After Jussie Smollett walked  on Tuesday, the Empire writers optimistically tweeted: 

😉 see y’all Wednesday. #empire #empirefox pic.twitter.com/jQUtsHcQBF

— Empire Writers (@EmpireWriters) March 26, 2019

Smollett himself reflected that optimism, stating, "Now I'd like nothing more than to just get back to work and move on with my life."

Not so fast.  The responses to the Empire Writers tweets were mixed, with some glad at what they perceived as Smollett's vindication and others who wanted to work the incident into the show, while others decided to walk away from it.

Walk away, tune out is what happened.  According to CBS in Chicago:

Wednesday night’s episode of his show ‘Empire’ received the lowest ratings in the show’s history, according to TV Line.

With about 3.9 million viewers, ‘Empire’ took a substantial hit, dropping to the lowest number of viewers in the history of the series, according to widely-reported TV ratings.

Oh.

FOX, the show’s home network, hasn’t said whether ‘Empire’ will be renewed for another season, and the show’s producers haven’t said whether Smollett would still be on the show if filming continues for a sixth season.

Oh again. 

In the aftermath of this truly bizarre incident there will be many more ohs — and more reactions — as more facts of all involved are revealed.  

Stay tuned.  Or not.

Image screen shot via YouTube.