Jussie Smollett Leaving ‘Empire’? Fans Turn Off As Jamal Lyon Is ‘Killed Off’

Could this be the end for Jussie Smollett on Empire?

As fans saw on the Monday, May 11 episode of the Fox drama, titled “Rise by Sin,” Jussie’s character Jamal Lyon was accidentally shot by Freda Gatz, played by rapper Bre-Z, and now the actor’s cryptic tweet has fans believing that he could be saying goodbye to Empire for good.

Following the airing of the dramatic episode on May 11, Jussie took to Twitter to suggest that the episode could be the last time we see Jamal Lyon on-screen with the merciless Lyon family, telling fans that he’s enjoyed his time on the show, but is now turning his attention to music and movies.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time w/ @EmpireFOX,” Jussie told his more than 1 million followers on the social media site following the show’s airing. “I love you all. Truth. Time 2 make a record & some movies,” Smollett tweeted out, alongside the hashtag “#Empire” and a rose emoji.

Jussie’s pretty telling tweet followed a slew of messages Smollett posted while live tweeting the most recent episode of Empire, including one where he wrote “it’s me” after Jamal was shot and then another that appeared to suggest the middle Lyon brother may not recover from his injuries.

“This is why we must watch how we treat people. We never know how long they have,” Smollett told his followers on the 140-character site. “Just in the blink of an eye. Gone. #empire.”

Jussie Smollett’s surprising Empire tweet whipped fans into a frenzy on the social media site after he suggested that “Rise by Sin” could have been his last episode, with some claiming that they’ll no longer be watching if Jamal was in fact just killed off.

“What?!? They killed your character? No need for me to watch anymore. Goodbye #Empire” @strongforu tweeted in reference to Smollett’s message after the episode, while Empire fan @melin456 replied to Jussie’s tweet, “If u go who is left to watch? I love Cookie too but I cannot bear the fact your [character] is dead. Sorry #Empire.”

“If Jamal dies, I’m done with Empire. Done. #Empire,” @LadiDeeTee tweeted out to Jussie following the episode, while @BVSEDANGEL wrote on Twitter in reply to Jussie’s tweet, “you can’t be gone. Not you of all characters. I seriously won’t watch this ever again.”

But while Jussie Smollett had fans believing that he was leaving Empire with his latest social media message, it sounds like fans of the Fox drama can breathe easy as numerous sources are claiming that Smollett will in fact be back in next week’s season finale as well as the upcoming third season of the series.

Rather than revealing that Jamal Lyon was out for good on Empire, it sounds like Jussie could just have been referring to taking some time off during the show’s summer hiatus before filming begins for season three later this year.

Entertainment Tonight reported following the shocking episode that a source admitted that “Smollett isn’t going anywhere” and speculated that Jussie’s social media tease was likely nothing more than “hype for next week’s season finale.”

TV Guide also confirmed that this isn’t the end for Jamal or Jussie, noting that the synopsis for the season two finale, set to air on May 18, actually reveals that Smollett’s character does in fact survive taking a bullet that was meant for his father, Lucious Lyon, played by Terrence Howard.

The site claimed that Empire‘s season two finale synopsis, titled “Past is Prologue,” teases that Jamal will have “a life-changing experience that leads him to press pause on his music career,” which means things look hopeful that Jussie’s character will make a full recovery.

What do you think of Jussie Smollett’s tweet that hinted Empire had killed off Jamal Lyon?

[Photo by Brian Ach/Getty Images for Billboard]