Disgraced actor Jussie Smollett could be seen in the season finale of “Empire” after he was removed from the series altogether.
Showrunner Brett Mahoney claimed he could make an appearance in the final season, according to a report published Tuesday by TV Line. Smollett was originally written out of season five of the TV series after he claimed he was a victim of a hate crime by men in Chicago.
“It would be weird in my mind to end this family show and this family drama of which he was such a significant part of without seeing him,” Mahoney said. “It’s fair to say it’s being discussed, but there’s no plan as of yet to bring him back. There’s been no decision made.” (RELATED: Jussie Smollett Files Malicious Prosecution Counterclaim Against The City Of Chicago)
Reports surfaced over the summer that there was a chance Smollett would return to the series, but creator Lee Daniels shut down the rumor on Twitter in June.
‘Empire’ Writers Prepping for Jussie Smollett’s Return in Season 6 (EXCLUSIVE) https://t.co/cCMxmOqqmz
— Variety (@Variety) June 4, 2019
“This is not factual. Jussie will NOT be returning to Empire,” Daniels tweeted in reply to an article published by Variety titled “‘Empire’ Writers Prepping For Jussie Smollett’s Return In Season 6.”
As previously reported, the actor was originally accused of falsely reporting a hate crime to the Chicago Police back in January of 2019. The charges were later dropped at the end of March, but the city of Chicago sued Smollett for what they calculated in overtime pay from investigating the allegedly false claims.
Smollett has since filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit against him.