‘Empire’ Ratings Plummet to All-Time Low After Jussie Smollett Charges Dropped

‘Empire’ Ratings Plummet to All-Time Low After Jussie Smollett Charges Dropped
Jussie Smollett (2nd L) appears in an episode of "Empire" with (L-R) Bryshere Gray, Taraji Henson, and Terrence Howard. (Chuck Hodes/FOX via AP)

Ratings for Fox’s “Empire” dropped to an all-time low after the charges against actor Jussie Smollett, one of the top stars in the show, were dropped.

According to ratings obtained by Deadline, “Empire” drew in 3.97 million, with 1.1 million coming from the coveted 18-49 demographic.

Both figures marked all-time lows for the series.

Airing at 8 p.m., “Empire” was soundly trumped by “Chicago Med” on NBC, which brought in 7.9 million total viewers and 1.2 million in the demographic, and “Survivor” on CBS, which drew 7.6 million total viewers and 1.5 in the demographic.

The cast of TV show Empire
(L-R) Actors Jussie Smollett, Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Co-Creator/Writer/Executive Producer Lee Daniels, and Executive Producers Sanaa Hamri and Ilene Chaiken of “Empire” speak onstage during the FOX portion of the 2017 Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Aug. 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Sources told Deadline this week that “Empire was almost certainly going to be renewed for at least one more season but that it was unclear whether the next season would include Smollett’s character Jamal Lyons.

The character was written out of the final two episodes of the current season after Smollett was arrested for filing a false police report in mid-February, but “Empire” writers cheered when the 16 felony counts against Smollett were dropped on March 26.

In a statement, Twentieth Century Fox Television, which airs the show, added, “Jussie Smollett has always maintained his innocence and we are gratified that all charges against him have been dismissed.”

But Smollett is still facing a federal probe into a threatening letter he received on set that Chicago police said he had sent to himself.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, right, and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson appear at a news conference in Chicago, Tuesday, March 26, 2019, after prosecutors abruptly dropped all charges against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, abandoning the case barely five weeks after he was accused of lying to police about being the target of a racist, anti-gay attack in downtown Chicago. The mayor and police chief blasted the decision and stood by the investigation that concluded Smollett staged a hoax. (AP Photo/Teresa Crawford)
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel (C), and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson appear at a news conference in Chicago, on March 26, 2019. (Teresa Crawford/AP Photo)
Actor Jussie Smollett, right, listens as his attorney, Patricia Brown Holmes, speaks to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after prosecutors dropped all charges against him on Tuesday, March 26, 2019. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Actor Jussie Smollett (R) listens as his attorney, Patricia Brown Holmes, speaks to reporters at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse after prosecutors dropped all charges against him on March 26, 2019. (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

The ratings drop came as Smollett’s attorney claimed his attackers may have worn whiteface the night of the attack and as the Chicago Police Department sent a bill to Smollett for the weeks of investigation into the alleged attack against him that led to the actor’s arrest.

“From a 30,000-foot view, the bill will include the hours, the overtime, the financial costs and the resources that were used” in the probe, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the New York Post.

“It was an extensive investigation that required a lot of review of cameras. There was technical assistance provided by external agencies, but it’ll likely only include Chicago expenses and not expenses incurred by the FBI and other technical experts we brought in for analysis,” Guglielmi said.

A city lawyer sent Smollett the bill later on March 28, saying it was tallied at $130,106.15. “The city requires immediate payment … within seven days of the date of this letter,” wrote the lawyer, Edward Siskel.

“If the amount is not timely paid, the Department of Law may prosecute you for making a false statement to the city … or pursue any other legal remedy available at law,” Siskel added.

Department of Law spokesman Bill McCaffrey told the Chicago Sun-Times that the city has “a lengthy and successful track record of recovering costs under this ordinance.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was reportedly considering suing Smollett, noted previously that the bond Smollett forfeited, $10,000, didn’t come close to the amount of money the city spent on the investigation.

“The financial cost, this $10,000, doesn’t even come close to what the city spent in resources to actually look over the cameras, go through data, gather all the information that actually brought the indictment by the grand jury,” Emanuel told CBS News on March 26.

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