‘Empire’ to be Cancelled After Next Season
Peter D'Abrosca
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The Fox show on which actor Jussie Smollett played a lead role will be cancelled after next season, its sixth.
“The reign of Empire on Fox is coming to an end next year,” according to Deadline. “Just two weeks after the Charlie Collier-run Fox Entertainment renewed Lee Daniels and Danny Strong’s hip hop drama for a sixth season and guided Jussie Smollett toward the exit door, it was announced Monday during Fox’s pre-upfront call that the self-described “groundbreaking cultural phenomenon” will be canceled once Season 6 is done next year.”
The show was marred with controversy after Smollett was accused of committing a hate crime hoax against himself. Eventually, he was charged with 16 felonies, all of which were suspiciously dropped by State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, much to the chagrin of the Chicago Police.
Big League Politics reported on Foxx:
A Chicago police union is asking the Justice Department to investigate Cook County Prosecutor Kim Foxx for potentially seeking to spike the investigation into Jussie Smollett’s hate hoax.
The Chicago-area Fraternal Order of Police are questioning whether Foxx sought to have the investigation stunted by requesting that the local authorities hand the case over the FBI.
Foxx, the elected State’s Attorney for Cook County, then recused herself from the case in the thick of the investigation in February, citing “familiarity” with individuals involved in the incident.
Seeking to place an investigation into the hate hoax in the hands of the FBI could have been an effective plan to hush up the incident.
The federal agency has been hit hard by accusations of institutional leftist bias, and it’s possible elements within the Bureau could consigned a criminal case against Smollett- who now faces felony disorderly conduct charges related to lying to the police- to the dustbin.
An aide to former First Lady Michele Obama reached out to Foxx about the case during the investigation, expressing a preference for the FBI to marshal the investigation.
Smollett was not slated to be a part of season six. Deadline cited Smollett as the reason for the shows poor ratings during season five.
“Amidst other long-in-the-tooth issues, Empire was pummeled this year by ratings lows and the ever-spiraling controversy over the January 29 presumed hate crime Smollett is now alleged to have perpetrated against himself,” according to the report.
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