As the midseason premiere of “Empire” starts tonight, many are wondering what will happen with Jussie Smollett’s character Jamal Lyons and the overall FOX show.
The show is one of FOX highest rating shows and they plan to keep it going despite the charges against Smollett. Per Variety, FOX Broadcasting and 20th Century FOX still intends to have a sixth season with Taraji Henson, Terrance Howard and others. When it comes to Smollett, they have a scenario.
It is highly possible that Jamal will be killed off the show or recasted. He’s already been edited out of the last two shows of this season and none of the promotions were broadcasted after his arrest.
Smollett has yet to be found guilty for the orchestrated hate crime on January 29 as his indictment in Chicago is tomorrow. He has been charged with 16 counts for falsifying a police report. He claimed he was attacked by two MAGA supporters but was later discovered it was two brothers who worked on the show. The brothers, Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo, were allegedly paid for the hoax.
“Empire’ is top two when it comes to scripted shows on the network so it makes sense why FOX would continue without Smollett. Jamal Lyons is part of the Empire family but his role isn’t as big as Cookie or Lucious who can keep the show rolling.
Watch the premiere trailer for the midseason with Smollett and his real life drama off screen on the next page.