(CNN) — “Empire” will return for a sixth season, but the same can’t definitely be said for Jussie Smollett. “By mutual agreement, the studio has negotiated an extension to Jussie Smollett’s option for Season 6, but at this time there are no plans for the character of Jamal to return to ‘Empire,’” Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox TV said in a joint statement. That means the studio isn’t including him in the series, but is leaving open the possibility of his return. “We’ve been told that Jussie will not be on ‘Empire’ in the beginning of the season, but he appreciates they have extended his contract to keep Jamal’s future open. Most importantly, he is grateful to Fox and ‘Empire’ leadership, cast, crew and fans for their unwavering support,” a spokesperson for Smollett said in a statement. Smollett does not appear in the final two episodes of the show’s current season, having been written out as he grappled with the aftermath of what Chicago police have said was a staged attack. The decision, producers said at the time, was made to “avoid further disruption on set.” On the episode of “Empire” airing this week, Smollett’s character, Jamal, the middle brother of the Lyon family at the center of the show, is said to be on his honeymoon with his new husband. Plans regarding how writers will address the character’s absence into next season are still unclear. The “Empire” season finale airs next week. Last week, in an appearance on “Good Day New York,” series creator Lee Daniels said Smollett’s fate was still being considered “There are only two judges – God and that man that wears a robe. And I cannot judge. I can only have compassion,” he said. In a release announcing the show’s renewal, Fox Entertainment President Michael Thorn said the show “continues to break barriers with its emotionally powerful storytelling, and it remains a core part of the Fox legacy.” “We know there are so many more stories to tell, and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for Season 6,” he added. Smollett was charged with multiple felony counts alleging the actor duped the Chicago police into believing he had been the target of a hate crime. Prosecutors later dropped the charges against Smollett, but the city has asked him for more than $130,000 to cover the cost of the investigation. Smollett denied the allegations and his attorneys have said the actor “will not be intimidated into paying.” Daniels said on “Good Day New York” that Chicago’s pending suit against Smollett, as well as insurance issues, were “causing a dilemma.” Smollett has starred on “Empire” since the show’s start in 2015. CNN’s Brad Parks contributed to this story.<doc-sep>SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Roughest Day,” the fifth season finale of “Empire.” It’s been quite a year for “Empire.” The fifth season kicked off by teasing that before the end of the season someone important to Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) would die. Over the course of the 18 episodes, it was revealed that the music number-cruncher originally hell-bent on destroying the Lyons had a personal vendetta: He was actually Lucious’ first-born son. Additionally, Lucious and Cookie’s (Taraji P. Henson) relationship continued to be strained, resulting in her getting too close to Damon Cross (Wood Harris), who had a relationship with the law enforcement agents investigating the Lyons, and Andre (Trai Byers) fell in love with someone new, was diagnosed with cancer and was later told his heart was giving out due to the cancer treatment he underwent. By the end of the season finale, the body in the coffin Lucious was grieving over was revealed to be his son Kingsley (A.Z. Kelsey), who killed himself in front of his father after his mother told him she should have had an abortion rather than raised him; Andre got married in his hospital bed and received a heart transplant (from Kingsley); and Lucious was ready to flee the feds, but Cookie decided to put herself first and not go with him. Meanwhile, Jamal (Jussie Smollett) was off-screen throughout all the turmoil, having been written out of the last few episodes after Smollett claimed he was the victim of a racist, homophobic and racially motivated attack earlier this year, but was then accused of hiring the men who attacked him and indicted for filing false police statements. The criminal charges against Smollett have since been dropped (he has maintained his innocence throughout), and the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against him. “We have such a terrific ensemble that when first you’re told you have to take one chess piece out, it’s ‘What the hell am I going to do?’ But then it opens up space and room to tell the other important stories that you want to tell. So there are pluses and minuses,” showrunner Brett Mahoney tells Variety. “There was definitely stuff I wanted to do with Jamal in [Episodes] 17 and 18 that I just had to express a different way, but it did open up the focus a little bit more on the Andre storyline.” Here, Mahoney talks with Variety about his decision to keep Jamal off-screen for such pivotal Lyon family moments and what Smollett’s status is for Season 6, as well as the evolution of Andre’s medical drama and why this was the time to separate Lucious and Cookie. How did it feel to write such an emotional finale for the Lyon family and not have Jamal be a part of it? Had the wedding episode hit in a different place, it would have been much, much, much more difficult. Right before we were headed into production of [Episode] 17 was when the decision was made to take the character out of the last two episodes, but luckily, it was almost a completion of the Jamal arc in [Episode] 16. There were elements I wanted to express in [Episodes] 17, 18, and I had to take those out, but it was lucky in the sense that it happened [then], so the wedding was a natural way to move on — to send him on his honeymoon. The stories in the news were unfolding before episodes such as the 16th were on-air, though, so did you go back and minimize his storyline in those or ease him out, so to speak? We had to tweak some stuff because of his availability, but not in a sense to limit him or cut him out. What were some of the pieces with Jamal you repurposed in the finale? Season 5 was a test of Cookie and Lucious’ relationship, their marriage, but at the same time it was an expression of the boys becoming men and growing up and establishing families of their own and loved ones outside of the Lyon family. So I had more of a physical expression of that for Jamal to be stepping up and stepping into his manhood for the finale, but instead it had to be just a line expressed between Thirsty and Lucious at the end. When Lucious says, “I built this empire for my boys, make sure you help protect them,” and Thirsty says, “They’re not boys anymore; they’re men.” I would have liked to see more of that with Jamal, but instead it had to be reduced in that way. How do you plan to handle his absence next season? I haven’t convened with the writers yet — we haven’t started breaking what Season 6 will be — but it will require an adjustment in terms of him not being there in the first episodes. There used to be more Lyons to carry the burden of the family drama, but now Jamal is off-screen and Lucious and Cookie are split apart. How much does that play into the adjustment? Season 6 will have to be somewhat of a reset, and we’re going to find some exciting, bombastic way in. And we may discover that it takes more than just blood to be a Lyon, and we might see some other characters step up and step into the fold. And for a minute it seemed like there would be even fewer Lyons, given that Andre’s heart was failing and he wanted to die with dignity. We literally wanted to walk the audience down the road where they could see it would have been Andre in the casket. And the way the story broke in different iterations and different times, it was Andre. We were telling that story, and we wanted to give that character as much respect as possible. At what point, then, did you decide it would be Kingsley in the coffin? I think we made that decision as we began breaking the back nine episodes. At the beginning when we came up with the casket and we had that introduced, we certainly had candidates for it. The whole idea was that the Lyons live such high-risk, high-stakes lives that mortality needs to touch the Lyons in a very real way. So we had scenarios for various characters, and as we moved forward, some characters grew and we got excited about telling more stories for them so we removed them from the possibility. It was set up early on that whoever was in the coffin meant a lot to Lucious because of the sincerity of the “he’s grieving” line delivery, so what did you feel like needed to be done with Kingsley to earn that reaction? I felt I was going to be protected in that right from the beginning. The way the Lucious character was established and who Lucious is — especially because Lucious didn’t know that Kingsley was his son [for so many years] — I was confident that Lucious as a father and a character was going to care that Kingsley was his son in the coffin. I was more concerned I was going to have to tell stories to make the audience care about Kingsley. [But] when Kingsley actually disappears for awhile, which I think is in Episode 10, the way Terrence played it, where he was hurt when Kingsley was shutting him down — he wanted to reach out to him. I felt like, “Okay, the audience is going to get it and get that this is a fractured relationship but a relationship that has potential and that Lucious is really invested in bringing him into the fold.” Similarly, what did you feel you needed to do for the audience to understand why Andre would change his mind about wanting to die on his own terms to taking Kingsley’s heart? I think what started the turn of the tide for Andre was that he was going to have a baby.<doc-sep>(CNN) — The following contains spoilers about “Empire’s” May 8 season finale. The “Empire” finale explained the absence of Jussie Smollett’s character, Jamal, by saying he was “stuck in the Seychelles” because due to “a storm, he can’t get a flight out.” A different kind of storm was actually responsible, but it still might have been the episode’s most memorable moment, with a series that will come back for a sixth season despite creatively running on fumes. The Fox drama had already experienced some jump-the-shark moments before the tumult associated with Smollett, who was first believed to be the victim of a hate crime, then charged with multiple felonies for allegedly staging the event. Authorities subsequently dropped the charges, but the decision was publicly criticized by Chicago police and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who have sought compensation for the cost of the investigation. Fox – which had been initially supportive of the actor – announced that it was renewing the show, while stating that there were “no plans” to bring Smollett back. His contract was picked up, leaving the door ajar for the possibility of his return. The off-screen drama surrounding Smollett somewhat obscured how exhausted “Empire” appeared this season. While “The Wire” alum Wood Harris has brought some sizzle as a new foe for Lucious (Terrence Howard) and romantic interest for Cookie (Taraji P. Henson), the shifting alliances, allegiances and betrayals have grown tiresome, as if the writers were running out of combinations. Chuck Hodes/Photographer: Chuck Hodes Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson in 'Empire' (Chuck Hodes/FOX) Similarly, the subplot involving Lucious’ long-lost son Jeff Kingsley (A.Z. Kelsey), with the benefit of hindsight, turned out to be little more than a device to bring Andre (Trai Byers) to a near-death experience, then conveniently provide an appropriate heart donor at the last moment, after Jeff committed suicide. After breakups and reconciliation, the season’s climactic series of events helped drive another wedge between Lucious and Cookie. That sets up the prospect of conflict between the show’s signature characters, but also feels like a somewhat desperate measure to milk more drama out of relationships that have undergone a dizzying assortment of ups and downs already. Although “Empire” ratings have fallen dramatically from its early heyday, Fox clearly erred on the side of caution in bringing back the established program for another season – even if that meant potentially disappointing Smollett’s fans, and having to come up with a more definitive explanation for Jamal’s absence. Still, even the show’s trademark cliffhangers felt tepid, with Cookie and Lucious going their separate ways after she told him, “I can’t trust you” and “I’ve gotta put me first.” “Empire” might have weathered a public-relations storm. But by this time next year, disappearing to the Seychelles, as Jamal did, might be the best move for all concerned. For now, the network is putting its needs first. But like the Lyons’ marriages, we’ll see how long that lasts.<doc-sep>
The ‘Empire’ season 5 finale featured a shocking death, a major departure, and so much more. HL spoke EXCLUSIVELY to EP Brett Mahoney about season 6, as well as the possibility of Jussie Smollett returning. The season 5 finale of Empire was a roller coaster from start to finish. The person in the coffin was finally revealed and it was Kingsley, Lucious’s first-born he only recently found out about. Kingsley hit rock bottom and shot himself in front of Lucious. Meanwhile, Andre was in desperate need of a new heart. The chemotherapy he underwent for cancer caused heart failure. Andre intended on killing himself because he felt there was no hope for a new heart before it was too late, but Cookie stopped him from doing so in the penultimate episode. The Lyons rallied around Andre in his time of need as they waited for a heart. Kingsley’s death gave Andre a second chance. Tracy blamed Lucious and Cookie for her son’s death, but Cookie’s pleas as a mother convinced Tracy to allow the heart transplant surgery. Lucious also learned that Damon Cross was working with Conway to take him down, so Lucious decided to leave town. Cookie refused to go with him and told him that she’d slept with Damon Cross. She said “ride or die” is over, leaving their future in jeopardy. Lucious fled town in a helicopter while Cookie drove away. HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with executive producer Brett Mahoney about how the show will move forward in season 6. When did you decide that you were going to kill Kingsley? Brett Mahoney: The whole idea behind the casket was that the Lyons lead such high stakes, high-risk lives. We wanted mortality to reach close and really touch them viscerally. We wanted it to be a Lyon or someone close to the Lyons. So we had different candidates towards the beginning of the season and then we sort of just narrowed it down. I think it was as we were breaking for the back 9 when the decision was made that it was going to be Kingsley. He was always a possibility but then we turned it definitively towards him as we wrote the back 9 episodes. Did you consider killing off Andre or did you always envision the person in the coffin saving Andre? Brett Mahoney: No, we had different candidates. Andre was definitely someone we considered, but as it turned out, we really loved a lot of the stuff we did with him this season. He became a character that we thought could be a story engine in season 6, so I didn’t think he should be in the coffin. Will the aspect of Andre getting his brother’s heart be a huge storyline for Andre in season 6? Brett Mahoney: I think Andre’s actually in a good place to some extent in that he has this heart, he’s got a wife, he has the possibility of a new baby. He’s sort of going to be on a new trajectory, but I do think that the fact that he’s been given life through Kingsley’s heart is going to impact him moving forward. Jussie Smollett’s contract has been extended through season 6 but a statement said there are “no plans” for him to return right now. Have you discussed how you will address his absence going forward? Brett Mahoney: The writers’ room will reconvene next week and I’m sure we’ll start tackling then, but no. Are you keeping possibilities for his return open? Brett Mahoney: Oh, absolutely. Yes. I think none of that has been firmly worked out yet, but it’s a possibility, sure. Even if you don’t bring Jussie back at least in the first 9 episodes, would you still keep bringing up the character like you did in the finale? Brett Mahoney: With Jamal not there, we’ll have to find some organic reason for why he’s not there when the family is in crisis because he’s an important part of the family. I don’t think you can just ignore his absence. There’s got to be some organic reason. How will Lucious witnessing Kingsley’s death change Lucious’s trajectory going forward? Brett Mahoney: Again, we haven’t fully tackled where we’re going to go in season 6. I think that, too, will have an impact on him. I think, in his mind, he’ll bear some responsibility for what happened. And so how he deals with that will be his issue. Is this the end of Cookie and Lucious?