The two brothers arrested in connection with the reported attack on the “Empire” star Jussie Smollett were released without being charged on Friday, a police spokesman said. They are no longer considered potential suspects.

“Due to new evidence as a result of today’s interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the ‘Empire’ case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete,” Anthony Guglielmi, the Chicago Police Department spokesman, said in a statement.

That announcement was the latest twist in an investigation that started late last month, when Smollett told the authorities that he had been attacked early one morning by two masked men who yelled homophobic and racial slurs at him in downtown Chicago. Smollett also told the police at the time that the assailants had tied a rope around his neck and poured a chemical substance on him.

But the two people who were arrested are acquaintances of Smollett, a lawyer for the men said. At least one had appeared on “Empire,” a fact that had fueled social media speculation that at least parts of Smollett’s story were not true.