Jussie Smollett's "Empire" Costars Claim Despite Fox's Decision

EXCLUSIVE

Jussie SmollettThe costarists of "Empire" are not satisfied with Fox's plan to preserve the character of the actor of the coming season and are pressuring the leaders of the network to bring him back full-time.

The sources of the series tell us that members of the cast – including Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard – Jussie deserves to be shaken, which should include a complete return to the show. Last week, Fox announced that Jussie was entitled to an extension of season 6, but also … she had no intention of bringing her character back into the series.

Our sources say as soon as the the announcement was made, Jussie's customers took care to contact the brass of "Empire" and to demand his return.

As for why … we were told that the actors thought the character of Jussie was an extremely important part of the show, and they do not think his return will hurt the ratings. In one of the last episodes of Season 5, Jussie's character, Jamal, is married during the first gay and black wedding on TV in prime time.

We took out Jussie just before the broadcast of the episode and asked him how he felt. He said, "Pride".

Jussie still has serious legal problems in front of him, however … he is locked in a nasty civil lawsuit with the city of Chicago who sued him for the cost of investigating the alleged racist and homophobic attack.

One theory on the extension of Jussie's contract is that Fox is waiting to see how the deal will unfold before making a final decision on his future with the series.

Smollett was touched 16 counts of indictment for lying to the cops about the incident … but the charges were finally dropped.