Saturday Night Livepoked fun atJussie Smollettthis week, portraying him as the boy who cried wolf in a sketch that addressed his uncertain future onEmpire.
In the sketch, host Sandra Oh appears as his manager, who is desperately fighting Fox network executives andEmpirecreator and producer Lee Daniels (Kenan Thompson) to keep Smollett on the musical drama.
“I have represented Jussie his entire career,” she says. “I am sure there’s a very reasonable explanation for why he’s so late.”
At that moment, Chris Redd’s Smollett appears, clad in a red Make America Great Again hat, and armed with a “bag of clues” to help back up his claim that he was attacked — again — on his way over.
“Guys, you are not going to believe what just happened to me,” says the fake Smollett. “I know what you’re thinking, but it’s not that. I got attacked again!”
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In the bag of clues is a box of Crest Whitestrips, which he suspects is “racial,” three red letters spelling out “KKK,” a receipt, car keys and a Teletubbies toy he describes as the “gay one.”
In the sketch, Thompson’s Daniels, who in real life is gay, deems his claims “absolutely ridiculous,” but Redd’s Smollett stands firm, exclaiming, “You can’t fire me. I made this show, man! I am the gay Lee Daniels!”
Redd’s Smollett soon returns with a neck brace, claiming the group will never “believe what happened to me this time!”
Smollett has not officially been fired fromEmpiredespiteSNL’s jab, though hisfuture on the seriesremains uncertain.
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After hewas arrestedFeb. 20 and indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly staging the attack against himself, Smollett’s character Jamal Lyon wasremoved from the final two episodesof season 5 in order to “avoid further disruption on set.”
Police said at a press conference they believed Smollett paid $3,500 to orchestrate the “bogus” attack because he was unhappy with hisEmpiresalary, though a source denied any dissatisfaction with money to PEOPLE.
The case took a turn again, however, when the charges against Smollett — who has maintained his innocence —were dropped Tuesday.
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In light of the development, FOX Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Television, which jointly produceEmpire, said in a statement, “Jussie Smollett has always maintained his innocence and we are gratified that all charges against him have been dismissed.”
A sixth season ofEmpireis still pending, as the show is up for renewal, though that didn’t stop the writers from posting on their verified Twitter account, “See y’all Wednesday,” with a winky face emoji and a screenshot of Smollett on CNN.
Smollett’s costars have weighed in on his case, too, with AzMarie Livingston tellingPEOPLEin a statement she was eagerly awaiting his possible return to set.
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“I’m happy his charges are being dropped and look forward to seeing Jussie on set and his character Jamal back onEmpire,” Livingston said in a statement.
Daniels, meanwhile, said just before the charges were dropped that he and the rest of the cast felt“pain and anger”over the situation.
“Oh my God, these past couple of weeks have been a freakin’ roller coaster,” he said in an Instagram post. “Me and my cast have experienced pain and anger and sadness and frustration and really don’t know how to deal with it. You know?”
source: people.com
