well, I like to get to know my artist on my label pretty intimately. STAR That's crazy 'cause me and my group have been at your label for five months, and nobody there seems to be trying to get to know us. Our album is almost done, and every single one of your A&Rs is ghost. What's up with that? Can't keep people around? JAY I'm looking for an international vibe. And if you ain't on that “Despacito,” overseas sound, put your clothes on. STAR Forget international, man. We're the best thing you got on the label. We just won Atlanta NextFest five months ago. We're a girl group. Our job is to make an album- we did that- your job is to give it a drop date and a small tour. JAY Large mountain to climb. STAR Shouldn't be too hard. Listen to this, and call me. YOUNG GIRL CARLOTTA Carlotta Brown for Lucious. Bruce, I'm on the damn phone. CARLOTTA Hello, yes. Um, Lucious was going to hook me up with one of Empire's top producers and. YOUNG GIRL CARLOTTA Well, just have him call me back. Thank you. Would you give that child a piece a candy or something? Please. MISS BRUCE Sit your ass still, little girl. JANICE You know my baby's tender-headed, Bruce. MISS BRUCE Your baby ain't no damn tender-headed, she nappy headed, that's what she is. JANICE Bitch! WOMEN MISS BRUCE CARLOTTA MISS BRUCE Bitch. CARLOTTA You just let Janice clock you. And you even, you just took it. MISS BRUCE ARLENE It is the opening of my foundation. MISS BRUCE Who next? CARLOTTA Bruce, turn this up. ARLENE The Hunter Morgan Foundation. CARLOTTA Turn up the TV. ARLENE Very big day. I hope that, um, everybody from all the news stations will be there. REPORTER It's been five months since the triple-murder of Hunter Morgan, Eva Rezendes, and Jahil Rivera. Authorities are. MISS BRUCE I miss that little brown come up. Still can't believe how it happened. Imagine somebody walking into your own damn house, and then mowing your ass down. REPORTER While Atlanta police released a statement months ago, authorities are not speaking to the press at this time. Arlene Morgan, mother of victim Hunter Morgan, will be hosting a gala for her foundation tomorrow night in honor of her son. STAR Did they find out who killed them yet? CARLOTTA Not yet. Where you been? STAR I was out advancing our careers. Somebody has to. CARLOTTA I was just about to head over to the label and check in with the A&R rep. So I don't need you to stay out all night advancing nothing. STAR You wouldn't even know where I was all night if I still had my own house. MISS BRUCE No, you mean that dead white boy's house that was rented. Lying ass. And wash yours 'fore you sit at that table. CARLOTTA Bruce, stop. I got enough going on with your sister. I'm fighting to get her back. I don't need to be worried about you in jail, or God knows what. STAR I keep having this baby dream. CARLOTTA That's the Lord telling you you need to close your legs. Mm-hmm. Just like that. Perfect. Now stay. Stay. Stay. Stay. MISS BRUCE A dream about babies is bad omen. Dream babies and real babies ain't to be trusted. STAR Shut up, Bruce. Hey. ALEXANDRA Hey. STAR Need some help? ALEXANDRA Nah, I'm good. My mom's coming later. She wants to help me settle in. CARLOTTA Well, you can come home any time, you know. ALEXANDRA Can you hold this? STAR Moving in with Derek is a big step; it means taking care of him. ALEXANDRA Star? STAR Yes? ALEXANDRA Did you love him? STAR Yeah, I loved Hunter. And it was overrated. But now my head is in the game. We're releasing an album. And, without Hunter, I don't have any distractions. ALEXANDRA Derek is not a distraction, okay? STAR Okay. Well, you have a lot going on. And you had a miscarriage that you won't even talk. ALEXANDRA Don't you have to pick Simone up? TEEN GIRLS SIMONE Signing out. GUARD Be back by 1000 p.m., Davis. Don't make me call the cops. STAR You'll be calling the cops! SIMONE STAR Are you high? SIMONE No. STAR Simone. SIMONE No, I'm not high. STAR You're a liar. I've been in there, I know exactly what goes on in there. SIMONE Okay, well, I wouldn't even be-be in here if Miss Carlotta didn't have a previous record. STAR Don't you dare blame Miss Carlotta. You are in there because you were smoking weed in school like an idiot, stupid. She's trying to get you out of there. SIMONE Tell her to try harder. The foster care system can't even find me a home. STAR My plan right now is to get the label to give us a tour. That way they'll give you a work release to get out of here. SIMONE But how? We don't even have a drop date for our album. STAR I met with the label president last night. SIMONE You slept with him. STAR Why are you screaming? SIMONE You slept with him. STAR I did not say that. SIMONE Yes, you did, ho. STAR No, I didn't. SIMONE You can't do that. CARLOTTA We had a meeting today. And just in case you forgot, you are our A&R rep, and you haven't even heard the music. Fired? So who is our new A&R rep? Mr. Holland, hey. It's Carlotta Brown, with, uh, Big Trouble. We still working on a new name. JAY You know, Star hand-delivered me that music last night. And when I tell you she's talented, I mean a talented young lady. CARLOTTA Yeah, I bet you see talent like that every night. JAY Who? Me? I don't do that. Look, the music ain't that good anyway, all right? I-I'm looking for a hit. CARLOTTA Well to be fair about this, we've been working with your producers. Now, I got some producers out in New York that make nothing but hits. If you would just let us go up there with them for a couple of weeks, knock this thing out, we could get this done. JAY Hey, hey, hey, look, y'all are all out of time. They having a big board meeting tomorrow. They're trying to get rid of their dead weight. CARLOTTA Okay, so what if we have a hot track for you by tomorrow? Before your meeting. JAY That could work. Maybe. CARLOTTA Okay, well, then you'll have one. JAY Good luck with that. ROSE I need to bring my interior decorator here. We could be sitting on lice. ALEXANDRA Mom. ROSE Well, we could. Anyway, I think I packed your velvet hangers. I'm not sure if I could have put it in this box or. ALEXANDRA Wire hangers are okay, Mom. ROSE Look, I know this is Trump's America, but we still need to have our standards. I'm very concerned about you. You're neglecting yourself. I know this has been a difficult few months with Derek, but you matter, too. You had a miscarriage. ALEXANDRA Can we. Can we not? ROSE You know, when I first married your father, it was all about him. His music, his needs. I thought if I made him happy, I'd be happy, too. And that thinking drove me to the bottle. Are you listening to me, darling? ALEXANDRA Cotton's getting out of prison. She's having wings over at her place- you should come. ROSE Wings? I'll be at the Carlton. Come by after. ALEXANDRA Mom, come on. ROSE All right. If you want me there, I'm there. But this house needs to be redone. It is really. MISS BRUCE Girl, Cotton gonna be mad at me bringing you down here. She wanted to surprise you. CARLOTTA I ain't got no time for no more of Cotton's surprises. MISS BRUCE Don't Cotton stay on some type of stunt? I can't with that girl, honey. Ain’t no telling how she could come out here looking. Cott! Sorry I couldn't come visit. Bitch, I wasn't coming back down here. CARLOTTA Mm. Ooh. Mm. We gonna wash this hair. COTTON Hey, Mama. CARLOTTA Hey, baby. MISS BRUCE Damn. Girl, how much trade you had in there? CARLOTTA Shut up, Bruce. Come on, let's get you home. I ain't used to you being shorter than me. You ain't got no heels on, ain't got no hair. Ooh. MISS BRUCE Don't flop down in my seat like that. BATISTA I'm sorry. I know this must be very difficult for you. ARLENE You have no idea how difficult this is. BATISTA How'd you get a jury record? ARLENE Never mind that, sweetheart. She's killed before. And I'm not talking about her sister's foster-father. BATISTA You just call me "sweetheart"? ARLENE Excuse me? BATISTA Did you just call me "sweetheart"? COTTON Mama, I'm good. Go handle your business with the girls. CARLOTTA Them girls will be all right. I want to get you settled first. I even bought you some new lipstick. COTTON Keys? CARLOTTA To Jahil's car. I know it's no consolation for missing his memorial service, but it's a piece of him. COTTON CARLOTTA Things ain't been the same without you around here. Shoot, Bruce driving me batty. And they took Simone because of my record. How bad was it? COTTON Prison's prison, Mama. Ain't nothing changed. COTTON Help! I want to go to the men's side! CARLOTTA I know what it's like to be alone in there. COTTON I wasn't alone. MAN Sweet thing. What up, baby girl? Come get some of this here. MAN 2 You looking like a snack. Let me get a bite. MAN 3 GUARD You sure you want to transfer to gen pop? GUARD Welcome home. OMARI Yeah, welcome home. CARLOTTA Yeah, God takes care of you, wherever you are. Now, get yourself together so you can make your grand entrance. A lot of people waiting to see you. MISS BRUCE Study long, study wrong, baby boy. STAR Mm-mm. That's one for Bruce? DEREK I got something for you. I'm just saying, though. Think about it. Two brown people got killed with Hunter Morgan, and just 'cause it's Hunter Morgan, that's the only reason they still reporting on it. CROSS Yeah, and that's the same thing happened to that young boy out in Chicago, and the news ain't cover that. ALEXANDRA Hey, Unc. CROSS Hey, baby girl. How you doing? ALEXANDRA Good. CROSS Good, good, good. STAR Cott! WOMAN She's here! ALEXANDRA Hey, gorgeous. STAR Ah, she's arrived! Hey, Cott. CROSS Yo, nephew, what's this, man? You know I'm not with this, nephew, man. I'm going upstairs, man. DEREK Unc. CROSS I'm going upstairs. This. Please. Excuse me! MISS BRUCE Bye Unc. STAR You look good, but you're late, per usual. DALLAS Girl, now, you know you can't fight fem appointment time. Now, move over. STAR At least you're consistent. MISS BRUCE What's the T, Cott? COTTON Girl, oh. Oh, I got next. All we used to do is slap bones in the joint. MISS BRUCE Oh, I'm sure you slapped more than one bone, honey. ALL COTTON What y'all talking about? DEREK Injustice in America. You know it. ALEXANDRA That's all over for you, now, Cott. COTTON I wish. I got to see my probation officer once a week, drug test, and then I got to pay back Elliot the 20 stacks I stole. STAR How can he even expect you to get 20 grand? DEREK MISS BRUCE Man, what it feel like not being able to walk? DEREK How it feel to be a freak? ALEXANDRA Derek. CARLOTTA Where's Simone? DEREK I'm sorry. RUBY Yeah, put a little ranch sauce on it this time. ROSE Ooh God, they're good. RUBY How they been treating you at that place, little girl? SIMONE Horrible. RUBY Should have never taken you away from Carlotta's. ROSE They can do a random drug test on her. You should not be encouraging a child to smoke. RUBY All you got to do is drink a little coconut water, should be okay. CARLOTTA Simone. Get in the house. Ruby, you lucky you drunk. I'd bust your ass right now for that. RUBY Hey, you better step back, bitch. ALEXANDRA Mom, are you serious? You're eating chicken wings right now? ROSE They're so divine. They are. STAR Miss Ruby, you really smoking out my sister? RUBY You better procreate yourself somewhere else. You better get out of here, white girl. STAR You don't have any old-ass friends? RUBY You better move it! STAR All right. CARLOTTA How am I suppose to get you back if you're smoking weed outside my house? SIMONE Okay, I know. STAR This is pointless, 'cause she doesn't even care. CARLOTTA Well, so is sleeping with the label president, Star. ALEXANDRA Wait, what? CARLOTTA You heard me. STAR I'm trying to get an album-release date for us so that I can get her a work release from that group home. CARLOTTA That's not how you get respect as a woman in this business, sleeping with some dude that look like Mike Epps. STAR Oh, my God, he does look like Mike Epps. SIMONE Star don't care about no respect. All she cares about is being famous. STAR And what do you care about, Simone? ALEXANDRA STAR I'm serious. Alex, it's not funny. ALEXANDRA But it is. SIMONE I'm okay. STAR Simone, you're not okay. SIMONE Neither are you, ever since Hunter died. CARLOTTA Holland listened to the music. He said there's not one hit. ALEXANDRA That's because they been putting us with whack-ass producers for months. CARLOTTA Well, we on the chopping block. He wants to hear a new song by tomorrow- a hit. STAR Okay, so get us some studio time. CARLOTTA We don't have time for studio time. We gonna do this right here, right now. STAR Right here? CARLOTTA Right at this ta. Yeah, right in the kitchen. That's right. Go get a laptop. STAR I like that. BATISTA I got some questions for you. I need you to come down to the station. STAR For what? BATISTA The murder of Hunter Morgan. BATISTA Star... my old friend. I miss you. STAR I miss Otis. BATISTA Oh, funny girl, huh? STAR Watch this! BATISTA That's some good work. STAR So, why am I here? 'Cause I have someplace to be. BATISTA You say he beat you, but the truth is you never reported it. And now we have a source that's providing evidence that's challenging your veracity. STAR I know what that is- my juvie records are supposed to be sealed. BATISTA Yeah, we're able to take a little peek. And you seem to have a history of violent behavior. Since you were 12. STAR You know what I have? Every picture of every time that man put his hands on me. I have every weak-ass text message, too, saying he was sorry. And the only reason that you haven't seen these photos is because he is dead, and I knew he couldn't hurt anybody else. Every man I've ever known has left me, or worse. And what I did when I was 12, when I was surviving, that has nothing to do with the fact that that man beat my ass. How is that for veracity? BATISTA You can go. STAR COTTON You'd have thought I was gone for ten years the way y'all done messed my books up. MISS BRUCE Oh, girl, that's your mama, trying to get her coin. She got behind on all them bills. COTTON Behind how? MISS BRUCE She had to mortgage the salon to pay for your lawyer. ALEXANDRA Can you guys hear me? STAR Yeah. ALEXANDRA I think I found the perfect name for the song. "Bad Bish." STAR "Bish?" Are you saying "bish"? ALEXANDRA Yeah, "bish." STAR Really? SIMONE Yeah, it's like, it's "bitch," but with a "sh," like, shh. STAR Simone. I know what it's supposed to mean. ALEXANDRA Thank you. SIMONE Like "Shh." STAR I think it's. Shh! I think it's corny. ALEXANDRA Well, how about you come up with a suggestion, then, smartass? STAR How about, uh, "Bitch"? Just the regular word? The way it is? CARLOTTA Okay, can we use our adult voices? I mean, who cares what it's called? Let's just finish the record. SIMONE You have us working in here like there's no child labor laws. STAR Simone, we're in a girl group. This is what we do. CARLOTTA Lord, I can't take this. STAR Something's wrong with the song. We got to speed it up or something. Can we try 120 BPM? Alex, why are you back on that damn phone? Don't you know how important this is? ALEXANDRA Because I have to call Derek. STAR The boy's a distraction. ALEXANDRA Don't start. I really don't need that from you. CARLOTTA Okay, maybe we can come in faster with the drums, Anthony. ALEXANDRA Or maybe if Star wasn't so fast with the label president, we wouldn't be in this position in the first place. STAR At least I was trying to do something to get us ahead. CARLOTTA Come on, y'all. ALEXANDRA And look at you. You're on your phone now, huh? STAR I'm on my phone telling Cotton, "No, we can't go out tonight, because we are in the studio working." ALEXANDRA Okay. CARLOTTA Give me the phone. Come on. STAR Don't say nothing weird or embarrassing, or. CARLOTTA We 'bout it, 'bout it tonight. Definitely coming thoo. STAR You're doing that on purpose. CARLOTTA It's gonna be lit. ALEXANDRA Okay. CARLOTTA Come on, y'all need to go out. Y'all done hit a wall. Go have some fun. Get-get inspired. Me and your mother always used to do it. SIMONE I mean, you heard the lady, let's get "lit." CARLOTTA You ain't going nowhere. SIMONE CARLOTTA You got a curfew. SIMONE Great. STAR Guess I'm-a go out with yo ass. ALEXANDRA Yeah, I know, it's our first night, I'm sorry. DEREK No, don't be sorry. You got to finish your song. Can you hurry home tonight? 'Cause. I was thinking of trying some physical therapy. ALEXANDRA Oh, were you? DEREK Yes, I was. STAR Alex. ALEXANDRA Okay, well, I'm definitely gonna hurry home. STAR This bitch. ALEXANDRA Okay, I love you. DEREK I love you, too. STAR Oh, I know who that is. ENTOURAGE MAN Back up. STAR I'm white, not see-through. ALEXANDRA That's Noah Brooks. STAR Yeah, his boy just pushed me. ALEXANDRA Look, this is about the only club he can get it popping at after he got arrested. Ignore them. Have you ever heard his first album? My dad said it was like if Maxwell and Marvin had a baby. DALLAS It was hot. ALEXANDRA It had five hits out the gate. STAR Did he produce that, too? ALEXANDRA Yep. STAR You got that song we've been working on? ALEXANDRA Yes, why? STAR I'm-a play it for him. We're standing five feet away from a hit maker when we need a hit. ALEXANDRA Hmm. STAR Watch this. BAR GIRL BAR GIRL Don't embarrass me! ALEXANDRA I'm babysitting. That's what I do. I babysit bitches- okay. COTTON Welcome home. DALLAS COTTON I got to get a job and pay my mama back. DALLAS My manager is hiring at the bank. COTTON Hey, Dallas, I just got arrested for passing bad checks. You think they gonna hire me? MAN Ladies, what y'all drinking on? Come on, man, you too sexy. You need to come with me and slide through this little song. STAR How you doing? Loved your first album. Even loved your second album. My name is Star. NOAH Noah. STAR Excuse me, baby, could you move? We're trying to do business. STAR Anyway, this is, um. NOAH Wait. Ain't you somebody's daughter? ALEXANDRA Yes, I'm somebody's daughter. NOAH What's the occasion? STAR Figured in exchange for that bottle, you could listen to one of our songs? Tell us what you think is missing. NOAH Baby, if you wanted to go home with me, all you got to do is ask. It's simple. ALEXANDRA I'd focus on your next hit, not your next piece of ass, Noah. NOAH There's room for three. Now, come on, baby, i-it's all good. STAR Dude, nobody's trying to go home with you. We just said that. NOAH STAR Are we? STAR Look, we're just trying to give your played-out ass some juice, honestly. We are in the hottest girl group coming up right now. You're a good R&B singer, but when's the last time you put out an album? Look, nobody's checking for you right now. But if you produced a song on our album and it became a hit, well, maybe your fans would wonder what you were up to. But I guess you got everything you need in the VIP. So I'll just take that. NOAH STAR Have a good one. NOAH Wait, you gon-you gonna take the bottle? STAR Oh, this wasn't a gift, love. This was an exchange, and you gave me nothing. NOAH ALEXANDRA Well, that was a time suck. STAR Now what? ALEXANDRA I don't know. You're the one with all the thirsty ideas. Why don't you tell me? STAR You're the one who got into Juilliard. Why don't you figure it out? ALEXANDRA Well, first we have. MAN Come on, now, you ain't got to be all like that, mama. What's up with this? What you think, you too pretty for me or something? ALEXANDRA Uh-oh. DALLAS We ain't interested. MAN What? Bitch, you ain't all that. Y'all ain't doing nothing. Looking like old fake-ass Blac Chyna, bitch. COTTON First of all. ALEXANDRA Cotton, Cotton, Cotton. Look, you're on parole, okay? DALLAS She's right. I got this. DALLAS I will beat yo ass if you put your hands on her, bitch. DALLAS And that's on the real. You don't want these problems. STAR Oh! DALLAS Look. STAR His face, he was so shook. DALLAS That bullying stuff is on some next-level ish. Now, I don't like that. But you know what? I preach the word of whoop ass. Can the church get an "amen"? ALEXANDRA Amen. STAR Amen. COTTON Amen. ALL ALEXANDRA Wait. Star, listen, you hear that? STAR Oh, what, the beat? ALEXANDRA Yeah. Think I got an idea. ALEXANDRA Simone? SIMONE Hey, yeah. STAR Can you hear this song? SIMONE Yeah, it's so dope. STAR Your part is really sick. ALEXANDRA I have it all written out in my head. I promise you, it'll be fire, okay? SIMONE Okay. STAR Oh, you missed one tonight, Simone. I really wish you were there. Dallas pulled this man voice on this dude and shook him to his core, it was hilarious. Out of nowhere, she goes, "Bitch, I will whoop yo ass." STAR He ran, both feet. ALEXANDRA He shut up so quick. STAR I know we're being too loud, but I'm-a come get you early. SIMONE Okay. STAR Night. SIMONE Star. Please get me out of here. KAREN We know who you is. I like your shoes, baby. DEE Come up off them. SIMONE I ain't giving y'all nothing. DEE Yes you is. Don't you want to be like Zendaya? SIMONE ALEXANDRA What? STAR I'm just playing. ALEXANDRA Don't do that. Give me my headphones. STAR It sounds perfect. It sounds good. Look, I know we're tired. And I know you have a lot going on, especially, but we got to get this right. I know you probably don't want to talk about it, or you don't want to talk to me, I don't know what it is, but are you at least talking to Derek? ALEXANDRA I'm not putting anything else on his plate. STAR Alex, that's not putting something on his plate. Y'all went through a miscarriage together. That's his life, too. Yo, you have to talk to him about it. ALEXANDRA Okay. STAR Okay. And then, let's get this money. I'm gonna go get Simone. CARLOTTA I already got her. Come on, Simone, learn the song. Alex, you been here all night, go check on your man. Star, I need you to go downstairs and refill all those conditioner bottles at every station. STAR Why do I have to work in the salon? CARLOTTA 'Cause I said so. I'm-a get Holland on the line. Come on, let's get it. STAR I swear, she does it on purpose. You ready? SIMONE Something has to happen. I can't live like this anymore. CARLOTTA No, no. Mr. Holland said he wanted to see us before the meeting. So just tell him we'll be there. Thanks. Ugh. What's the matter? COTTON I was gonna sell his car, but then this fell out the visor. CARLOTTA I gave it to him. He wanted it. COTTON You miss him? CARLOTTA Let's not talk about that right now, Cotton. Now, why are you trying to sell his car? COTTON Because you mortgaged the salon for me, Ma. CARLOTTA Who told you that mess? Bruce? COTTON You and Grandma worked so hard for the salon. And I wanted that surgery so bad I stole from Elliot and for what? CARLOTTA Look, look, I know you're gonna pay me back 'cause you a hustler just like your daddy. COTTON No. I get that hustle from you, Ma. CARLOTTA Hey. We got that song. ALEXANDRA Don't you want it? JAY This is not the time, ladies. STAR Look, you know I'm not taking no for an answer. Right? SIMONE Alex, play the track. STAR You wanted an international sound? We delivered. JAY That's exactly what I was looking for five months ago when I signed you. STAR Five months ago? 'Cause you asked for it last night. CARLOTTA Well, we got a lot more where that came from. JAY Well, it don't matter. I just went up in that board meeting and got fired. Yeah, they got a new head coming in. STAR Makes sense. CARLOTTA Who is it? JAY You ever heard of the Floyd family? CARLOTTA Yeah, who hasn't? Wait, Charles Floyd bought this label? JAY No. His daughter did. And she's a bad bitch. Good luck, ladies. STAR Alex, please tell me you know this woman. ALEXANDRA Yeah, I do. She's trouble. CARLOTTA Ayanna Floyd. Well, when is she leaving New York? No, I don't want to be don't put me on hold. Come on, girl, I got to get you back on time. SIMONE I don't want to go back to that place. CARLOTTA I know, baby. SIMONE I don't even know what's going on. It's like we're cursed or something. Star is still upset over Hunter; Alex lost a baby, and I'm stuck in that frickin' hellhole. And all we want to do is sing. CARLOTTA Well, I'm not gonna let this label president stop you from doing that, either. I'm-a fix this. SIMONE How? CARLOTTA I'm going back to New York. The Lyons owe me. SIMONE That's not a bad thing. CARLOTTA No, it definitely ain't. Here. My wig straight? SIMONE Straight as those people downstairs. CARLOTTA MANAGER You know the drill. No touching; they can only put money in the G-string, and no pictures. COTTON Well, when I called earlier, you said that someone requested me. MANAGER He's in there. Hit it. ELLIOT Hi, baby. I heard you were home. ALEXANDRA How are you? You okay? DEREK You know, all we talk about is me. I want to talk to you, too. It's like ever since the miscarriage, you don't want. ALEXANDRA We don't have to talk about that. DEREK All right. Stop. ALEXANDRA Okay. It's okay. We're good. ALEXANDRA I can’t believe I’m having an abortion ANESTHESIOLOGIST Ten nine.eight seven six five four three two one. ARLENE I'm gonna tell you the truth right now. When you lose a son, you need to think positive. STAR Excuse me. Excuse me, I'm sorry. Do you have any questions? Look out for Big Trouble this fall. Thank you. ARLENE Turn it into something that will lift people's spirits. That's the kind of person I am. I took this foundation. PHOTOGRAPHER Can I get one of the two of you together? STAR How are you? ARLENE Excuse me, Melanie. One moment. STAR Excuse us, Melanie. ARLENE You little bitch. What are you doing here? STAR Oh, keep it together, Arlene. There are photographers everywhere. Just keep a smile on your face. You and I both know you raised a monster, Arlene. And I've got the pictures to prove it. ARLENE Yeah? STAR Stop digging into my past. ARLENE Hmm. STAR and I won't dig up yours. ARLENE Well. STAR Understood? ARLENE Sure. I found your juvie records. You're a murderer, and you murdered my son. STAR I truly wish that I had. Hello. How are you? Everybody look for Big Trouble's debut album. It's coming soon. Thank you so much. CAROL Why you got my ass here anyway, boy? JAMAL Aunt Carol, just shut up and chill, okay? And just remember that she don't know nothing about Dad's memory loss. Uh, Miss Brown? CARLOTTA Carlotta. Mal, Mal, you're doing good, boy. JAMAL CARLOTTA I used to take care of you when you was a baby. JAMAL Yeah? CARLOTTA Mm-hmm. Carol. But I wasn't expecting to see y'all. I was actually expecting to see your father here. JAMAL My dad couldn't make it. CAROL 'Cause something’s wrong with him. JAMAL 'Cause he got busy. Anyway, my mom, she insisted that I come. Said it was a priority that I help an old family friend. Miss Carlotta, what you got on my parents? They're not just gonna jump for anybody. CARLOTTA We ain't got the time. JAMAL Well, look, it's still probably the best thing that I came. CAROL Yeah, she probably gonna want to see your fine ass, anyway. JAMAL CARLOTTA I bet them dimples get you in trouble. JAMAL Me, I do all right. CARLOTTA I bet you do. JAMAL You just sit your little ass here. CAROL Well, you just hurry your ass up. JAMAL Ayanna, what's good? AYANNA I cleared the pool for you. JAMAL Oh, so you fancier than my mama now, huh? AYANNA Need to get you loosened up so we can talk about bringing you over to my label. JAMAL Well, first things first, Carlotta Brown, meet Ayanna Floyd. Ayanna is the president of y'all label. And Carlotta, she's, um. AYANNA Mixed Harmony. I'm familiar. CARLOTTA Well, actually, I'm managing now, and my girls are signed to your label. AYANNA I know that. And you came here wanting to know what I planned for them, and you thought ambushing me with a Lyon would get my attention. I don't like being ambushed. JAMAL Why you being shady? Come on, Ya-Ya. AYANNA Just shut up, Jamal. CARLOTTA Well, my girls have been working really hard since Atlanta NextFest. I just want to see. AYANNA Set up an appointment with my assistant. And Carlotta don't try to play me again. NEWSMAN There’s been breaking news in the Hunter Morgan case. Leonard Kramer has been arrested as a suspect for the murders of Hunter Morgan, Eva Resendez and Jahil Rivera. More about this case amid new evidence. JAMAL I'm sorry.