“Empire” creator Lee Daniels is ending all of the speculation. The Hollywood executive has updated fans wondering if estranged actor Jussie Smollett is returning for the show’s final season.
According to Daniels, “Empire” viewers won’t see Jussie return to the series once season six arrives.
“Jussie [Smollett] will NOT be returning to ‘Empire,’” series co-creator Lee Daniels said Tuesday. Daniels was responding to a Variety report in which multiple production sources said that “Empire’s” writing staff was breaking ideas for the show’s sixth and final season with the expectation that Smollett would appear in the back half of the 18-episode season. (Variety)
Back in April, FOX announced its decision to bring back the hip-hop soap opera.
Jussie Smollett’s future on “Empire” remains in limbo. The series has officially been renewed for a sixth season on Fox, but there are no plans for Smollett’s character Jamal to return. Smollett, 36, was accused of orchestrating a racial and homophobic-fuelled assault on himself. He was eventually indicted for disorderly conduct, but all charges against Smollett were controversially dropped. (ET Canada)
Get excited! #Empire is coming back for Season 6 on @FOXTV.
pic.twitter.com/OzyWGHqDuX
— Empire (@EmpireFOX) April 30, 2019
According to reports, “Empire” stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson recently joined others in requesting Smollet to return for its sixth season.
Henson, Howard, and the rest of the drama series’ top cast, penned an April 19 letter to Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier, Disney TV Studios and ABC Entertainment chair Dana Walden, Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn, Empire co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, and other executive producers on the series, Varietyconfirmed. “Together, as a united front, we stand with Jussie Smollett and ask that our co-star, brother and friend be brought back for our sixth season of Empire,” read the letter, obtained by Deadline. It is signed by Bryshere Y. Gray, Trai Byers, Gabourey Sidibe, Nicole Ari Parker, and others. (Variety)
Earlier this year, New York rapper 50 Cent trolled Jussie with an R. Kelly meme.
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