Jussie Smollett’s Drama Has Divided The ‘Empire’ Cast & Crew, Per ‘Page Six’

Jussie Smollett’s dramatic attack and allegations have completely rocked the Empire set.

According to Page Six, Jussie Smollett claimed to be the victim of a hate crime back in January. However, as the investigation pushed forward, the Chicago Police found evidence suggesting that the actor may have staged the attack with the help of two of his friends.

Since that time, Jussie has been indicted on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct and was arrested in February. He posted bail and immediately headed to the Empire set, where he reportedly addressed the cast and crew about the situation and maintained his innocence.

“Some of the cast wanted to send him a message, like a ‘We’re thinking of you’ thing, and asked people to sign it, but a lot of people were disgusted. The hair and makeup people, a lot of the crew,” a source said of the divided opinions of the Empire cast and crew over Smollett’s actions and accusations.

Meanwhile, actress and singer Queen Latifah, who has appeared on Empire in the past, recently spoke out about Jussie’s situation.

“The guy I’ve seen has always been someone who cares about people, who cares about others, and who’s very kind and who’s always been cool and sweet,” adding, “So until I can see some definitive proof — which I haven’t seen yet — then, you know, I gotta go with him until I see otherwise,” she stated.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, one person who may be having a hard time with Jussie Smollett’s accusations is his co-star, Terrence Howard. On the day that Smollett was arrested on the accusations that he staged the hate crime against himself, Terrence was allegedly so upset that he wouldn’t come out of his trailer on set all day.

Sources tell TMZ that Howard never believed Smollett’s story and that he grilled him about his claims when holes in his account of the attack began to peek through.

Jussie, who plays Jamal Lyon on the Fox drama, was reportedly cut out of the show’s final two episodes of the season but will appear in next week’s brand new episode of the series.

The network has yet to announce what they will do with Smollett and his character going forward, although rumors have a recast have been floating around the internet since the drama broke out.

Fans can see Jussie Smollett on Empire, which airs Wednesday nights on Fox.