“Empire” returns from its fifth season’s winter hiatus tomorrow night with an episode that includes the recently-indicted Jussie Smollett.
But you might not know that if you were to look at the promo photos from the midseason premiere episode, which Fox recently posted to its press site, ’cause Jamal (Smollett) isn’t in a single one of them. And the hip-hop soap opera’s third lead is not in the shots for the following two episodes either.
Smollett — who plays the openly gay middle son of Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) and Lucious (Terrence Howard) — is absent from all 38 production stills that are currently available to media from Episode 510, 511, and 512.
However, the other regular cast members, including Howard, Henson, Bryshere Y. Gray, Trai Byers, Nicole Ari Parker, Gabourey Sidibe and even Season 5 newcomer A.Z. Kelsey, are all present and accounted for to some degree in the photos.
For the sake of comparison, Lucious/Howard is in 11 of the 38 promotional pics, Cookie/Henson is in 10, Hakeem/Gray is in four and Andre/Byers is in six. Hell, Andre Royo’s character Thirsty Rawlings is in five of them.
“Empire” executive producers announced last month that they had decided to cut Smollett from the final two episodes of the Fox hip hop drama’s current season, following his arrest on the charge of filing a false police report.
But since he hasn’t been cut from the ones that were already in the can prior to that decision, his absence from the promo photos for the first three episodes of “Empire’s” midseason return is quite noticeable.
TheWrap has already seen an advanced press screener of the premiere and can say — without giving away any spoilers — that Jamal is featured prominently in the episode.
Fox declined TheWrap’s request for comment for this story.
Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for making a false report by a Chicago grand jury last Friday.
The actor was originally charged with one felony count for filing a false police report by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office last month, in connection to an incident he reported on Jan. 29, in which he said he was attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs and referenced “MAGA.”
Smollett surrendered himself to Chicago police on Feb. 21, hours after he was formally charged. He was released from police custody later that afternoon, after posting bail and surrendering his passport following a bond hearing.
He is set to appear in court this Thursday.
See the promo photos from 510, 511 and 512 below.
“Empire” Season 5 returns Wednesday at 8/7c on Fox.
