“Empire” creator Lee Daniels opened about about the chaos following Jussie Smollett’s arrest in a video posted Wednesday to Instagram.
Daniels compared the past weeks following the Smollett’s alleged hate crime to a roller coaster. “We, me and my cast, have experienced pain, and anger, and sadness and frustration, and we really don’t know how to handle it,” Daniels said.
He told fans that everything that has happened on the “Empire” episodes so far was filmed before “the incident.”
“This is not what the show was made for. The show was made to bring America together. To talk about the atrocities that are happening right now on the streets,” Daniels said.
After originally saying Smollett would not be written off of the “Empire” series, producers changed their mind, saying they wanted to give Smollett the “time to really deal with what he’s been confronted with and allow him the time to focus and prepare his case,” according to executive producer Brett Mahoney. (RELATED: Jussie Smollett Pleads Not Guilty To 16-Count Indictment)
Smollett pleaded “not guilty” to 16 counts of disorderly conduct on March 14 after allegedly orchestrating a hate crime against himself.
Happening now Police explain why they say #JussieSmollett filed a false report: He did it to get higher pay after a racist and homophonic threatening letter didn’t work. Chicago police say his false report “was a slap in the face to the city of Chicago.” Mug shot below pic.twitter.com/9yrj6CYMeB
— Sara Sidner (@sarasidnerCNN) February 21, 2019
Smollett originally told Chicago Police that he was attacked by Trump supporters wearing MAGA hats on Jan. 29. Smollett’s story fell apart after the Osundairo brothers, the two men who attacked Smollett, were arrested and released without charges.
