Empireaudiences, mark your calendars — the Fox series is returning for a sixth season.
Fox announced on Tuesday that the music drama, which premiered in 2015, has been renewed.
“Empirecontinues to break barriers with its emotionally powerful storytelling, and it remains a core part of the FOX legacy,” said President, Entertainment for FOX Entertainment, Michael Thorn. “We want to thank everyone on the show — Taraji, Terrence and the entire cast, as well as Lee, Danny, Brett, Sanaa, Brian, Francie, Dennis and their teams — all of whom have done a tremendous job this season. We know there are so many more stories to tell, and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for season six.”
The network also announced that it has “no plans” forJussie Smollett‘s character, Jamal Lyon, to return. The news comes three months after Smollett allegedly staged a hate crime.
The future of the Lee Daniels and Danny Strong co-created series was unknown in the wake of star Smollett’s criminal case before thecharges against him were dropped at the end of March.
Jussie Smollett.Stephen Lovekin/Variety/REX/Shutterstock
He was arrested Feb. 20 after an investigation, and indicted on16 counts of disorderly conduct for making false reports.
“To be perfectly honest, from the very beginning we had questions,” Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said at a news conference after Smollett had been charged.
Smollett and his legal team previously said they had planned an “aggressive defense,” according to his attorneys Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson.
“Jussieadamantly maintains his innocenceeven if law enforcement has robbed him of that presumption,” his attorney, Mark Geragos, said in a statement released to PEOPLE after those indictments were announced.
Two brothers who were acquaintances of the actor, Abimbola “Abel” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, later issued a public apology for their role in the allegedly staged incident, expressing “tremendous regret” for their actions, according to a statement from their attorney.
Their attorney later said the check they received was meant to cover both the attack and personal training services for Smollett. They also allegedly received $100 from Smollett to buy the ski masks, rope and gloves they were to use in the alleged attack.
The brothers have not been charged.
After being arrested and quickly posting a bond that allowed his release from jail in February,Smollett returned to the Chicago set ofEmpire. Still, following the accusations brought against Smollett,Empire‘s executive producers announced towards the end of February that the actor’s character Jamal Lyon would be removed from the final two episodesof season 5.
Jussie Smollett.Chicago Police Department/AP/REX/Shutterstock
Weeks later, at the end of March, all charges against Smollett were dropped, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office confirmed to PEOPLE.
It was not immediately clear whether Smollett forfeited the $10,000 he put up to post bail or his full $100,000 bond.
Smollett’s attorneys, Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes, released a statement to PEOPLE saying, “Today, all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him.”
Empire.FOX/Getty
Smollett’s attorney did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Empireairs Wednesdays (8 p.m. ET) on Fox.
source: people.com
