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The co-creator of "The Empire," Lee Daniels, said on Wednesday that he had felt pain, anger, sadness, and frustration because of "the incident "still evolving Jussie Smollett.
The showrunner, who immediately defended Smollett when the actor claimed to be a victim of a possible hate crime in January, has kept a relative grasp of the shocking evolution of the case.
"These last two weeks have been a breathtaking roller coaster," Daniels said in an Instagram video before the episode of his musical drama on Fox on Wednesday.
"My colleagues and I have experienced pain, anger, sadness and frustration and really do not know how to deal with it. You know?"
"Empire" returned from its mid-season stop last week. On Wednesday, Daniels reminded viewers that the episodes, which still contain Smollett, were shot "before the incident".
"It's not what the show was doing," Daniels said.
"The show was created to bring the United States together, to talk about the atrocities that are happening on the streets right now."
Smollett, 36, a black and homobadual, pleaded not guilty last week in Chicago of 16 counts of disorderly behavior for allegedly lied to investigators about being the victim of a racist and homophobic attack .
The actor-musician has maintained his innocence, with the Chicago police accusing him of orchestrating the attack as he was unhappy with his compensation for the Fox series and the advancing of her career.
Fox vehemently defended the actor at first, but as skepticism about his story grew, the network announced that Smollett would be struck off the last two episodes of Season 5 of "Empire's."
The second of the nine remaining episodes of the season was broadcast Wednesday.
Smollett is scheduled to appear in court on April 17.
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