"I saw what you did there."
Posted on 02/22/2019 7:59:18 AM PST by Red Badger
One day after Jussie Smollett was arrested on multiple felony charges for the alleged racist and homophobic attack of last month, the producers of Empire have cut the actor from the rest of the show’s fifth season
“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us,” said EPs Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo and Dennis Hammer this morning.
“Jussie has been an important member of our Empire family for the past five years and we care about him deeply,” the producers added. “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.”
With just a couple of episodes left to be completed in the current season of Empire, producer and writers on the Mahoney showrun series had already cut or trimmed a number of Smollett’s remaining scenes so today’s move isn’t a seismic shift in that sense. However, when you consider that
Facing a barrage of criticism from openly “pissed” off law enforcement officials, prosecutors and TV talking heads, Smollett was released on $100,000 bail and had his passport revoked during the downtown Chicago court appearance Thursday.
At that pretty conclusive and damning hearing on claims that Smollett’s pre-planned the January 29 attack that attracted so much outrage from the likes of Empire co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, the actor’s defense lawyers oddly insisted that Smollett needed to get back to work on Empire, which was continuing production.
In fact, after a couple of hours in the Cook County detention center Smollett went straight to the nearby set of the series. That reunion of sorts was tense and “very stressful for everyone,” a well placed source tells me as the actor met with various creatives and cast members of the Taraji P Henson and Terrence Howard led Empire.
Similar to a statement that was released by his legal team on Thursday evening, Smollett proclaimed his “innocence” to the Empire team, but the powers-that-be already felt the situation was untenable.
Beyond the court case that could in theory see Smollett in jail for three years under the disorderly conduct and filing a false police report charges, the larger decision to come for Empire and Fox is if Smollett be a part of upcoming seasons guilty or acquitted. Like all original cast members, Smollett signed on for seven seasons of the show when Empire was being put together in 2014. Also like all cast members, the now $100,000 an episode actor received a significant pay raise after the blockbuster launch of Season 1.
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Permanently kill the character off.
He tried to boost career. He has. He will be hired by CNN or the democrat party and get paid millions for his hate.
He’ll probably get lot of raises in prison.
I would boycott Empire, but in order to do so I would have to start watching this waste of time.
“I bet there are some Freepers that would have done it for a lot less.”
don’t forget that there were some expenses involved:
1. MAGA hats
2. clothesline
3. bleach
4. black ski masks and other dark clothing
5. magazines to cut letters out of, plus an envelope, stamp paper, and some aspirins to grind up
5. round trip tickets to Nigeria
Other soap operas have successfully replaced actors in key characters without a problem.
His should be easy....................
“A couple days ago they were saying they “stood behind him,” and “saw no reason to make any changes to his role.””
yeah, but we all know how corporate bullshit will turn on a dime depending on how violently the weather-vein of public opinion shifts ...
If he wrote a check how dumb can he be?
Reminds me of Democrat Adviser Bob Beckel getting a prostitute while his wife was out of town and he paid her with a personal check. LOL
If they can replace Darren on Bewitched, they can do this.
a friend wrote me:
“He paid them with a check...really?...a check?”
I can just hear Sam Kinison screaming that line ... (damn, I miss him)
"I saw what you did there."
How about replacing his character with two Nigerian brothers? They work cheap.
8^P...................
“My guess: 90 days in jail, suspended sentence, 3-5 years probation and a very large fine (50-100K), and likely community service.”
UNLESS the Feds charge and convict him on sending threats by USPS ...
also, depends on the judge ... if Jussie gets a black judge, he could be totally screwed ...
If they can RAP they have a job!.....................
You notice the Nigerians are not being charged with anything..................................
No, the character was hung by two Nigerians.
No, the character was hung by two Nigerians.
—
With Ace Hardware rope.
“Successful blacks have a way of screwing up.”
in the entertainment/sports world maybe, but whites screw up there as well ...
but in the normal world, not so much: lots and lots of great black policeman, detectives, judges, firemen, doctors, nurses, military personnel, linemen, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, et. al.
He’ll make a botched attempt to hang himself
in his cell, when the toilet-paper noose gives way.
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