Fox Orders Another Season of ‘Empire’

Fox has renewed drama Empire for a sixth season. Lee Daniels and Danny Strong created the show. Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard star.

Produced by Imagine Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television, Empire is executive produced by Daniels, Strong, Brian Grazer, Francie Calfo, Sanaa Hamri, Dennis Hammer, Matt Pyken and Diane Ademu-John. Brett Mahoney is executive producer and showrunner.

Empire continues to break barriers with its emotionally powerful storytelling, and it remains a core part of the Fox legacy,” said Michael Thorn, president, entertainment Fox. “We want to thank everyone on the show – Taraji, Terrence and the entire cast, as well as Lee, Danny, Brett, Sanaa, Brian, Francie, Dennis and their teams – all of whom have done a tremendous job this season. We know there are so many more stories to tell, and we can’t wait to see what they have in store for season six.”

The May 1 episode sees Henson’s Cookie get picked up by AUSA Conway, while Howard’s Lucious is visited by his past. Hakeem and Andre devise a plan to save Empire by putting on a show with special guests Sevyn Streeter and Ty Dolla $ign. 

Jussie Smollett, who plays Jamal Lyon on Empire, was indicted for disorderly conduct earlier this year after he said he was attacked in a hate crime. The charges against him were dropped. 

Fox said there are "no plans" for Smollett to return to the show. 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.