Anika Calhoun

Anika Calhoun
General Information
Gender:	Female
Resides in:	New Orleans, Louisiana (hometown) New York City, New York
Hair Color:	Black
Occupation(s):	Head of A&R at Empire (formerly)
Aliases:	Fake Ass Lena Horne Fake Ass Halle Berry Boo-Boo Kitty (by Cookie) Anita (by Mimi & Thirsty) Mrs. Lucious Lyon
Family and Friends
Family:	Stanley D. Calhoun (father) Claire Marie (mother) Bella Lyon (daughter with Hakeem)
Relationships:	Lucious Lyon (ex-husband) Hakeem Lyon (on & off; formerly) Mimi Whiteman † (one night stand) Angelo DuBois † (ex-boyfriend)
Employer:	Lucious Lyon (formerly) Billy Beretti (formerly) Cookie Lyon (briefly)
Employees:	Veronica (formerly) Tiana Brown (formerly)
Enemies:	Rhonda Lyon † Cookie Lyon Lucious Lyon Laura Calleros (formerly) Leah Walker
Additional Information
Interests:	Getting rid of Laura & being with Hakeem (failed) Killing Rhonda and her baby (succeeded)
Empire Chronology
First Appearance:	Pilot
Last Appearance:	[[The Empire Unpossess'd (Deceased)]]
Portrayer:	Grace Byers

Anika Calhoun was a main character in the television series, Empire. Personally appointed by Lucious Lyon for her unique ear and artistic sensibility, Anika helped launch the careers of artists on the Empire label. She was Lucious' ex-wife and the mother of Bella Lyon. Anika was portrayed by actress Grace Byers, and she first appears in Pilot. Andre Lyon drugged her causing her to see Rhonda. Anika trying to escape Rhonda says "Karma is a bitch" then Anika falls onto a glass table dying after looking at Rhonda.

Biography

A debutante hailing from New Orleans, Louisiana, Anika is the daughter of Dr. Stanley D. Calhoun and his wife Claire Marie. She earned a Bachelor's degree in political science from Loyola University Chicago in 2000, and later an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2006. By 2009, she was already dating Lucious Lyon and worked as the head of A&R at Empire Entertainment.   

Relationships

Lucious Lyon

Anika has a somewhat close relationship with Lucious in the start of the series, however it begins to deteriorate as the series progresses. She continues to act protective around him due to her growing distaste with his ex wife, Cookie. When Lucious proposes to her, she accepts happily, though her parents, especially her mother, are more hesitant, due to the fact that Lucious has been prone to committing acts of infidelity in the past. However, when she discovers Lucious and Cookie in bed with one another, she feels betrayed. Her love for him diminishes, though her obsession with him does not. She discovers that her father lied about Lucious' ALS and signed an official document stating that nothing was wrong with him so that Empire could become public. In an effort to prevent him from dumping her, Anika threatens to release confidential information that could potentially destroy the company if he does not marry her immediately, and if he does not announce their marriage publicly in front of Cookie. When Cookie reveals to her that they had had sex a second time, Anika throws away her wedding ring and begins plotting against Lucious with his rival, Billy. In the season two finale, Lucious marries Anika in order to prevent her from testifying in court against him.

Cookie Lyon

Anika's dislike of Cookie has increased steadily as the show progresses. They often refer to each other using profane language, and Cookie has taken to calling her "boo-boo kitty" Anika tries often to sabotage Cookie's endeavors, going so far as to even drug one of the artists that she is in charge of so that she is incapable of performing. Anika becomes jealous of Cookie as she notices Lucious' care for her, to the point that he even says audibly that he loves her, and then has sex with Cookie on two occasions. They later have a fight in the season one finale, when confronting one another during a meeting to discuss a future hostile takeover of Empire.

Hakeem Lyon

When Hakeem dissed Lucious publicly due to his newfound hatred of him after finding out he had Camilla extradited, Hakeem went to Creedmoor to discuss a label signing with Beretti, at which point both he and Anika hooked up, something Lucious witnessed, and then went to Hakeem's place and had sex, both simply doing it to get back at Lucious. Anika plants the idea of a hostile takeover in Hakeem's mind, and helps him try to usurp control of the company. Anika began to fall in love with Hakeem after Hakeem hooked up with her again and was impregnated with his baby, as season 2 progresses her love for Hakeem begins to turn into an obsession as she begins to stalk him and his girlfriend.

Episode Appearances (20/24)

Season 1 (11/12) Pilot The Outspoken King The Devil Quotes Scripture False Imposition Dangerous Bonds Out, Damned Spot Our Dancing Days The Lyon's Roar Unto the Breach Die But Once Who I Am

Season 2 (9/18) The Devils Are Here Without a Country Fires of Heaven Poor Yorick A High Hope for a Low Heaven My Bad Parts Sinned Against Et Tu, Brute? Death Will Have His Day The Tameness of a Wolf