‘#BoycottEmpire’: Show ratings plummet to an all time low as outraged fans turn off after Jussie Smollett had hoax hate crime charges dropped despite prosecutors saying he is guilty
- Empire drew in just 3.97million viewers on Wednesday, its smallest audience ever
- Smollett appeared in the show which forced some viewers to turn it off
- They angrily took to Twitter to call for a boycott until 20th Century Fox fires him
- Smollett had the charges dropped against him on Tuesday but prosecutors still say he is guilty
- The 36-year-old flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday and is expected to attend an awards ceremony on Saturday night where he is nominated for an award
Empire’s ratings dropped to an all time low on Wednesday night as fans boycotted the show in outrage over the Jussie Smollett outcome.
On Wednesday, 3.97million viewers tuned in to watch the 20th Century Fox show, the lowest in its history.
The show returned to TV after a mid-season hiatus on March 13 but the scandal has done nothing to boost its ratings.
After Smollett had the charges dropped on Wednesday, furious fans fumed on Twitter that they were boycotting the show unless it kicked him out.
Jussie Smollett is shown in Wednesday night’s episode of Empire which attracted the smallest audience in the show’s history
Fans have called for a boycott of the show in light of the charges against him being dropped
Soon after Smollett’s charges were dropped on Tuesday morning, Fox issued a statement to say it was ‘gratified’ by the outcome but it has said nothing since.
Meanwhile, the very prosecutors who dropped the case have spoken out to say they believe Smollett is guilty and the city’s mayor has billed him for $130,000 – the amount that was spent on police overtime investigating the January 29 attack.
The president has decried it as an ‘outrageous’ ’embarrassment’ and the State’s Attorney’s Office behind the decision is facing a federal probe.
Politicians in Illinois have also proposed cutting Empire’s 30 percent tax credit if they keep Smollett in the cast.
Rep. Michael McAuliffe announced the bill on Tuesday that he said would apply to any production which hires Smollett in Illinois.
An Illinois lawmaker has proposed cutting Empire’s tax credits if it keeps Jussie Smollett on its pay roll in a move that will likely enrage the 20th Century Fox production
Fox has not given a comment since this one which it released on Tuesday before the city of Chicago turned on Smollett
He, like the mayor of Chicago and local cops, is outraged by prosecutors’ decision to drop the charges against Smollett and believes he should be held accountable for allegedly staging a hoax attack on himself on January 29.
‘Where the City of Chicago is concerned, Jussie Smollett is far from exonerated.
‘While the State’s Attorney has chosen not to pursue justice in this case, we need to send a message that Smollett’s actions are not a reflection of the values we have in Chicago and won’t be tolerated.
Republican Rep. Michael McAuliffe said Smollett should not be able to benefit from the ‘generous and robust’ 30 percent incentive anymore
A spokesman for 20th Century Fox did not respond to DailyMail.com’s inquiries on Thursday or Friday.
When Smollett was arrested on February 21, the network said it had excluded him from filming the final two episodes of the show.
He had already filmed several which are currently being aired.
The show wrapped last month and it has not yet been renewed or canceled.
On Tuesday morning, the writers tweeted smugly about Smollett’s outcome.
He maintains that he is innocent and said in a press conference at the courthouse after the hearing: ‘I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I’ve been accused.
‘I would not bring my family, our lives or the movement through a fire like this. I just wouldn’t.’
But his lawyers have asked for the case to be sealed. A judge granted their motion and now it has been stricken from record, meaning none of the evidence police say they gathered against him will ever become public.
Local media outlets have lobbied the court to unseal the records as has Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Police Superintendent.