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Empire is no longer standing by its man. The Fox drama has suspended Jussie Smollett in the wake of the actor’s arrest for allegedly staging last month’s hate-crime attack against himself. Smollett’s sorta-dismissal comes as the Fox drama was winding down production on Season 5; there’s no word how his character Jamal’s absence in this season’s final two episodes will be explained.
In a statement, Empire EPs Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo and Dennis Hammer said, “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.”
Smollett, who has played Jamal on the Fox drama since its debut, was arrested early Thursday in Chicago and faces a felony criminal charge of disorderly conduct/filing a false police report in connection with his alleged attack. At the time, 20th and Fox maintained, “We understand the seriousness of this matter and we respect the legal process. We are evaluating the situation and we are considering our options.”
In late January, Smollett reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of an early morning attack in which two men taunted the actor/singer with racist and homophobic slurs, then beat him, poured a liquid on him and placed a noose around his neck. Per Smollett, the men also referenced “MAGA,” or President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again”slogan, during the incident. The actor elaborated on the attack in a February Good Morning America interview, telling Robin Roberts that he’d been “forever changed” by what happened to him.
When later developments seemed to contradict Smollett’s account, his lawyers insisted that he played no role in the attack, and the show’s producers denied that his part on the series would be reduced as a reaction to the controversy. “Jussie Smollett continues to be a consummate professional on set, and as we have previously stated, he is not being written out of the show,” the production company said in a statement at the time.
In a press conference Thursday, Chicago police alleged that Smollett hired two men to fake the attack because he was dissatisfied with his Empire salary. Shortly thereafter, the actor’s legal team released a statement saying,“Today we witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the American legal system. The presumption of innocence, a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of Mr. Smollett and notably, on the eve of a Mayoral election. Mr. Smollett is a young man of impeccable character and integrity who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence and feels betrayed by a system that apparently wants to skip due process and proceed directly to sentencing.”
Empire is scheduled to kick off the second half of its current fifth season on Wednesday, March 13.
I feel a rewrite coming……I can predict who’s in the casket 🤷🏾🤷🏾🤷🏾🤷🏾🤷🏾
Yeah, whomever they were going to put in the casket their job is now suddenly safer. I’m going to guess that Jamal will be kidnapped/killed or will commit suicide. Maybe they will use the angle of Kai leaving him for good and him not being able to take that rejection. That would be the angle I would go but again if we don’t see the body in the casket and somehow Smollett winds up beating these charges they can always bring him back after a well publicized stint in rehab for drugs/mental health issues that he is reported dealing with since all of this has come to light. We shall see. In any event, because the public backlash has been so vociferous and because I am sure that advertisers were calling FOX and Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, et al they had to go this route at this time. I think once their legal people also reach out to their contacts within the Cook County prosecutors office and get a feel for all of the evidence they have against him, that they will decide before even the 1st episode of spring premiere airs on March 13, they will officially announce that he is being let go or he will offer his resignation from the show, offer an apology and probably make some sort of press conference along with his family and then disappear into rehab before his trial. Also federal charges will also be pending in this case because of that stupid ass letter he sent to himself. What in the hell was he thinking? Obviously he wasn’t thinking. I hope whatever he gets the help he needs. Something is very wrong with him to go to these lengths and harbor such hate because he dislikes the president.
I’m not a Trump supporter. In fact, I hate the guy. But when conservatives talk about Trump Derangement Syndrome, they’re right. From 2016 to early 2018, I was a card-carrying member of “the Resistance”, and I believed all narratives about Trump supporters and how it enabled hate crimes and everything bad happening in the country was because of him, and everyone was racist, and, and, and…….and then I woke up. I started a new job that happened to have mostly Trump supporters as co-workers. I expected it to be a nightmare, but it wasn’t. They were good people. A few were misguided I thought, but normal, good people. The thing is, if you spend all day steeped in these constant (and mostly online) left-wing narratives your mind gets twisted and you stop seeing reality for what it is. This is what happened to Jussie Smollett. This, and the fact that he’s most likely a racist himself, is what got him into this mess. Tapping into the constant media firestorm around all things Trump, the fact that the media (including TVLine and Deadline) perpetuate the narrative constantly and were likely to believe him, the likely notion inside his head that he is somehow a “victim” because he’s black and gay…this is why he did all this. He might’ve gotten away with it, too, if he wasn’t such an idiot (like using a check, and using his personal phone to discuss details). And if he wasn’t such a racist, he probably would’ve had some white friends to hire in this hoax, instead of two Nigerian dudes. So he’s a troubled guy, but this whole situation came about because the Left is a pretty troubled place. If there wasn’t so much anger, clearer heads would see that there’s no need for harebrained schemes like this. And, in fact, the demand for racist hate crimes outstrips the actual supply. Even if “the narrative” says otherwise.
Caomhan everything you just said after saying: I’m not a Trump supporter., hate the guy. Proved you are a Trump supporter, or at least a conservative not ever part of ” the Resistance “! Though I too am against what Smollett did, but the way you are putting down the Left, proves you weren’t part of the Resistance, since it is a Liberal cause, and not just about Trump either, he’s just most of it! Your as phony as Smollett!
I can’t stand trump
Because he dislikes the President? Really? It sounds more like a case of him disliking his salary.
How would this change his salary! Whomever is using this as an excuse needs to think again!
I guess this proves that a person is guilty until proven innocent. I hope he doesn’t go back to the show. Instead, he should sign on with Tyler Perry.
If he’s found guilty, prison is a little too harsh. The beating was his punishment.
Susan Smith claimed a black man kidmapped her kids. She didn’t go to prison for telling a lie, she went to jail for killing her kids. How many people have never lied? Then you may cast the first stone.
WHAT BEATING!? WoW some ppl think he should be treated special! Hello, HE FAKED A HATE CRIME!! Let’s be HONEST if it were a white man faking this crime and saying it was 2 black men that done it, we would see & hear about it EVERY DAY, but poor lying ass with his poor $100,000 a year for empire should be treated like a victim; HELL TO THE NO! He made black ppl & gay ppl look bad with his lying, fake pathetic ass. He isn’t very bright because everyone knows that part of Chi-town does not have 2 white men walking around shouting trump & racist remarks or they would be beat down at the very least! ALSO, Most of CPD ARE BLACK….
I love empire. Keep the main characters. Ratings will go back up. Leave Smollet alone. Move on. If any of the boys go. I am going to stop watching. The media is trying to destroy another black soap. Stop it. I support Smollet. Move on press. Go after our crazy president. Black men appear to be the target lately. Look at these white men and their actions and past.
You seem to be confused they are not going after jussie smollet they are in fact trying to sweep it under the rug. That a black man a priviledged mind you gay black man commited a hate crime and is walking away from it with no recourse. Problem is it disproves what blm says that blacks cant be racist because they have no power. It just seems nobody can put those words together.
‘Bout time !!!!
He has single-handedly created more racial tensions than Jesse Jackson and the ultra fine Reverend Al Sharpton! LOL
Notice that neither Jackson nor Sharpton with there in front of the mics and cameras decrying racism in America, I think they smelled a rat,too !
Agree! The last thing we need is more tensions in a tense world.
honestly I the Sharpton wants racism and might even love it, he makes his living off of it so anything that stirs the pot is a win for him
Was Jesse Jackson creating racial tensions when he negotiated the release of POWS? We have a president in the Oval Office doing that every single damn day. If we are going to call our folks let’s start at the top shall we?
for getting POW’s released or are you talking about getting Americans Released from foreign countries or something else, i’m confused by your statement…
D – Antwon is most likely referring to how Jesse Jackson was instrumental in getting U.S. POWs released during the clusterfudge that was the end of the former Yugoslavia at the end of the 1990’s. Like, went he first went over there to start talking to the enemy, it was described over here as “negotiating with terrorists.”
Thank you Freddie! That is what I meant.
Trump all the way !!!
Make America great again
What he did was unforgivable and stupid, but he has not singlehandedly created more racial tension than anyone else. That statement is beyond stupid. Trump. OJ. Mark Burman… just a few people whose names are synonymous with racial tensions.
it’s the right move to make.. Jamal and Kai can get married and move back to England.
if they need a new R&B character, just upgraded Mario’s role to series regular.
Bravo, FOX and Empire! Undoubtedly the right move. Bye bye, Jussie!
Your dumb wrong move they think they was gonna lose viewers if they wasn’t they are going to now did the same shot with micheal Jackson he was proven innocent and they still wouldn’t leave him alone
The show didn’t have much of a choice. He showed up late to set yesterday as he was in court. Even being late by 30 minutes pushes a lot of things back.
But they rewrote to accommodate Terrence’s schedule when he was arrested and convicted…Jamal was pretty much the B story for most of this season. The last 2 eps are probably the coffin reveal/funeral. So I guess we’ve just eliminated Kai from being the one in the coffin, as Jamal would never miss that. ;) Jamal has been aching to get back to London all season, so storywise, my bet is writing Jamal out early was not all that hard…
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Really, as a fan, all I want is the story’s integrity to be upheld at this point. IF Jussie ends up being outed, I really hope Lee Daniels considers recasting the role. I realize the majority of folks commenting here are not show watchers, and they keep advocating things that would compromise Daniels’ artistic vision. At this point, I’d just like to see the show’s narrative not interrupted or ruined because one of the players made some bad decisions. This IS Empire. Jamal could return to the US after being targeted by some Lyon enemies, and befalling a tragedy that requires facial surgery, much like Lucious lost a leg.
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At least all of this went down when filming was nearly completed…
When was Terrence arrested? What for?
Beating his now ex-wife years back.
Oh wow. I didn’t know that.
Google it. Which season did Lucious go to jail? I want to say it was 2015, but I am not sure, so do not quote me on that and confirm with a google search. And TH has beaten every spouse (he’s on #4 or 5) within an inch of her life. But no one remembers any of that…
There’s no IF in this matter. He wrote a check to the two guys. Guilty. Fired.
That’s not the way Employment Law works in the good old USA. especially in a unionized industry. Contract law and SAG agreements all come into play here. And the FBI has already stated the CPD is over-reaching. In America, it is always an IF until Due Process has had a chance to run its course, and again, they didn’t fire TH when he was CONVICTED of more egregious charges, so that factors into “wrongful termination” under US LAWS too. No matter what the Russian Social Media Trolls try to convince folks of, you have a RIGHT to Due Process under criminal, contract, and employment law in the good old U S of A.
For goodness sakes it is a tv show. It is NOT important. Let it go and get a life
The TV show and the integrity of US law RE: employment, contracts, equal treatment, etc. are 2 totally separate issues. You say “get a life;” your ignorance of basic legal principles show that it is you who needs to get a life. Perhaps you would then know how things work in the real world, and that your opinion means squat when it comes to what the law and legal precedent mandate. One day, when you actually get a life and have hiring/firing power, you will understand that it isn’t that cut and dried. And since several Russian Troll accounts have infiltrated these discussions in an another attempt to influence The US and our system, I will keep doing my patriotic duty and laud the protections the US provides that others are jealous of and actively trying to undermine.
THIS!!^^
This SUCKS!
really!?!? crazy, he needs to be in jail IF he really did this which seem all evidence is pointing to
I think that’s the logical move to make.
Jamal: I have to go now. My planet needs me. “NOTE: Jamal died on the way back to his home planet.”
Funny, guess “innocent until proven guilty” no longer matters, just what people demand – but if it was your loved one that was in this mess and they got dumped from their show based on something for which he had not been proven guilty in a court of law you would be screaming about the bias in the court system. Just proves justice is dead – public opinion is all that matters. I’m not condoning what he has been accused of doing, but I prefer to wait until the process has been completed judicially. JMO.
I’m curious where you stand on the Kavanaugh hearings, or the Covington HS mess. I’m asking seriously, with no snark intended. Did you immediately jump to conclusions there, or were all parties given the benefit of the doubt?
Curious how you left out “in a court of law.”
Innocent until proven guilty applies to your freedom, not your job. Besides the #MeToo situations, people like Clayne Crawford, Thomas Gibson, and Roseanne have been removed from shows for actions that were disruptive, not criminal. Jussie’s current legal status will cause a disruption to Empire. FOX may also still be honoring the terms of his contract, but simply keeping him off-screen.
He’d better hope that they’re honoring the terms of his contract, he’s going to need all of that money for his lawyers hahaha
Excellently Stated!!!
yea I kind of agree! until its all said and done, nothing of the sort should be done because if for some reason he is found innocent and lets say the Chicago police were paid off by trump etc… everyone on the planet judged him and left him for dead, and you cant take that back, Megan from the view called him a sociopath, everyone would owe him a public apology, I for one wont be judging him until its all said and done.
Did you honestly just suggest the Chicago police may have been paid off by Trump?! What world of delusion are you living in, jesus. Get a grip.
You get one!
Trump Derangement Syndrome, perfect example.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Or maybe it was his twin!
@Ryan, I understand what you are trying to say, and hope the Trump part of your comment was designed to be humorous. :) I wonder when we decided that actors should be the paragon of morality. SWould we react the same way if a heavy metal singer was arrested on drug charges? Too many folks seem to think it should be standard procedure to terminate an employee if said employee is accused of something. I wonder if folks would feel the same way about a fast food worker. And I wonder if folks really think that any type of criminal history should ban folks from working. Seems to be that too many folks want to live in an oligarchy or dictatorship, and not in a democracy where follow procedures and process before condemning someone. Seems to me folks would prefer a “Wayward Pines” type justice system where we publicly hang someone as soon as they are accused of the smallest infraction.
This. Well said. Thank you.
Thank you.
Right now, it’s not about criminal history, it’s about contractual obligation. If the heavy-metal band is about to go on a world tour and one of its members ends up in jail, what are they supposed to do? I suppose if he’s the lead, the tour will have to be canceled – but, if he can be replaced, then he’ll be replaced. The same with this show – they have to deliver two more episodes and they don’t know if Smollett will be around to play his role, so they write him out until he can come back…or not.
hahahaha…you’re aasking an old Deadhead what happens if a band member ends up in jail while the band is on tour…they write a song about it, reschedule or cancel the gig, refund tickets, and resume the tour ASAP, Sometimes they get someone to temporarily sit in while the band member is indisposed. It’s the same thing the soaps do–temporarily recast until the Actor is free again. Likewise, that’s what happens in the theatre. If it’s Empire, however, you accommodate Terrence Howard and send his character to jail so his reduced screen time makes sense in terms of story.
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I find it funny you mention contractual obligation, a song I’ve been singing since day 1. Contractual obligation goes both ways.
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In the “real world,” more employees are fired for absenteeism than for anything else, because that is something that you can objectively prove in court. Jussie was suspended for tardiness, and NOT because he was charged with a crime, and that was a smart move. He was crying too hard to film, after already delaying a few scenes. So no matter what we THINK happened, my bet is the contractual verbiage makes it easy to suspend for tardiness, and anything else is more of a grey area.
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But I am happy to see someone else considering contract law when it comes to Jussie’s future with the show, rather than merely supporting the court of public opinion.
Oh, and just in case you are not a Deadhead, it was not unusual for them to have legal issues. The song that everyone knows, Truckin’, was actually written when the whole band was arrested. Bruce Hornsby became a default sub during the later years. Now, they play as “the Dead,” and “recast” Jerry every tour. :) The Allman Brothers have had similar histories, where band members get subbed in and out for various reasons. And look at the varying Fleetwood Mac lineup over the years, which especially applies in this discussion, as they just fired Lindsay Buckingham yet again! They are selling out tours despite the number of fans that swear they’ll boycott a Buckinghamless Fleetwood Mac. Folks thought Van Halen would die away when they fired David Lee Roth and replaced him with Sammy Hagar. In fact, one of my younger friends is the go-to Drummer for when bands need fill in, and was filling in on the Butch Trucks tour when he passed away, and has sat in for many noted drummers when someone needs a night off…
Innocent until proven guilty only applies to legal proceedings. It doesn’t apply to a person’s job, if a company feels they are a liability, the company can suspend or fire them, whether or not the person has been convicted of a crime. This has nothing to do with any sort of bias in the court system. Many people were quick to condemn Roseanne after her tweet came out and demand she be fired, even though she didn’t commit any crime. People were also quick to jump on the bandwagon and be outraged after the initial report of the Jussie’s alleged attack. Ranting about the overwhelming amount of racism and homophobia that exists and that this needs to recognized as the hate crime it is, but as soon as it came out that he may have staged the whole thing people want to “wait for all the facts to come out.”
Individuals are presumed innocent in our justice system. YES! That narrative is only applicable to the justice system. It does not have to be applied to any other areas such as employment, individual beliefs and societal beliefs. This is America right ? If someone chooses to believe he dd something then they are absolutely allowed to use any parameters they choose to base a conclusion on.And you are rght some would react differently if it was a loved one. It’s all a part of the parameters we choose as individuals i.e., closeness , experiences with situation etc you could go on) That’s the great thing that makes us individuals we aren’t forced to think one way.. I was confident day two he was hiding something. He claimed he fought back and hit one of the attackers. They managed to pour bleach on him and put a freakin noose around his neck. His own words he fought back. Ummmm if he chose to fight with those things happening more than likely it would have been a hell of a fight that resulted in more than minor scratches. Think about what you would do if attacked in that manner. A rope around your neck? You are fighting to live !!! On the other side if some hate monger is committing this type of attack – There would have been so much anger and physical violence. Put those 3 people together and he does not walk away with some scratches and a very minor bruise.
The reason he was arrested is because og his own admission that he staged because he is not getting paid enough at Empire and the Nigerians admitting to police that it was all staged, as they were paid by the alledged victim.
I don’t believe Mr. Smollett has admitted/confessed to anything, including motive. That would have been a big headline.
Thank you Matt a lot of people are assuming that he confessed when he didn’t.
You really should look at the evidence that they have on him. They have texts, GPS coordinates, checks, times and dates, magazines cut out, video surveillance and oh the attackers he identified as “white” definitely are not. With all that evidence and proof I am not sure how anyone can believe anything he says. Also, he did some shady stuff in 2007 that speaks of his character and could be considered a pattern.
Please….do not even go do the “innocent until proven guilty” road when in the past 6 months we have seen how demented those on the left are. What “presumption of innocence” did SCJ then Judge Brett Kavanaugh receive from those on the left, politicians, those within the entertainment industry and above all else the main stream media in this country? They were ready to crucify that man along with his family because some woman claimed without 1 single witness she named backing up her story, that Judge Kavanaugh attempted to have sex with her when she went to a party that none of them remember attending. Then another woman jumps into the story and claims that Judge Kavanaugh tried to assault her when they were in college at Yale to which no one named stated they remember the incident happening and in fact several stated categorically did not happen. But hold on if that wasn’t enough we had ambulance chaser and self proclaimed Trump hater Michael Avenatti bring forth a woman who was so uncredible her ex-husband came forth and made a sworn statement of just how untrustworthy and big a liar she was. Meanwhile Judge Kavanaugh had already been through 7 FBI background investigations and nothing was ever uncovered regarding anything on this. Where does Judge Kavanaugh go to get his reputation restored? Lets look at the “presumption of innocence” for the students of Covington Catholic High School.. Where does Nicholas Sandman go to get his reputation back after the MSM trashed him for supposedly disrespecting a “native American elder” who’s own tribe has disassociated themselves from him because he’s been a known liar and fabricator. What about the police officer who committed suicide after being accused of sexually assaulting Tawana Brawley when it turned out what she stated and what Rev Al Sharpton stated happened to her NEVER happened? That man was dragged through the mud and while he also had other things within his personal life that contributed to his demise the added strain of a falso rape charge did not help. I can almost telegraph what will happen next.. He or his family will hold a press conference where he/they will admit his guilt and blame it on a long standing issue with drugs and mental health issues. He/they will say hes going to rehab and ask for everyone’s prayers for his well being. He/they will hope by blaming it on external causes this will help sway public opinion into him “not really being responsible” for his actions. What he really needs to do is go to jail. What he did could have cause someone to get hurt. There is NO EXCUSE for this type of behavior drugs or mental health issues aside. He needs to admit what he did and face the consequences like a man and adult.
Amen. 100% agree.
Suspension is not termination…just saying!! Once the investigation is concluded, then they’ll determine if he’ll be in next season or not
Yep… suspension was the right choice.
See my reply above. :) You all seem like show-watchers. I am most concerned about impact on story at this point. Jamal was “B story” most of the season, and they had already diminished his role to accommodate his touring schedule/album release. Wonder if they just pushed the Kai/Jamal wedding story to offscreen or to another season? And I really thought Kai might be in the coffin, but I think we can eliminate him, as Jamal would never return to London BEFORE Kai’s funeral. Either that, or the coffin mystery is revealed BEFORE the last 2 eps, and the final eps set up the cliffhanger for next season. I sure hope it is NOT a plane crash…lol.
TVLine deceptively led their headline with “Jussie Smollet Exits…” as if to lead people to believe he left the show of his own accord. He’s being fired, or at least suspended for the time being for the rest of the season.
This doesn’t sound like waiting for justice to takes its course. What happened to Inocent until PROVEN guilty. He’s already been convicted by public opinion. I am just venting because I am so tired of peoples lives being ruined before a trial.
And say hey keep him in the last two episodes is everyone supposed to just sit around and wait for him to finish in court and cost the production millions
Criminally, he’s innocent until proven guilty. But that doesn’t apply to other aspects of his life being affected. If this ends up creating problems with his job, then they can fire him. So far, they are only suspending him for two episodes, not even firing him.
If I were a part of the cast, I’m not sure I would want to continue working with him.
Casts/“good” coworking teams become little family units. Based on what we’ve seen, JS had no problem deceiving his “family” and creating not one but TWO horrible situations.
Not to mention that he has most likely created a situation that will cause irreparable damage to the show and, in turn, the actors.
It is sad that he would use this type of ploy, for financial gain. It is even worse, that he would try to attribute it to President Trump’s supporters by saying they wore MAGA hats. Just another sad attempt of the liberal left to undermine our country
Oh for God’s sake, shut up. Trump has done an excellent job of undermining the country all by himself without the help of the left or anyone else.
Trump has done a lot off good things, yes he’s a twitter idiot but a lot of things he’s done and supports a lot of people support, he hasn’t undermined anything he’s much better than the socialist idiots that were recently elected.
What on earth are these ‘good things’ that Trump has done? Also the majority of your comment is word salad.
Word salad tastes really good with ranch, I have pneumonia, so forgive my word salad, I like his stance on illegal immigration if not his strategy, He got us out of the nafta deal with a much stronger one coming, he’s working on balancing out our trade with china (which steals and manipulates everything), he got many hostages released from North Korea, he’s improved the economy and much more
You could have stated your opinion on the president without the disrespectful words you began your reply with. You just told a perfect stranger to shut up. Do you believe that is helpful in any way? Is that how you hope your children or loved ones would speak to someone? Speaking that way only perpetuates the behavior you seem to condemn the president for…
Also what Jussie Smollet has been arrested for could have led to some truly tragic consequences. Chicago has beyond enough problems without someone lighting a match to an already contentious situation.
To Cheyenne: Yes, Trump has done and said a lot of bad things. But it appears that he did nothing in this situation, nor did his followers. By your logic, it would be OK to treat all non-whites as criminals because some non-whites are criminals.
Recast. Rayvon Owen from American Idol Season 14 would be a perfect choice.
Yes yes yes!!
There are several actors who are or have been on Star who could move into the role as well. (And Sttar is not nearly as good as Empire, and can start wrapping up now… :) )
Just recast him! Have him get in a car accident like they did on The Fosters.
About the guilty-until-proven-innocent thing, is this how everyone felt about the poor teenage kid that was in the square in WashingtonDC that was confronted by the Indian? Everyone, and I mean everyone was on that kids case, until they found out that it was the Indian that accosted the teenager and not the other way around. You people talk out both sides of your mouth!
You could be a bit more sensitive and respectful, Michael. The statement said Jussie has the full support of the show so you starting this article by saying “Empire is no longer standing by its man.” is kinda harmful.
You guys must have missed the part where they said “suspended” and not “fired”. I wanna know why FOX keeps protecting him. We burned Roseanne entire career in 24hrs over a poorly worded tweet and this guy manufactures a fake hate crime because 65k on screen wasn’t enough? Come on…
He trird to incite racial hate between whites and blacks bt initially reporting that his attackers were whites wearing MAG hats. Now that it was discovered on video that the they were actually black Nigerians who were paid to attack him, there is no mention of the alledged white MAG hat wearing attackers.
Will everyone please stop calling them Nigerians! They said by their own words that they are born and raised in Chicago , and proud to be Americans. Didn’t they also say that they had nothing against Trump or something along those lines ?
I don’t know how much he was earning but this was not the way to ask for a raise. It is disturbing that he went to this length to get attention. Bless him.
$65,000 an episode.
…or $125K, per THR. Let’s round it to “A Whole Lot More Than Any of Us Make in a Week.”
Kill off Jamal. Jessie should never be on the show again. He is horrible and a disgrace!!
well I guess Jamal is in the coffin. I am pretty sure they will be letting him go. Before that I thought it was Jeff. I guess we will never know. No way they would have put Jamal in there before. Honestly he was my favorite character. Maybe they would have said Andre or Hakeem. I am real dissapointed in him. I wanted to believe he didn’t do it. But I don’t see how he is not now.
From the start Empire has pretty openly acknowledged the influence of the original Dynasty, and recasting Jamal would fit perfectly with that– and could even be a kind of in-joke on the show– since the original Dynasty famously recast Steven Carrington during the show’s run.
Why sacrifice one of the main foundations of the show– the three brothers– just because of one idiot’s mistakes?
Interesting story, from a New York Times article three years back, as the lead topic on Rush Limbaugh today. Smollett’s mother was big friends with Angela Davis, back in the day. Lots of links to 60s radicals, then and now. Could be unrelated or could be the missing motive (stirring things up). It’s a real NYT article. March 19, 2016, from an impeccable source (not Limbaugh): https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/13/arts/television/the-smollett-family-business-acting-and-activism.html