Fox News Flash top entertainment headlines for Dec. 17
Fox News Flash top entertainment and celebrity headlines for Dec. 17 are here. Check out what's clicking today in entertainment.
Jussie Smollett may reprise his role as Jamal Lyon on "Empire" one last time.
The actor was written out of the show after his claims of being a victim of hate crimes in Chicago were brought into question in January.
Smollett, 37, has been absent from the show's sixth and final season, but showrunner Brett Mahoney said that there's a chance he may return after all.
Mahoney revealed to TV Line that Smollett's return is being "discussed." However, he said there is "no plan as of yet" to bring the actor back.
“It would be weird in my mind to end this family show and this family drama of which he was such a significant part of without seeing him,” Mahoney said. “It’s fair to say it’s being discussed, but there’s no plan as of yet to bring him back. There’s been no decision made.”
TV Line also said that despite extending Smollett's contract when the show was renewed for its final season in May, there were "no plans" at the time to bring him back.
Reps for "Empire" declined to comment.
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In January, Smollett told police he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home from a Chicago Subway sandwich shop at approximately 2 a.m. The openly gay actor alleged that the masked men beat him, taunted him with homophobic and racial slurs, and yelled, "This is MAGA country."
After an intense investigation, police determined that Smollett staged the entire episode with the help of two brothers, whom he paid to take part in the hoax assault, in an elaborate effort to drum up publicity for his career. After prosecutors dropped the case in March, Smollett maintained his innocence but agreed to let authorities keep a $10,000 bail.
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He was charged with filing a false police report, but those charges were dropped by Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx a few weeks later.
The Associated Press and Fox News' Sasha Savitsky contributed to this report.
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