Almost every big national media outlet and a bunch of local ones reported on February 28th that actor Terrence Howard has a 903,115 tax judgement against him from the federal government. Howard’s has maintained a home on Spring Mill Road in Plymouth Meeting (Whitemarsh Township) since 2000.

According to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Howard actively avoided being formally notified about the suit, but after several months they finally were able to serve him at a film festival in the mid west.

While someone not paying taxes is not unusual, Howard did make an unusual argument on why he shouldn’t have to pay in a voicemail he left for one of the government’s tax attorneys.

In the Inquirer article, there is a quote taken from the transcript of the voicemail. It states:

“Four hundred years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it,” stated Howard. “Now you have the gall to try and prosecute and charge taxes to the descendants of a broken people that you are responsible for causing the breakage.”

After the call was disconnected, he called back and continued:

“In truth, the entire United States should, by default, become the property of the descendants of slaves. But since you do not have the ability [or] the courage to do it, let’s try this in court. … We’re gonna bring you down.”

The voicemail was Howard’s only response to the suit. He never responded to the suit in court and received the $903,115 default judgment.

Howard owned a home in Conshohocken on Wood Street between 2006 and 2016. His brother lived in the home and had a mastiff, which was aggressive and receive complaints from those in the neighborhood. In 2015, the dog was running loose and attacked a police vehicle and police eventually had to shoot the dog when it ran inside Lenny’s Deli.

Photo: Headshot from Master Sgt. Jack Braden of the U.S. Air Force