Empire co-creator and executive producer Lee Daniels revealed Sunday at the 2015 Produced By Conference in Los Angeles that he and Jussie Smollett, who plays the gay character Jamal, have received violent threats from some of the show’s audience.
“I have to relate to these people honestly,” Daniels said of the show’s diverse audience, “that trash can scene? It happened.”
He’s referring to a flashback scene in which a young Jamal is put into a trash can by his father, a furious Lucious Lyon (played by Terrence Howard), after Lucious discovers Jamal dressing up in his mother’s clothing and strutting around the house.
“Homophobia is real. It exists… Jussie and I both get death threats. But we will continue to do our thing,” Daniels told attendees on the Paramount Pictures lot.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Empire returns to Fox for a second, 18-episode season on Sept. 23. We can’t wait.
AtticusBennett
YUP. i’d get the occasional threats on my blog, too. Then i started posting google map images of the homes of the people making the threats. that shut them up.
Arcamenel
You can’t wait to do very little coverage of it.
Xzamilio
Lee Daniels, just don’t pull a Ryan Murphy and ruin a good thing by adding stupid shit.
DDstar1me
@AtticusBennett ….ooo..that’s crazy. Please be careful.
LadyL
@AtticusBennett: I’m with DDstar1me– torn between amusement, admiration… and worry. Be careful, sweetie.
Curty
I’m not surprised… enough said.
Kangol
@Xzamilio: I worry about this too. The show really improved by the end of the first season, but reports I’ve been reading suggest that Daniels and the producers keep adding lots of stars for cameos, which could destroy it. I think they need to recall that old saw about leaving well enough alone.