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 shows 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 Smolletts remaining scenes so todays move isnt 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 Smolletts pre-planned the January 29 attack that attracted so much outrage from the likes of Empire co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, the actors 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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Now that is a breath of fresh air, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
AIDS takes too long. Have his jealous boyfriend beat him to death.
Now that is a breath of fresh air, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
Smollett MUST have asked his contacts/handlers, what would happen if his “mission” went awry.
Whoever put him up to this, will make sure he does all right in the future, so he won’t name names
OR
Come to think of it,
Smollett’s handlers might be re-grading him as “expendable”
Meanwhile..
Maybe SNL will do a skit where Smollett is killed by MAGA-hatted men.
Maybe “Empire” will allude to an “attempted lynching incident”
Either way, “history” could show that Smollett WAS attacked,
just as “history” shows that Palin said she could see Russia from her door.
In fairness, it's probably safer to stand behind him than it is to stand in front of him.
Tiger doesn’t belong on your list. He had personal flaws with fidelity, which cost himself financially, but none of it involved criminal activity.
The Black Prankster...
How much do you wanna bet he will be excised from the show via being killed by a, you guessed it:
TWO WHITE MEN
Wearing MAGA Hats
Spouting Racism and Homophobia
One needs to watch the entire presentation that that lieutenant Chicago police Lieutenant gal gave yesterday at about 18 minutes
its absolutely completely devastating air tight and itll be very interesting to see where all Jesse tries to go with this now
Of course hes a screaming stupid liberal so all everybody will circle the wagons for him but hes committed multiple federal crimes here and I think hes dead meat
So:
2019: Character is “suspended for the remainder of the season.”
2019: Defense attorneys plea bargain down charges to lesser offense with say... a big fine and limited jail time (served at a “Club Fed”-type location (?)).
2019: Defendant enters “Alford” plea and is sentenced under the terms of the plea bargain. Never publicly admits to committing the crime.
2019 - 2021: Character continues to be absent from show during 2019 and 2020 seasons. Periodic mentions in other character dialogue to maintain audience memory of his character.
Late 2020 into 2021: Early release likely due to time off due to good behavior. Returns to show “bringing new depth to his performances due the prison enrichment of his experiences” (PR will do all it can to polish the t_ _ d.)
2021: JS = Gay + black + orange = Character return to series (and maybe that pay raise after all?)
By the way, notice how much coverage of the case has already dropped off in MSM?
What??? They are calling him a liar? He swore to them he is innocent.
Hot potato, floor, some assembly required.
FEAR = Juss Smellette
maybe a faked death where he looks real f’ed up, but later appears in the turks and caicos as a white man..
A couple days ago they were saying they “stood behind him,” and “saw no reason to make any changes to his role.”
People have yet to learn with fast moving stories it is best not to make any comment at all. Sometimes it is best to wait until the dust settles and things become clearer.
If they were smart, they’d kill his character in a hate crime
hmmmm. i guess that means Jussie isn’t going to get that raise he hoaxed so hard to get ...
(note to self: hoaxing isn’t a good way to get a raise ...)
“Will they have the character die of AIDS?”
that would be politically incorrect ... i’m guessing the Jussie character will be attacked by a ravening pack of white Catholic high school boys wearing MAGA hats and chanting MAAAAAGAAAAA, MAAAAAAGAAAA, while eating his tiny brain ...
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