Drop The Mic‘s head writer and executive producer Jensen Karp announced an upcoming episode of the celebrity battle rap show has been shelved due to Jussie Smollett’s involvement. Karp made the announcement via Twitter on February 21.
“We had an episode of Drop The Mic this season with Jussie that you’ll now (correctly) never see,” he wrote. “But sadly it will shelve @clayaiken, WHO WAS A VERY GOOD RAPPER (at least for now).”
We had an episode of Drop The Mic this season with Jussie that you'll now (correctly) never see, but sadly it will shelve @clayaiken, WHO WAS A VERY GOOD RAPPER (at least for now)
— Jensen Karp (@JensenKarp) February 21, 2019
The Blast has obtained a clip of the episode which includes a “bail” punchline delivered by the disgraced Empire actor. As he was battling Orange Is The New Black actress Danielle Brooks, he spits a line about Brooks’ character being in jail.
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“How long is your character gonna be in jail? If it gets you off the show, then I will pay your bail,” an almost prophetic line hinting at what was to come.
Smollett was arrested last month for felony disorderly conduct after he allegedly staged a hate-fueled attack on himself. He was reportedly unhappy with his salary on the hit FOX television series.
In the wake of his arrest, Empire producers also decided to cut Smollett from the show’s final two episodes of the season, explaining, “We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of ‘Jamal’ from the final two episodes of the season.”
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Smollett’s Drop The Mic episode was expected to air on Thursday (March 6).
Check out the clip here.
