Will Jussie Smollett return to ‘Empire’?

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Despite getting renewed for a Season 6, Fox’s “Empire” announced that its next season will be its last during a conference call Monday, May 13, 2019 — but what about the future of Jussie Smollett?

• Smollett brought a slew of publicity to the show after a purported attack on him turned out, according to police, to have been staged.
• Smollett was charged with crimes in relation to his alleged role in the scheme, but those charges were dropped.
• On “Empire,” Smollett’s character got married toward the end of the current season — but many suspect that that the storyline will eventually result in him being written out of the show.
• On Monday’s call, Fox confirmed Smollett’s contract has an “option” to appear on the next season.
• However, the show said there are “no plans” for him to return.
• Later in the call, the network pointed out that writing has not begun yet for Season 6, so there aren’t any official scripts or plots written out yet that would indicate Smollett’s status one way or the other.