Castmates
tell Fox
that the actor
“has shown us
who he
really is
as a leader.”
What is a week at Reel Chicago if we don’t have a Jussie Smollett story?
On the same day, The Chicago Tribune ran a story about Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx appearing Tuesday night on Girl Talk to discuss the fallout from her department’s decision to drop all charges against The (former?) Empire star, the entire cast led by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson have now drafted and sent a letter to the show’s producers today.
If you have been on another planet or just cared to ignore, Smollett claimed he was attacked in the early hours of January 29. The actor claimed his attackers used racist and homophobic slurs as they beat him. After several questions arose during the investigation, it began to look more and more like Smollett had staged the attack.
Then two Nigerian brothers, Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, who were extras on Empire were detained by police, but never charged in aiding Smollett. The actor was then charged with 16 counts which were all eventually dropped by Foxx’s team.
Caught up?
Today, in the cast letter to Fox and the show’s producers, Howard and Henson stood by their co-star, calling for him to be brought back to the show for Season 6. Other names signed to the letter include Bryshere Y. Gray, Trai Byers, Gabourey Sidibe and Nicole Ari Parker. Read the letter in its entirety which was published in The Wrap below:
“Dear Charlie, Dana, Michael, Lee, Danny, Francie, Brian, Sanaa, Dennis, and Brett,
Together, as a united front, we stand with Jussie Smollett and ask that our co-star, brother and friend be brought back for our sixth season of Empire.
We understand the past months have been difficult to process–sometimes the headlines brought more confusion than clarity, yet we now have a conclusion to this ordeal. Throughout Empire’s five seasons working with Jussie and watching how he has conducted himself throughout this traumatic event, we have come to know not just the character Jussie portrays, but also truly come to know Jussie’s personal character. He is kind. He is compassionate.
He is honest and above all he is filled with integrity. He is also innocent and no longer subject to legal uncertainty with the criminal charges against him having been dropped. We are confident in his lawyer’s assurance that the case was dismissed because it would not have prevailed.
ALSO READ: Updated: Is there finally “Jusstice” for Jussie?
Jussie has shown us on and off the set who he really is as a leader. In addition to being a caring friend and cast member who treats every crew member with love and respect, he has spent time with our families and individually supported each of us. These recent and detailed letters from The Black AIDS Institute, the Rainbow Push Coalition and the City Lights Orchestra shine a light on his commitment to true community service.
Just a few months ago, Jussie partnered with the Trevor Project to provide support to their volunteer program that allows LGBTQ youth in crisis access to vital counseling services. Prior to that, he gave every cent from his sold out world tour to numerous charities. He has adopted a school in Chicago, taught songwriting to incarcerated youth at the Cook County Jail last year and bought the family of Kayden Kinckle, a six-year-old, double amputee, a wheelchair accessible van due to his school district not having a wheelchair accessible school bus. He has traveled to South Africa for service as well as to Jamaica to quietly meet about the safety of LGBTQ youth. This was all done without posturing, the need for attention or even discussion.
This is the Jussie we know.
It’s clearer every day that the extreme political climate in our country has only made our system of justice and the court of public opinion more unjust.
It is why now, more than ever, we must stand together as a family. A family is there for us in good times and bad. It can cut through the noise and confusion to understand that there is a person in the center of all this who deserves nothing more than to move forward with his life. We understand that this show is a business. And that business matters to us as well. We are confident our fans will welcome our “Jamal” back into the Empire family as enthusiastically as we will.
That is why we write today to ask you to keep Jussie on the cast so that we can all put this behind us and move forward. Thank you for taking time to hear us. It’s our hope that together we will move into our sixth season as the entire Empire family should.
SINCERELY,
Terrence Howard
Taraji P Henson
Bryshere Y. Gray
Trai Byers
Gabourey Sidibe
Nicole Ari Parker
There’s still no word from Fox as to whether Empire is being renewed. The entire cast is under contract for S6, but the shows ratings have plummeted and are the lowest in show’s history.
Source: The Wrap
