Terrence Howard’s divorce settlement with his second wife has been overturned by a judge, after he found out the actor was coerced into signing the settlement by her threats to leak private details.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Trent Lewis’ ruling means the Empire star and his ex-wife, Michelle Ghent, will now have to renegotiate the financial terms of their divorce.

“The evidence of extortion or duress was unrebutted,” Judge Lewis said.

Howard contended he signed a 2012 settlement to end his marriage to Ghent out of fear she would leak private details about him, including phone sex recordings with other women and a video of him dancing naked in a bathroom.

The agreement entitled Ghent to a share of the 46-year-old actor’s earnings, which would include a portion of his salary from the hit series Empire, which opens its second season in September.

Terrence Howard
Terrence Howard stars in Empire (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Ghent’s lawyers have said she denied extorting the actor in a deposition and argued he didn’t prove threats she made in 2011 forced him to sign the agreement a year later. She was not allowed to testify at a recent hearing because her attorneys did not file a sworn declaration from her before the proceedings began.

Lewis presided over a four-day hearing that revealed numerous private details about the Oscar-nominated actor, including that he had cheated on Ghent during their engagement, he was physically violent with his first wife, and he has already divorced his third wife.

The judge also heard a 2011 call in which Ghent berated Howard and threatened to sell private information about him if he didn’t pay her money by the end of the day. Howard’s accountant sent Ghent $40,000 (£25,408) in response to the call, which he called “hush money.”

Empire co-stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P Henson
Empire co-stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P Henson (Lionel Cironneau/AP)

The actor – who was nominated for an Oscar for his starring role in 2005′s Hustle & Flow – called it “blood money”, and told Lewis that leaking the information at the time would have ended his acting career.

Ghent has accused Howard of multiple instances of domestic violence and has an active restraining order against the actor, although Howard has denied the allegations of abuse.

Work on the second series of Empire continues, and Howard – who plays record label founder Lucious Lyon – spent four days in court during a recent hearing, testifying for portions of three of those days.

His absence didn’t impact the show’s shooting schedule.