Empire in the Media: Read It In Billboard

[Dee]

‘Empire’: Rhyon Nicole Brown & Porscha Coleman Set To Recur On Fox Drama Series

Quote

Brown will play Maya, the daughter of Poundcake, Cookie’s (Taraji P. Henson) fellow inmate. Maya was born in prison, stolen from her mother’s arms, and adopted by upper middle-class parents. A classically trained dancer, she’s beautiful, graceful, and headstrong. Coleman will portray Mercedes, Porsha’s (Ta’Rhonda Jones) sexy and ambitious cousin. She has a street-hustle mentality and looks to exploit any avenue she can to jumpstart her budding singing/rap career.

[wanderingstar]

‘Empire’ Renewed by Fox for Season 5 

[jhlipton]

On 5/2/2018 at 5:35 PM, Gillian Rosh said:

‘Empire’ Renewed by Fox for Season 5 

There's a shock!  LOL

[Empress1]

I didn't even know Taraji was dating anybody!

[Trini]

Emmy nomination for costumes:

Quote

OUTSTANDING CONTEMPORARY COSTUMES - 2018
· black-ish "Juneteenth" ABC
· Empire "Slave To Memory" FOX
· Grace And Frankie "The Expiration Date" Netflix
· The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story "The Man Who Would Be Vogue" FX Networks
· This Is Us "The Wedding" NBC

[mtlchick]

Oh no :( 

 

https://people.com/tv/report-empire-star-jussie-smollett-hospitalized-apparent-hate-crime/?utm_source=twitter.com&xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=peoplemagazine

[SimoneS]

I just read that Jussie was attacked. I am glad that he is recovering physically. I know emotionally it must be terrible. These sick people have got to be stopped.

Edited January 29, 2019 by SimoneS

[Neurochick]

1 hour ago, mtlchick said:

Oh no :( 

 

https://people.com/tv/report-empire-star-jussie-smollett-hospitalized-apparent-hate-crime/?utm_source=twitter.com&xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=peoplemagazine

Unfortunately, this doesn't surprise me today.  But, wait, they were in Chicago and screaming, "This is MAGA country?"  Damn, that's scary.

Edited January 29, 2019 by Neurochick

[chocolatine]

3 hours ago, mtlchick said:

Oh no :( 

 

https://people.com/tv/report-empire-star-jussie-smollett-hospitalized-apparent-hate-crime/?utm_source=twitter.com&xid=socialflow_twitter_peoplemag&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=peoplemagazine

Sickening and heartbreaking! Especially that it happened to Jussie, who puts nothing but positivity out into the world. I'm so upset about this!

[CharlizeCat]

I am just sick about this. I have been binge-watching previous seasons and this is like "life imitates art." Very scary.

I wish him a speedy recovery.

[thebigboot]

Smollett claims has race discrepancy

[UniqBlue69]

It's looking more and more like Jussie staged this shit. If that's the official determination by Chicago PD, he can kiss his career goodbye! 

[thebigboot]

2 hours ago, UniqBlue69 said:

It's looking more and more like Jussie staged this shit. If that's the official determination by Chicago PD, he can kiss his career goodbye! 

If nothing else he still has to answer to why he was so insistent they were white rednecks when they ended up being black Nigerians.

[Margohill]

5 hours ago, UniqBlue69 said:

It's looking more and more like Jussie staged this shit. If that's the official determination by Chicago PD, he can kiss his career goodbye! 

Not looking good at all. These long breaks have never helped this show in anyway. Look what's happening now. Possible leaks in the script (if that is true at all) and all these shenanigans are counterproductive.

[Rina99]

They let the two guys go without charges, and Jussie has apparently hired the guy who represented Michael Cohen. The CPD is also investigating new evidence uncovered during their interrogation. 

[Dee]

CPD has repeatedly stated Jussie's the victim and that they have no reason to believe the situation was a hoax.

[SimoneS]

Delete.

Edited February 16, 2019 by SimoneS

[iwasish]

3 hours ago, Dee said:

CPD has repeatedly stated Jussie's the victim and that they have no reason to believe the situation was a hoax.

And they will continue to make that statement, right up until they put the handcuffs on him. 

I think once the police got his un-redacted phone records from his carrier, his story started to crumble.  

[Dee]

Jussie's innocent until proven guilty.

[Artsda]

[thebigboot]

Police sources suggest Smollett orchestrated the attack

[Margohill]

1 hour ago, Artsda said:

This is just getting worse and worse and more difficult to believe Jussie's story. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

[thebigboot]

7 hours ago, Dee said:

Jussie's innocent until proven guilty.

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, it still won’t stop people from completely judging him and criticizing him based on what’s going on. Tit for tat at this point.

[Dee]

People are free to judge all they want, just as they have been doing all along.

That said, until Jussie is formally convicted in a court of law, he remains innocent.

[Artsda]

Jussie Smollett Viewed As “Active Participant” By Cops In Alleged Assault

https://deadline.com/2019/02/jussie-smollett-attack-suspect-chicago-police-cnn-empire-1202559032/

(UPDATED with Chicago PD statement) BREAKING: The focus of the Chicago Police Department’s probe into the alleged assault of Jussie Smollett almost three weeks ago has shifted – to the Empire star himself.

Jussie Smollett Assault Suspects Released, 'New Evidence' Cited - Update

“The new direction of the investigation is now based on the premise that Mr. Smollett was an active participant in the incident,” a law enforcement source close to the situation told Deadline today.

“We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation,” a Chicago PD statement late Saturday declared. “We’ve reached out to the ‘Empire’ cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”

Lawyers for Smollett have been contacted by law enforcement in the last several hours. In anticipation of such requests, the Empire star has in recent days retained attorneys Victor P. Henderson and Todd Pugh. The Chicago-based lawyers specialize in criminal defense.

[DuckyinKy]

Man I hate that, I really enjoyed Jussie. I didn't watch Empire until I saw Jussie & Brysher on The View a few years ago, and I loved his positive attitude. I don't know what in the world would compel a person to go to these lengths. He's so young to be throwing his career away.  

[Babalu]

I hate this, too. I’m still on Jussie’s side in terms of believing there are possible extenuating circumstances that led to it and sympathizing with whatever he’s been going through. Until a day or two ago, I still believed he could have been the victim of an unprovoked attack even after the two witnesses-now-attackers said he instigated it - because why would they be more credible than he is? But when I read his lawyers were defense attorneys, I had to admit it looks terrible. I truly hope charges aren’t filed against him, but even if there are no legal repercussions, he may very well have compromised his reputation and his career. I hope he can recover from this.

[Margohill]

The question is why did he do this if it turns out to be true? Faking an assault like this makes it bad for real victims and if indeed it turns out to have been a hoax, he should be punished for it. So many people are truly victimized and this would be terrible if it was faked.

I can only imagine the atmosphere on the set of Empire right now. The news just popped up on my local TV channel just moments ago about this whole shenanigan. I'm very disappointed in Jussie. I mean the story is everywhere on twitter, Facebook, TV channels. It's just plain bad. Terrible. Awful. Unimaginable and sad.

[Babalu]

52 minutes ago, Margohill said:

The question is why did he do this if it turns out to be true? Faking an assault like this makes it bad for real victims and if indeed it turns out to have been a hoax, he should be punished for it. So many people are truly victimized and this would be terrible if it was faked.

I agree that this will result in making racists/homophobes discredit or downplay other incidents of hate speech and action, and that’s probably the worst thing about it. I just think - or, at least, fervently hope - that there’s more to the story than just a hoax (blackmail? Who knows? - it’s irresponsible of me to even speculate). 

[Dee]

Racists & homophobes were gonna do that anyway. So it's not that big of a deal.

[thebigboot]

It’s kind of funny to me, in NYC where 17 Jews in 4 months were beaten (all on camera mind you) that didn’t get even an ounce of attention like this case did. On top of which he didn’t want to report it but then claimed proudly he fought back hard.

[sempervivum]

11 hours ago, Margohill said:

The question is why did he do this if it turns out to be true?

(disclaimer: I haven't watched Empire since S3) I'm sure JS thought, after his career slowed to a crawl post-kid star era, that his ship had come in again when he got the Jamal part, and that it would result in great opportunities in both theatre and music. That mostly hasn't happened. I am inclined to believe the rumour that Jamal was going to be written out of Empire, and that JS hoped a 'martyr' situation would keep him employed (as indeed it looks like it has, for the time being). Unfortunately, he picked a highly theatrical story that came across like an Empire plot line.

3 hours ago, thebigboot said:

It’s kind of funny to me, in NYC where 17 Jews in 4 months were beaten (all on camera mind you) that didn’t get even an ounce of attention like this case did.

Especially since JS is half Jewish himself, he should have tried to work that angle into his attack story!

[Dee]

Or he was simply really attacked.

[thebigboot]

2 hours ago, Dee said:

Or he was simply really attacked.

“Attorneys for "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett say there are "no plans" for him to meet with Chicago police Monday for a follow-up interview about his alleged assault, even though law enforcement has requested one.”

Didn’t report it immediately, had to be convinced to do so, refused to turn over phone records, no video of anyone when it happened despite cameras everywhere. Are you going to say the brothers are lying too? 

[Dee]

As I said, until proven otherwise, he was attacked.

[WendyCR72]

The thing that galls me is, people have enough of an uphill battle in being believed after violence. Look how many women still do not report being sexually assaulted because of the "blame/disbelieve the victim" climate.

IF, indeed, Jussie Smollett set this up, he should be held accountable. That means charges. And he should stop and think about how he has helped legitimate crime victims to face even greater scrutiny.

Again, IF this was a scam, it has helped no one.

[thebigboot]

2 hours ago, Dee said:

As I said, until proven otherwise, he was attacked.

He won’t follow up with the police, even after changing his story. Kind of hard to prove it either way if the victim refuses to speak after hiring the same defense attorney Michael cohen had...

[thebigboot]

Brothers tell police everything on Smollett

Things keep looking worse and worse for Smollett... 

[mtlchick]

It's getting worse  for him:   his scenes are slowly being cut from production.  

https://deadline.com/2019/02/jussie-smollett-empire-scenes-cut-attack-controversy-1202560053/

This is truly the most insane celebrity story I ever heard and read. 

[Margohill]

7 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

It's getting worse  for him:   his scenes are slowly being cut from production.  

https://deadline.com/2019/02/jussie-smollett-empire-scenes-cut-attack-controversy-1202560053/

This is truly the most insane celebrity story I ever heard and read. 

From day one, I had doubts about his story but was willing to give investigation a chance. If found guilty of staging this, then it would be truly sad and devastating to Empire especially as Smollet is one of their major stars. I don't blame them if they are cutting his scenes because if I were in their shoes I would do the same. Stories like these don't help the show at all.

Maybe my favorite star on the show Trai will finally get the chance to step up and get bigger and better scenes that he truly deserves.

[SimoneS]

Empire rewriting scripts to remove Jussie's scenes is not a good sign. It means no matter what they are saying publicly, they must have serious doubts about his veracity.

Edited February 19, 2019 by SimoneS

[thebigboot]

35 minutes ago, SimoneS said:

Empire rewriting scripts to remove Jussie's scenes is not a good sign. It means no matter what they are saying publicly, they must have serious doubts about his veracity.

When he refused to sit down for police again, that was the nail in the coffin for him. 

[Dee]

It's likely FOX is rewriting scripts as a potential backup plan and has nothing to do with them having doubts about Jussie.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Dee

[dttruman]

If the FBI labs nail him for the letter sent, that's a federal crime and he could go away for a long time.

[Norma Desmond]

Eh, I doubt it. He'll get away with a slap on the wrist.

[dttruman]

3 minutes ago, Norma Desmond said:

Eh, I doubt it. He'll get away with a slap on the wrist.

You think he'll plead guilty by mental defect or will he try and plead guilty to a lesser charge? Then again, maybe those two guys are framing him.

Bottom line, I don't know what to believe, things keep changing.

On 2/18/2019 at 7:18 PM, WendyCR72 said:

The thing that galls me is, people have enough of an uphill battle in being believed after violence. Look how many women still do not report being sexually assaulted because of the "blame/disbelieve the victim" climate.

IF, indeed, Jussie Smollett set this up, he should be held accountable. That means charges. And he should stop and think about how he has helped legitimate crime victims to face even greater scrutiny.

Again, IF this was a scam, it has helped no one.

You think this will make it as an episode of SVU by the end of the season?

[WendyCR72]

5 minutes ago, dttruman said:

You think this will make it as an episode of SVU by the end of the season?

Oh, I'm sure of it.

[Mysteyman]

All I can say is that if something like this happened to me, I would cooperate fully with the police.There is no downside to helping the police with the investigation.

[thebigboot]

“As the police investigation into the alleged attack against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett continues, it was revealed Tuesday that in 2007 Smollett pleaded no contest to DUI, driving without a license and providing false information to law enforcement, the L.A. City Attorney's office confirmed to NBC News.”

Smollett’s previous case

This does not help him at all.

[sempervivum]

9 hours ago, thebigboot said:

n 2007 Smollett pleaded no contest to DUI, driving without a license and providing false information to law enforcement,

The false information was that JS gave the cops his brother Jake's name instead of his own, initially. This guy isn't the brightest light bulb out there, is he?