This morning, all 16 felony charges facing Empire star Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon) were dropped.  It all occurred when Smollett and his attorneys went to court this morning in Chicago.  The actor/singer was accused of lying to the police in the alleged racial and homophobic attack perpetrated against him.

Jussie will now surrender his $10,000 bond, and that is all.

State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office says, “After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.”

Jussie and his lawyer, Patricia Holmes, addressed the media, saying that he’s happy and wants to get on with his life.  Smollett thanked everyone who supported him through this case, and maintained he’d been truthful and consistent throughout it. He also pointed out that would never put the LGBTQ movement “through a fire like this.”  Finally, Jussie thanked the Empire cast for their support.

The decision is not sitting well with the Chicago Police Department and Mayor Rahm Emanuel who has been strongly hinting at corruption in the State’s Attorney’s Office, calling the decision a “whitewash of justice.”

What do you think of the latest developments in Jussie’s case … that he has been cleared of all charges?  Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below

A grand jury in Chicago on Friday returned with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct and a false report of offence against actor/singer and Empire star, Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon).  As previously reported, the final few episodes of this season of the music biz soap opera have removed Smollett and his character when they air on Fox.  These new charges come on top of the state charges Smollett receive last month were he could face up to three years in jail.

According to the grand jury, the new counts are based on false statements Jussie allegedly made to Chicago PD officers and detectives while they were investigating the alleged hate crime and attack levied on Smollett which included; racist and homophobic remarks, bleach being thrown at him and a rope ending up around this neck, back on January 29th of this year.  The Chicago PD have provided evidence that Smollett allegedly orchestrated his own attack.

Each of the new charges carries a potential sentence of up to three years , though they are usually bundled together as one upon convictions. However, iu cases where there is Class 4 felonies, usually this is revolved through a plea bargain and probation then long jail time.  But that could turn on its ear, if Smollett decides to fight the charges at trial.

Following the indictment on Friday, Smollett’s defense attorney, high=powered lawyer Mark Geragos came down on the charges stating: “The fact of an indictment was not unexpected  We knew that there is no way they would expose their evidence to a public airing and subject their witnesses to cross-examination.  What is unexpected, however, is the prosecutorial overkill in charging 16 separate counts against Jussie.  This redundant and vindictive indictment is nothing more than a desperate attempt to make headlines in order to distract from the internal investigation launched to investigate the outrageous leaking of false information by the Chicago Police Department and the shameless and illegal invasion of Jussie’s privacy in tampering with his medical records. Jussie adamantly maintains his innocence even if law enforcement has robbed him of that presumption”

Empire is back for the remainder of their 5th season next week on Wednesday March 13th, where some of the earlier episodes of the back-half of the season will feature Smolett, according to reports.

Smollett is due for hisarraignment on Thursday March 14th.

So, what do you think of the latest legal trouble for Smollett? Is it over-the- top as his lawyer, Mark Geragos says? What do you think will end up happening next? Will Smollett end up with jail time? Probation? Or, will somehow his defense team get him off on the counts or a lesser degree of counts, or prove that he is somehow innocent? Share your theories via the comment section below.

Following the turn of events for Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon, Empire) where he was arrested and charged on multiple felony counts and then posted bail, the producers of Fox’s sudsy primetime drama have decided to pull him from the remaining two episodes of the season.

“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us,” executive producers Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo, and Dennis Hammer said in a statement this morning following the legal fallout for Jussie Smollett and his arrest stemming from an alleged hate crime reported on January 29th that he staged on himself.

The producers went on to say: “Jussie has been an important member of our Empire family for the past five years and we care about him deeply. While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out. We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of ‘Jamal’ from the final two episodes of the season.”

This happened even after Smollett returned to work on Thursday, and even after the actor/singer reportedly apologized to the cast and crew of Empire for any embarrassment the recent allegations may have caused, but at the same time, sources reported, that he maintained that he was innocent,

According to CNN: “The person at the meeting said they were shocked and dismayed that Smollett stuck to his story of innocence. For the most part, the source said, Smollett paraphrased what was in the statement that his attorney put out that afternoon, blaming the legal system and the media for his woes.”

So, what do you think of the Empire producers decision to cut Smollett from the last two shows of the season? What do you think of Jussie still maintaining his innocence to the cast? Comment below.