The Fox show “Empire” has been renewed for one final season but will likely not star actor Jussie Smollett, who drew negative headlines over his scrapes with the Chicago Police Department.
Fox Entertainment CEO announced Monday the show would end after the sixth season next year, according to Deadline. Network CEO Charlie Collier said there are no plans to include Smollett in the upcoming season of the hip-hop drama, but he left the door open to the possibility.
“There’s an option to have Jussie in the series but we have no plans for that,” Collier explained. Cast members of “Empire” penned a letter to executives last month requesting that Smollett return to the show.
Collier said the final season would be 20 episodes long and that fans would get “the ending they deserve.”
“We are turning the final season into a large TV event — we are trying to go out guns a-blazing,” he said.
When “Empire” was first released in 2015, it became a hit series, but the show has seen declining ratings over the past few years. This past season alone saw a 23% drop in ratings.
Smollett, 36, was accused of hiring two individuals to fake a hate crime against him for his own personal benefit. The actor was charged with 16 felonies in March, but Chicago’s Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx decided to suddenly drop all of his charges on March 26, leaving police and city officials incensed.
The City of Chicago has sued Smollett to recoup the cost of investigating the alleged fake hate crime.
