Jussie Smollett has appeared as Jamal Lyon on “Empire” since its 2014 debut.
Empire returns to Fox on Wednesday to begin airing the remainder of its fifth season amid real-life legal drama centered around star Jussie Smollett. Smollett has appeared on the acclaimed musical drama as Jamal Lyon since 2014, but the future of his character’s involvement in Season 6 is uncertain.
Jamal is an R&B singer. He’s the son of Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) and Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson). He’s also the brother of Andre Lyon (Trai Byers) and Hakeem Lyon (Hakeem Lyon) as well as the half-brother to Jeff Kingsley (A. Z. Kelsey). His ex-wife is Olivia, who’s played by Raven-Symoné.
Jamal struggled to earn his father’s acceptance of his homosexuality and was often abused as a child because of it. His mother would defend him, but that protection halted when she was imprisoned. This storyline was inspired by Empire creator Lee Daniels’s experience with his own father, who abused him as a child for being gay. In 2017, Daniels told The Hollywood Reporter that the scene where Lucious put Jamal in a trash can was based on a real-life occurrence he faced with his father.
