In a statement released yesterday, Fox announced, “there are no plans for the character of Jamal [played by Jussie Smollett] to return to Empire.” However, they added, “By mutual agreement, the studio has negotiated an extension to Jussie Smollett’s option for season six,” which means he could always make a surprise return.
Smollett’s representative responded to the news by stating, “We’ve been told that Jussie will not be on Empire in the beginning of the season but he appreciates they have extended his contract to keep Jamal’s future open. Most importantly, he is grateful to Fox and Empire leadership, cast, crew and fans for their unwavering support.”
Related: Osundario brothers file defamation suit against Jussie Smollett’s lawyers
You may recall that Smollett was written out of two of the show’s season’s final episodes after Chicago police filed 16 felony charges against him for allegedly faking a hate crime. Smollett pled “not guilty” and all the charges were later dropped, but Chicago police have since sued Smollett for $130,000 in investigation costs and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Smollett “used the hate crime laws to advance his own career.” Smollett’s lawyers have since hinted that he’s considered suing the city for its handling of the case, and Smollett has reportedly been suffering night terrors due to stress over the whole ordeal.
Most recently in Empire, Jussie Smollett’s character Jamal Lyons married his fiancé Kai in what was called the “first wedding of a black, gay couple during primetime on a major broadcast network.” The show’s cast also wrote a letter to producers asking for Smollett to be included in season six, but it looks like that producers decided otherwise.
The show’s viewership has been steadily declining since its premiere season, from about 17.62 million viewers at the end of season one (2015) to 3.76 viewers at the end of season two (2019).
funpitt412
This is great news. Glad their not bringing back this trouble maker.
talktalktalk
agreed.
Stephen
The Buddha was very clear about this issue. ‘Do not take delight and celebration in the suffering of others’. Meaning it becomes a judgement unto yourself, negative karmic issue on those that do. Hitler included. He’s dead, good. But that’s it. Celebrating mistakes of others, the fall of others, the death of evil doers is unacceptable.
Jussie deserves some compassion. His career may or may not recover, his role is in jeopardy or has finished, he has more related legal matters pending and he has suffered greatly. He could use some loving kindness. It could have ended up a lot uglier. It usually does for most people white or black. Getty family, some say Frank Sinatra Jr pulled off his own kidnapping, we are a cynical society.
I pray he finds peace of mind, clarity and love for himself and others. I wish the best for him. I appreciate a strong gay out actor playing a strong gay out character. He may have been paid less that the fellow cast playing brothers. We do not know.
The issue is celebrating the suffering of an individual is a complete lack of integrity and character. Let’s raise the standard here. Uplift our own kind and present some compassion. We can let people fail and fall badly and still be kind. We are not our behaviour or choices. We are responsible for our behaviour. Cursing him out is your behaviour and you just might want to not go there.
If you have never sinned … let me publish your story! I publish.
PanzerRider
Play stupid games and you win stupid prizes. This clown is lucky he just lost his job. He deserves to be behind bars.
Billy Budd
His IQ must be in the lower 50s. Any man with an average intelligence would know that such a stupid hoax would fail.
youarederanged
Not much longer until this loser’s name is never mentioned again except when the conversation goes to deranged liberals. He’s a poster boy for them.
DCguy
The fascinating thing is that the same right wingers screaming about this idiot are completely silent about Jacob Wohl trying to find guys to lie and claim Pete Buttigieg molested them, faking death threats against himself and lying to cops about them.
Hmmm, faking threats and lying to police? Weird, its exactly the same yet the right wingers don’t seem to care. Now what’s different about the two men……hmmmm…….
Kangol2
Of course they are. They’re in a perpetual state of rage and hysteria about Jussie Smollett, but are silent about any number of homophobes, including right-winig ones who do real damage to LGBTQ on the regular. (PS: Not sure what happened but I had to sign up with a new account; Queerty wasn’t allowing any new posts, even ones praising people like Daniel Franzese. Oh well.)
Brian
Yeah, it’s not quite the same thing. Jussie’s hoax is still going on as we speak and has cost Chicago hundreds of thousands of dollars, as well as the preferential celebrity treatment he got from Kim Foxx, which has resulted in its own investigation. Jacob’s hoax fell apart within hours and didn’t result in anything other than a few news stories.
But sure, make it a false equivalency and blame it on racism. Because that’s what left wingers always go to, right?
Rock-N-RollHS
Sigh, false equivalencies clearly demonstrated by the left (by you) as by the right.
Shadeaux
Brian, how many times has Jacob Wohl lied and on how many people? Here lately it’s been RBG, Muller, and now Buttigieg. The last one doesn’t matter because he got caught this time so that make Jussie worse than Jacob, to you? FOH.
thisisnotreal
While I agree that it’s going to be a shame to write that character off the show when he was so groundbreaking and treading on some much needed new territory on television, this whole thing has just been messy from the get go. I’m assuming that because all charges against him were dropped and nothing else seemed to be pursued legally at the time against anyone, that must mean that they deemed he wasn’t actually attacked and there was no crime committed against him which begs the huge question why? Why did whatever actually happened actually happen? Was that whole thing seriously his attempt to gain some more clout and get more pay or some other benefit? Or was it something he cooked up in order to play victim and play to audiences minority sympathies for some sort of benefit I can’t think of? Regardless of why that whole situation played out it sure seems to me that it takes a special kind of person to concoct that sort of scenario in the first place and it isn’t a healthy or sound type of person.
ptb2016
The police are suing him for using hate laws to advance his career? Advance? Right guys. Looks like nobody will touch Jussi now. Some advance eh?
talktalktalk
this clown should be in jail, What worries me is that Fox renewed his option which means they are still paying him and he COULD still return — people should boycott this poor excuse for a soap opera and its advertisers.
talktalktalk
surprised they are even bringing the garbage show back. Viewing figures have tanked to just 3 million. Just unbelievable that they have renewed his option, which means presumably they are still paying him. Please boycott this show. It deserves to be cancelled. The people who make it are leftist idiots who support someone who fakes a hate crime.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
That’s what happens when you follow the Jacob Wohl sure-fire way to not have a clue in creating an “incident”…
mancheeks64
Shame on Empire and shame on you who blindly judge a person when your asses were not even there. I said it before and I’ll say it again. Public opinion is, unfortunately, so strong that a person can have CHARGES DROPPED and they are still guilty and made to pay for it without as trial. And these same people try to use the analogy that “now the real hate crimes won’t be believed”. So, I guess this is supposed to let law enforcement of the hook whenever a hate crime is committed. It is so despicable that Mr. Smollett is going through this and being judge by people who feed of leaks on an issue or case. I am still waiting for the answer as to why Ryan Lochte did not go through all of this public criticism, etc. It pisses me off how this society feels good about burning a person at the stake like their shit don’t stink.
PanzerRider
Blindly judge? Are you simple? The information pertaining to this situation is absolutely damning at this point. Yes, the charges were dropped. Which was a move that was almost universally condemned by those on both sides of the aisle. Condemned to the point that the DA who dropped the charges is now under investigation for acting inappropriately. And who the hell made the comment that law enforcement is now off the hook whenever a hate crime is committed? Well, besides you no one has made such a suggestion. What a ridiculous straw man argument you have there. And to suggest Ryan Lochte did not go thru a great deal of public criticism is patently absurd. He was destroyed, rightfully so, by the public a large. And he lost multiple sponsorships over his stupid behavior. You should be pissed. However, it should be directed at this clown of an actor for giving the gay community a black eye.
Brian
We are only supposed to have opinions about things that we were physically there to witness?
BTW, Ryan Lochte became a national joke after his hoax, so I’m not sure what answer you’re waiting for.
Doug
It’ll be interesting to see if Smollet will be able to rebuild his career now.
dwes09
Certainly not now. Perhaps in a few years.
I hope he gets therapy. And assume civil suit by the city of Chicago will cost him a lot
Aires the Ram
Maybe he could move to Brooklyn in 2 years and begin bartending with AOC…..what a pair.
DCguy
@Aires the Ram
Or maybe he could move to West Hollywood and hang out with Aaron Schock, you know, the Republican Congressman who stole tax dollars, committed fraud, lied to prosecutors etc…. the one you aren’t upset about.
Josh447
Dropped charges. A sealed case. Blowups everywhere. Smollette will never be off the hook until every bit of info is disclosed. Until then IMO he’s toast.
NCSilverBear
I don’t have the real facts about Jussie’s case. No one has proven anything, one way or the other. But, I do know how politics in Chicago works. And it ain’t pretty. I’m surprised the show doesn’t pull up stakes and move. That said, I don’t doubt that the show has lost viewership. But, it isn’t because of Jussie. The drop started way before all this stuff. And that’s got to do with the writers and the story line. Way too much violence, black on black abuse, stereo-typical race-sex behaviors. After a blockbuster beginning, the show lost my attention by the end of season 2. I suspect I’m not the only one.