Jussie Smollett Empire Fellow Cast and Crew Members Reportedly Divided Over His Innocence

TMZ has an update on Jussie Smollett following yesterday’s news that the Empire star had all charges against him dropped for allegedly enacting a hoax of an attack against him. According to the report, the cast and crew for his show Empire are still divided on his apparent innocence.

Smollett was cleared of all criminal charges, which were dropped by the state’s attorney office. Production sources on Empire are claiming that people on the series, including the writers, who believe the dismissal of charges for Smollett prove he was a victim. However, it seems are also people in the crew who think Smollett staged his own attack and were taken aback by the lack of consequences against him, and they do not want him back on the show. They are also said to be upset with the idea that Smollett allegedly faked the attack to possibly get more money out of his producers.

The group who still sees Jussie Smollett as guilty see him as a liability and want him to be cut from the show if it returns for a sixth season. The report also states that the cast is happy to see that the case is closed because it was a potential threat to the future of the series.

The State’s Attorney office reportedly believes Jussie Smollett staged the attack. However, charges were dropped because his crime was seen as a “low-priority, non-violent crime,” and Smollett’s punishment would’ve likely only resulted in some community service.

The TMZ report maintains there is still an investigation over the threatening letter that was sent to the office for the show about eight days before the alleged attack against Smollett took place. The Chicago PD believe Smollett sent the letter to himself. The FBI has reportedly not yet rendered that conclusion. The TMZ report notes that if the FBI concludes that Smollett sent the letter to himself, he could face federal charges.