Smollett cut out of Empire for police ‘hoax’

JUSSIE SMOLLETT’S character Jamal will not appear in the final two episodes of Empire, the Fox show’s executive producers have said, after he was charged with filing a false police report.

Smollett, 36, claimed he had been attacked by two masked men in Chicago on Jan 29, telling police his attackers had shouted racist and homophobic abuse and tied a noose around his neck.

The police now say that he paid two men to stage the attack in a bid to “to further his own profile”. The men are cooperating with the investigation, the authorities said.

Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has charged him with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report. Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman, said detectives were now looking to arrest Smollett.

In a statement, Fox said: “While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out. To avoid further disruption on set we have decided to remove the role of Jamal from the final two episodes of the season.”

Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson, both lawyers, said: “Like any other citizen, Mr Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked.”