Posted in: Fox, Preview, Trailer, TV | Tagged: bleeding cool, Bryshere Y. Gray, cable, drama, empire, fox, Gabourey Sidibe, jamal, Jussie Smollett, music, Nicole Ari Parker, season 5, Season 6, streaming, taraji p. henson, television, terrence howard, Trai Byers, tv

'Empire': FOX Renews Series, Jussie Smollett's Season 6 Option; "No Plans" for Character's Return

FOX has officially renewed Empire for a sixth season; though based on the statement released by Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television, it will most likely be without embattled star Jussie Smollett. It should be noted that Smollett's option for a new season was also picked up, which means he would be available for a series return:

"By mutual agreement, the studio has negotiated an extension to Jussie Smollett's option for season six, but at this time there are no plans for the character of Jamal to return to 'Empire.'"

Earlier this year, Smollett was allegedly assaulted while filming in Chicago – with the assault being labelled as a "hate crime" after Smollett claimed the attack was racially, politically, and homophobic-motivated. Smollett would later be charged with filing a false statement, only to have those charges dropped in a cloud of controversy, investigations, and lawsuits.

"'Empire' continues to break barriers with its emotionally powerful storytelling, and it remains a core part of the Fox legacy. We want to thank everyone on the show – Taraji, Terrence and the entire cast, as well as Lee, Danny, Brett, Sanaa, Brian, Francie, Dennis and their teams – all of whom have done a tremendous job this season. We know there are so many more stories to tell, and we can't wait to see what they have in store for Season Six."

– Michael Thorn, President of Entertainment, FOX Entertainment

FOX's Empire was created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, who serve as executive producers alongside Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Sanaa Hamri, Dennis Hammer, Matt Pyken, and Diane Ademu-John. Brett Mahoney is executive producer and showrunner for the series, which is produced by Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television.

Several members of the Empire cast penned a letter last week in support of bringing Smollett back to the series if it was renewed for a sixth season, which may have had an influence on Smollett still be attached in some way to the upcoming season.

Here's a look at that letter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29jLa1NG5mA

Dear Charlie, Dana, Michael, Lee, Danny, Francie, Brian, Sanaa, Dennis, and Brett,

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.

We understand the past months have been difficult to process—sometimes the headlines brought more confusion than clarity, yet we now have a conclusion to this ordeal. Throughout Empire's five seasons working with Jussie and watching how he has conducted himself throughout this traumatic event, we have come to know not just the character Jussie portrays, but also truly come to know Jussie's personal character. He is kind. He is compassionate. He is honest and above all he is filled with integrity. He is also innocent and no longer subject to legal uncertainty with the criminal charges against him having been dropped. We are confident in his lawyer's assurance that the case was dismissed because it would not have prevailed.

Jussie has shown us on and off the set who he really is as a leader. In addition to being a caring friend and cast member who treats every crew member with love and respect, he has spent time with our families and individually supported each of us. These recent and detailed letters from The Black AIDS Institute, the Rainbow Push Coalition and the City Lights Orchestra shine a light on his commitment to true community service. Just a few months ago, Jussie partnered with the Trevor Project to provide support to their volunteer program that allows LGBTQ youth in crisis access to vital counseling services. Prior to that, he gave every cent from his sold out world tour to numerous charities. He has adopted a school in Chicago, taught songwriting to incarcerated youth at the Cook County Jail last year and bought the family of Kayden Kinckle, a six-year-old, double amputee, a wheelchair accessible van due to his school district not having a wheelchair accessible school bus. He has traveled to South Africa for service as well as to Jamaica to quietly meet about the safety of LGBTQ youth. This was all done without posturing, the need for attention or even discussion.

This is the Jussie we know.

It's clearer every day that the extreme political climate in our country has only made our system of justice and the court of public opinion more unjust.

It is why now, more than ever, we must stand together as a family. A family is there for us in good times and bad. It can cut through the noise and confusion to understand that there is a person in the center of all this who deserves nothing more than to move forward with his life. We understand that this show is a business. And that business matters to us as well. We are confident our fans will welcome our "Jamal" back into the Empire family as enthusiastically as we will.

That is why we write today to ask you to keep Jussie on the cast so that we can all put this behind us and move forward. Thank you for taking time to hear us. It's our hope that together we will move into our sixth season as the entire Empire family should.

SINCERELY,

Terrence Howard
Taraji P Henson
Bryshere Y. Gray
Trai Byers
Gabourey Sidibe
Nicole Ari Parker

https://youtu.be/7v9xP0GJs1Y

Variety

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