“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us,” say the Empire team.
Empire actor Jussie Smollett will be written out of the concluding episodes of the current season of the popular drama, following his arrest by Chicago police.
Smollett was charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report.
Earlier this year, the 36-year-old was said to be the victim of a homophobic and racist attack.
Later, a number of US media outlets reported that police believed he may have paid two Nigerian brothers to stage the assault.
Smollett has yet to make a fresh public statement as the story has developed, having previously spoken of his deep concern with “certain inaccuracies” that had been spread.
Now, his role on Empire is being written out, at least temporarily, as producers have removed his character entirely from the final two episodes of the current season, which are yet to be filmed.
There’s no word on just how the absence will be explained on-screen.
In a statement issued to The Blast on Friday, Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo and Dennis Hammer said:
“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us.
“Jussie has been an important member of our Empire family for the past five years and we care about him deeply.
“While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out.
“We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of Jamal from the final two episodes of the season.”
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