Cookie is outrageous in her ferocity but never falls into stereotypes. Instead, she explodes them (“You step between me, my artists, or my family again, you won’t even hear the knock on the door”). She’s competitive and commanding but has the talent-spotting and producing skills to back up her bravado. The soap opera stylings of Empire favor her OTT (over-the-top) outbursts, and there’s many a scene of Cookie walloping her ex-husband, his girlfriend, or their grown sons; there are catfights and trash talk scenes aplenty, but Cookie’s volatility is underpinned by a fierce defense of her family
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