Jussie
Smollett's character has been removed from the final two episodes of the
upcoming season of Fox's "Empire," the show's creators said Friday.
"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," executive producers Lee Daniels, Danny Strong,
Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo and Dennis Hammer told
Fox News.
"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," the statement continued.
This is a developing story.
