“You have to stay strong, stay positive, full of hope,” Henson said.
Taraji P. Henson says the atmosphere on set of "Empire" is just fine despite being recently rocked by the Jussie Smollett scandal.
While promoting her upcoming film "The Best of Enemies" on Sunday, the actress talked to ET about filming the FOX show in the wake of Smollett being accused of orchestrating the alleged attack on himself.
"It’s a great atmosphere," Henson said of the set, where the cast has recently finished filming Season 5. The actress also told Extra that the cast is doing well despite the drama. "You have to stay strong, stay positive, full of hope," she said.
Smollett, who plays Henson’s son Jamal on the show, will not appear in the final two episodes of this season, according to executive producers Lee Daniels and Danny Strong.
"The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us," a statement from the show began. "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," the statement continued. "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."
Smollett turned himself in and was booked by Chicago PD on Feb. 21 under a felony charge for allegedly filing a false police report; following claims he made about being attacked by racist, homophobic, MAGA supporters. He was released on $100,000 bond. Chicago police are maintaining they believe Smollett orchestrated the attack with two Nigerian brothers, who he had also hired as his personal trainers.
Meanwhile, the actor has maintained his innocence and denied any wrongdoing.
The response to his indictment, following weeks of media attention on what was first believed to be a hate crime, took over social media as many celebrities weighed in on the situation. While many changed their opinion — from supporting Smollett to then bashing him over a possible hoax — there are some, like Queen Latifah and "Empire" co-star Terrence Howard, who are standing behind the actor.
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