Jussie Smollet Sees ‘Empire’ Screen Time Slashed As Questions Mount
Reports that Jussie Smollett staged an attack on himself in which he alleges two masked men put a rope around his neck, threw a chemical on him and shouted, “This is MAGA country!” remain unproven, however his screen time on Empire is being slashed as suspicions deepen.
Producers on the show are apparently circling the wagons following CBS’s bombshell report that Smollett allegedly paid two brothers $3,500 to stage the assault. The men claimed the actor told them to buy the rope and that he paid for it, the report said. Smollett and the brothers even rehearsed the incident, they allegedly told police.
Production sources now tell TMZ that Smollett, who was supposed to have nine scenes and a big musical number in the penultimate episode of Empire, has seen five of his scenes cut and the song excised completely in furious rewrites.