It’s official: Jussie Smollett will not be in the final two episodes of “Empire” this season:

BREAKING: Jussie Smollett has been cut from Empire. So I guess that means he isn't getting that raise… — Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) February 22, 2019

Statement from the show’s creators:

BREAKING: Jussie Smollett’s character, Jamal, on #empire written out of the final two episodes. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/27EDgm9unn — Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 22, 2019

And with that news, we’re seeing reports that Jussie is getting ready to play the addict card:

It’s not his fault, guys!

Step 1 of him becoming a "victim" — Jon Nicosia (@NewsPolitics) February 22, 2019

Jussie will soon do for drug addicts what he did for hate-crime victims?

I mean when you marginalize victims of hate crime, marginalizing drug addiction is a no brainer. — Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) February 22, 2019

Now, he did reportedly buy drugs from these accomplices so this is probably a smart move on his part as he gets ready to mount a defense, even if he doesn’t have a legit drug problem:

Risa Lanier, Cook County State Attorney's Office: "Additionally text messages between defendants Smollett and Abel revealed that Abil was the source for designer drugs for defendant Smollett." https://t.co/TPSW7YCn5a pic.twitter.com/sOMi1uydr4 — The Hill (@thehill) February 22, 2019

But if this fails, get ready for Jussie to smear those with legit mental health issues:

At least he's not claiming his untreated depression made him do this. — Patrick Nonwhite (@NonWhiteHat) February 22, 2019

Yep:

He just might. — Heather Champion (@winningatmylife) February 22, 2019

Editor’s note: We’ve corrected some spelling mistakes. D’oh.

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