Jussie Smollet’s character removed from Empire

Jussie Smollett has been suspended from the hit show “Empire” after the actor was accused of paying two men to attack him last month .



Police say the attack was a ploy to raise his profile because he was unhappy with his salary.

“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us,” said a statement from 20th Century Fox Television attributed to the show’s executive producers.

“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,” they said, referring to his character, Jamal Lyon, the scion of a recording-industry family.

The suspension suggests that scenes in which he’s already appeared will be removed from the finished episode.