The scene where young Jamal is thrown into the trash is based on a real incident which happened to series co-creator, Lee Daniels. When they were shooting the scene, Daniels got choked up and started crying, so his sister, who was on set that day and witnessed the real incident, was the one who directed Genis Drake's performance for that moment.
At one point, Cookie compares Anika to Halle Berry. The series' co-creator, Lee Daniels, produced Monster's Ball (2001), the film for which won Berry the Academy Award for Best Actress.