In a statement, series executives 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 is being charged with filing a false police report and disorderly conduct after claiming he was assaulted by two men slinging racial and homophobic slurs as well as beating him, pouring bleach on him, and placing a rope around his neck. He also claimed that the assailants used the term "MAGA" country at some point. It has come out that he allegedly paid two brothers, Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo, to stage the attack. Police think that his motive behind the event was dissatisfaction with his salary on the show.
Smollet is denying that he staged the attack and he was released on bail yesterday afternoon.
