Controversial Cast Exits: Jussie Smollett

[JamesG]

Few media circuses are as memorable as the events that resulted in Jussie Smollett's firing from "Empire".

The actor had starred on the Fox drama for five seasons, garnering acclaim for his performance as well as the show's representation of having a gay Black man in a prominent role on television. Smollett made headlines in 2019 after reporting himself to the police as a victim of a hate crime in Chicago, which initially garnered support from the internet and public figures like Kamala Harris, Viola Davis, and even President Donald Trump.




Weeks later, though, a Chicago grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 felony counts related to his alleged staging of the hate crime, including a felony charge for filing a false police report. This later resulted in a high-profile trial after which Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail.

His conviction was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2021, but by that point "Empire" had ended, and Smollett never got to return. A 2025 Netflix documentary about the hoax saw Smollett maintaining his position that the hate crime was not staged, albeit without as much evidence to support his claim as there was to support the opposite.

https://www.tvline.com/2061145/most-...tv-show-exits/