Free Republic

EXCLUSIVE: Empire co-creator Lee Daniels told a New York City morning show Wednesday that the fate of Jussie Smollett on the Fox hit is “in discussions” right now, but Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard and the rest of the series’ top cast have already made their decision. “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,” the Oscar nominees and the rest of the portrayers of the Lyon clan wrote in an April 19 letter obtained by Deadline that was sent to...

Terrence Howard has spoken out in defense of Jussie Smollett following his arrest for allegedly staging a hate crime. The Empire actor who plays patriarch Lucious Lyon posted a video to Instagram Sunday of Smollett playing with a child who appears to be Howard’s son; Smollett portrays Lucious Lyon’s son on the Fox series. “All your lil homies got you. We love the hell outta you,” Howard wrote with a heart emoji. Howard’s Empire co-star Gabourey Sidibe also commented on the post with three heart emojis. However, Howard received backlash from former Scandal actor Columbus Short who asked that he...

Some of Smollett's cast mates are 'f*****g furious' and want him to quit or be fired They say he does not deserve a place on the show after allegedly lying to the world Others are standing by him and believe his claim that he is innocent Gabby Sidibe, one of Smollett's closest friends, deleted her supportive Instagram post on Thursday night A day earlier, she had written: 'I know him, I believe him, I stand with him' Prosecutors say they have a mountain of evidence which proves it was a hoax Smollett's legal team has condemned their handling of the...

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...

Hustle and Flow” actor Terrence Howard came to Washington last week and revealed to Green and Glover some political views that deviated sharply from the usual Hollywood groupthink.As if that wasn’t politically incorrect enough, the suave, soft-spoken Oscar nominee went on to say: “I don’t think President Obama has been that revolutionary in reaching out to ethnic communities. President Reagan did a lot for the black community that people don’t realize.”