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The road is clear for the return of Jussie Smollett in "Empire".
According to several sources of production, "Empire's" writers currently have innovative ideas for the sixth and final season of the Fox show, hoping that Smollett will appear in the second half of the season's 18 episodes. Smollett came out of the last episodes of the fifth season of the series following harsh accusations that the actor and the musician had simulated a hate crime against him earlier this year in Chicago.
The same sources also said that tensions had increased between the mostly black members of the series, who still believe Smollett is innocent, and the mostly white team, which many believe Smollett is guilty of. The hope is that these tensions will subside between seasons if Smollett returns, but no final decision has yet been made on his return.
Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television declined to comment.
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This new development corresponds to a letter written by the distribution of the series in April and addressed to several executives of Fox and executive producers of series. "Together we form a united front with Jussie Smollett and ask that our co-star, brother and friend, be brought back for our sixth season of Empire," reads the letter. It was signed by stars "Empire": Taraji P. Henson, Terrence Howard, Y Gray Bryshere, Trai Byers, Gabourey Sidibe and Nicole Ari Parker.
At the announcement of the renewal of the sixth season in April, Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television announced that they had extended Smollett's option for season 6, but what about it? did not plan to return. Two weeks later, Fox announced that the sixth season would be the last in the series. Prior to this year's events, Smollett was a key player in "Empire". His character, Jamal Lyon, is loosely based on co-creator Lee Daniels.
Smollett claimed to have been a victim of racist and political aggression, as well as homophobic. Later, he was charged with hiring the men who attacked and charged him for filing false statements. Criminal proceedings were dropped in March and Smollett maintained his innocence, but the city of Chicago pledged $ 130,000 in lawsuits against Smollett to recover the cost of the police investigation.
The records in the Smollett case were originally sealed, but a judge in May ordered thousands of pages of documents on the case to be made public. Among the documents leaked were statements from the Osundario brothers' police, stating that Smollett had paid them to organize the attack, as well as text messages sent by the Cook County Lawyer's Office, Kim Foxx.
As Variety Previously, Foxx had been criticized for treating the Smollett case by his office. In recent posts, Foxx talks about recusing herself, which she said was based on a misconception that she was related to Smollett.
Another batch of documents is due to be released later this week. About 70 hours of video surveillance videos and surveillance camera footage collected by Chicago detectives during the investigation should also be made public.
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