In the wake of the phony attack that’s been all over the news today, TNT’s show “Drop the Mic” has decided not to air an episode feature Jussie Smollett:
NY POST – An upcoming episode of TNT’s celebrity rap-battle series “Drop the Mic” — which features embattled “Empire” star Jussie Smollett — has been shelved by producers “in the interest of not being exploitative of an incredibly sensitive situation,” the network says.
“We are holding on airing his episode for now and we are replacing it with the [Raven Symone] vs Ron Funches and Joey McIntyre vs Joey Fatone episode,” a TNT spokesperson explained in a statement Thursday.
Smollett, 36, had been paired with “Orange is the New Black” actress Danielle Brooks for his “Drop the Mic” rap-off and was also joined on stage by “American Idol” star Clay Aiken and “Sharknado” actor Ian Ziering.
The show’s executive producer, Jensen Karp, took to Twitter on Thursday to let viewers know about TNT’s decision to pull the performance.
“We had an episode of ‘Drop The Mic’ this season with Jussie that you’ll now (correctly) never see,” she said. “But sadly it will shelve @clayaiken, WHO WAS A VERY GOOD RAPPER (at least for now).”
I don’t know how actors get paid for stuff like this, or if he got paid at all, but if so I hope he loses money off of this episode not airing.
It’s just one episode, but I think TNT made the right decision not to air it. It’d be kinda awkward for people to see him having a good time after he just put the nation through this hate hoax.
Also, TNT clearly doesn’t want criticism for airing it after all that has occurred. When they say ‘an incredibly sensitive situation’, I think they mean that he’s now made it harder for people of legitimate hate crimes to be believed.
As an aside, guess who was back on the set of Empire today:
Jussie Smollett was back on the “Empire” set this afternoon, @PageSix can confirm https://t.co/h26Q7u8eo3
— Connor Ryan (@connortryan) February 22, 2019
We told you the other day the producers were reducing his role in the show. I hope they reduce it even more. Heck, just do what ABC did to Roseanne and kill him off the show and be done with it!