Empire scenes slashed in half
Empire star Jussie Smollett is being de-platformed.
The 36-year-old — whose claims he was the victim of a Chicago hate attack are unravelling — will see his scenes on the hit show drastically cut, TMZ reports.
According to the gossip website, Smollett was slated for nine scenes and a musical extravaganza for an upcoming
Empire episode but that has been drastically cut.
Smollett claimed last month he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in the Windy City.
But now, police suspect that Smollett paid two pals to stage the assault.
Investigators received a tip from a witness claiming he was previously with the two men who allegedly attacked him in his apartment building.
The two suspects — who are brothers and allegedly wearing masks — were arrested and then released.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the person who lives in the building or was visiting someone there reported seeing the three together the night in question last month.
In Smollett’s dramatic telling of the tale, his attackers hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, beat him and looped a rope around his neck.
Last week, cops announced that the “investigation had shifted” following interviews with the brothers and their release from custody without charges.
Now, detectives want to talk to Smollett again but have so far declined to characterize the “attack” as a hoax.
Smollett’s lawyers have said the actor was angered and “victimized” by reports he may have played a role in staging the attack.
“Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying,” lawyers Todd Pugh and Victor P. Henderson said in a statement late Saturday.
Smollett claimed his attackers yelled “This is MAGA country,” an apparent reference to President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
Suspects
Cops couldn’t find any video footage of the attack.
Cops said Monday that brothers — Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo — are no longer suspects.
In a joint statement issued to CNN affiliate WBBM, the men said: “We are not racist. We are not homophobic, and we are not anti-Trump. We were born and raised in Chicago and are American citizens.”