CHICAGO — After all charges were dropped Tuesday against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, the show’s writers and the Fox network appear to be standing behind him. Cook County prosecutors dropped a 16-count indictment against Smollett under a deal in which the actor had to complete two days of community service and surrender his $10,000 bond to the city.
Smollett, who is black and gay, has played the character of Jamal Lyon on the show since 2015. On Jan. 29, he reported being attacked by two people in masks who shouted racist and homophobic insults. On Feb. 16, Chicago police said they’d learned new information that altered the focus and trajectory of the investigation. Not long after, Smollett was arrested. But on Tuesday, prosecutors abruptly announced the charges had been dropped.
Though the move doesn’t exactly mean he’s innocent, Smollett told reporters he has been “truthful and consistent on every level since day one.”
“I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I’ve been accused of,” he said.
Following the announcement, writers of the show took to Twitter to express support for their embattled colleague. Their tweet was short and simple. A winking emoji followed by the message: “see y’all Wednesday. #empire #empirefox.” Accompanying the tweet was a photo of a TV with a CNN banner that reads “Prosecutors Drop All Charges Against Actor Jussie Smollett.”
The writers’ account has remained silent since the cheeky tweet, but has gone out of its way to retweet a few other takes and statements. Among them, a statement from the Smollett family that cast Smollett as “an innocent man whose name and character had been unjustly smeared.”
See also: Jussie Smollett: Did Top Prosecutor’s Deal Break The Law?
Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox TV took a firmer stance in support of the actor.
“Jussie Smollett has always maintained his innocence and we are gratified that all charges against him have been dismissed,” the network said in a statement.
But show co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, who had Smollett’s role cut from the last two episodes of season five, have remained mum in the aftermath. Daniels previously described the ordeal as a “roller coaster.”
“Oh my God. These past couple of weeks have been a freaking roller coaster,” Daniels said in a video posted on Instagram last week. “Me and the cast have experienced pain, anger and sadness. Frustration. We don’t really know how to deal with it.”
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Daniels added: “This is not what the show was made for. The show was made to bring America together.” The video has been viewed more than 45,000 times.
Related: Judge Bars Police From Releasing Further Smollett Case Files
Taraji P. Henson, who also stars on “Empire,” told USA Today she always believed Smollett was innocent because she knows him and “his track record.”
“I’m happy that the truth has finally been set free, because I knew it all along,” she said. “We’re all happy for him, and thank God the truth prevailed.”
Fellow “Empire” actress Gabourey Sidibe posted a photo of Smollett on Instagram with the caption “it’s weird that y’all decided the police were being 100% honest about this case.”
But Smollett won’t find any friendly faces among Chicago’s leaders. Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson both roundly criticized prosecutors for dropping the charges. Emanuel went as far as to call the prosecution’s dropping of charges a “whitewash of justice.”
Johnson doubled down on the allegations, saying unequivocally: “At the end of the day, it’s Mr. Smollett who committed this hoax, period.” Both men suggested a secret deal was brokered with Smollett.
Reaction on social media has been mixed. Some Twitter users said Smollett should’ve never been charged, but most seemed to agree the charges should’ve never been dropped.
“Never in a hundred years did I ever think Rahm Emanuel and me would be on the same page, but I must agree with him,” tweeted @greg73017. “The charges being dropped is a bastardization of the justice system!! Hopefully Smollett faces Federal charges for his crimes.”