Jussie Smollett still not leaving Empire, despite cut scenes
Following reports that some of Smollett’s scenes this week are being trimmed down in the midst of an investigation into an attack — and allegations that it may have been staged — studio 20th Century Fox TV released a new statement (via Variety). In it, they praise the actor’s work on the show’s set and reiterate that their stance towards the actor has not changed:
“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 studio is taken an innocent-until-proven-guilty approach to the case, and we imagine that there is a certain degree of flux here depending on what happens over the course of the next several weeks. Even if he does remain a part of the show, his work schedule could get rather complicated as Chicago police are reportedly looking to question the actor further about his role in the aforementioned incident, especially in the light of recent events. The police have a difficult challenge with this case, working to filter out misinformation and false tips. There is also another complicated question worth wondering — why would Smollett risk being found out, and risk his career, just to arrange what would amount to a violent political stunt? There are so many questions that still need to be asked about both methodology and intent.
We know that Smollett has brought on board famed attorney Mark Geragos for his case, and that’s a pretty big deal given his recent work in Colin Kaepernick’s collusion case. If you are bringing on board a legal expert of this stature, there’s a reasonably good chance that you are bracing for whatever is thrown your way. This is something that we’re going to examine further over the weeks ahead, given that it’s pretty darn clear at this point that this case is far from over.
Meanwhile, the show does have to go on for Empire, which will return to fox with new episodes next month. Over the weeks ahead we are expecting to see a lot of complicated stories related to the Lyon family, including Jamal, and potentially a big character death at some point before the end of the season. If Fox is insisting that they are not writing out Smollett, does that mean that he will make it through the season okay?
Do you think that Fox is handling this situation in the best possible way? Be sure to share right now in the comments and stay tuned for some more news. (Photo: Fox.)