Jussie Smollett Cut From Remaining ‘Empire’ Season 5 Episodes
Ever since it came to light that Jussie Smollet was charged for allegedly filing a false police report — as previously reported by The Inquisitr— his career has been on shaky ground. Recently, TNT pulled the actor’s Drop The Mic episode, and as noted by TMZ, Smollett’s fellow actors and actresses on Fox’s Empire wanted him fired.
Well, it seems that his co-workers got their wish. As recently reported by Variety, Jussie Smollett has been cut from the remaining Season 5 episodes of Empire, just a day after he was arrested for filing a false police report.
At the time of writing, Empire is currently in its fifth season, which began airing on September 26, 2018. So far, only nine of the season’s 18 episodes have aired, and it seems Smollett will be cut from the season’s final two episodes. Jussie, who portrays Jamal Lyon on Fox’s award-winning show, last appeared in this season’s ninth episode, “Had It From My Father.”
Series executives and producers Francie Calfo, Lee Daniels, Brian Grazer, Dennis Hammer, Sanaa Hamri, Brett Mahoney, and Danny Strong released the following statement, detailing their decision to remove Smollett from the final two episodes of the season, which are set to air sometime later this year.
Jussie Smollett Removed From Final ‘Empire’ Season 5 Episodes Following Arrest https://t.co/BxJu7b9CU6
— Variety (@Variety) February 22, 2019
“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us. Jussie has been an important member of our EMPIRE family for the past five years and we care about him deeply. While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out. We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of ‘Jamal’ from the final two episodes of the season,” the statement read.
Last month, Smollett filed a police report claiming that he was the target of an assault. The actor and singer claimed that he was accosted by two men, and alleged that they physically assaulted him, shouted racist and homophobic slurs, tied a roped around his neck, and poured bleach on him.
Earlier this week, the Chicago Police Department announced — during a press conference — that they believed that Smollet masterminded these attacks, hiring two brothers to play the part of his assailants. Law enforcement also explained that they believe Smollett was motivated to stage these attacks because he was unhappy with his Empire salary.
