US actor Jussie Smollett will not appear in remaining episodes of 'Empire'.
His character, Jamal, has been cut from the final two shows of the current season.
He's denied claims by Chicago police that he staged a racist and homophobic assault on himself.
The Fox show says although they care deeply about him, the allegations are "very disturbing" and they want to avoid further disruption for other actors on set.
The executive producers of the show - Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo and Dennis Hammer - have released a joint statement.
It reads: "The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us.
"Jussie has been an important member of our Empire family for the past five years and we care about him deeply.
"While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out.
"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."
While TV network TNT has also pulled an episode of 'Drop the Mic' that featured Smollet.
Executive producer and head writer of the show, Jensen Karp, said: "We had an episode of Drop The Mic this season with Jussie that you'll now (correctly) never see".
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
Main picture: Empire actor Jussie Smollett (centre) leaves the Cook County Jail in Chicago | Image: TNS/SIPA USA/PA Images
