The good news for fans of Fox’s Empire is that the series has been renewed for a sixth season. The bad news for Jussie Smollett is that his future with the show remains in limbo and it seems unlikely that he will be returning.
The embattled actor was written out of the show’s final two episodes of this season, and while he remains under contract, his character, Jamal Lyon, isn’t scheduled to return. Producer 20th Century Fox TV has extended the actor’s option on his contract, which means they can use him at a later date if necessary, most likely to wait and see how the civil case against him pans out.
“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,” Fox and producer 20th Century Fox TV said in a statement. The tricky thing about contract options is that they still kind of have rights to Smollett so if he does get new work, it can’t interfere with a potential return to the show because they have first priority over him during this extension.
Smollett’s future with the series has remained up in the air since he was charged with lying to the police over an alleged attack that was initially reported as a hate crime against the actor. Those charges were eventually dropped, but Smollett was written out of the final two episodes of the season (airing May 1 and 8). His character was given an upbeat send-off when Jamal married his fiancé, Kai (Toby Onwumere), and they embarked on a honeymoon.
Smollett’s Empire co-stars showed a big sign of support for the actor when they penned and signed an open letter to Fox and the producers of Empire pleading with them to allow Smollett to return to the series.
“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,” the letter reads in part. “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.”
