Jussie Smollett’s career is over
There can be no doubt now that Jussie Smollett will struggle to revive his career. The Empire star broke his silence on the ‘worst time of his life’ after all charges against him for filing a false police report were dropped earlier this month.
His record has also been wiped clean, and reports indicate he will surrender a $10,000 bond; a bond of $100,000 was set in February. While his future on the television show is still unknown, crisis management mogul Ronn Torossian believes he won’t be returning to the show ever.
Torossian, CEO of 5W Public Relations whose clients have Snoop Dogg and Nick Cannon, says Smollett’s future lies on a ‘third rate reality show’. ‘I think it’s a lot like OJ Simpson. Even if you’re found innocent in a court of law you’re still guilty in the court of public opinion.”
“I think the reality is that this whole thing is just a joke. I think it’s not something that can be taken seriously. I think the whole thing is essentially just a lot of noise and who needs this headache? Maybe this guy will appear on some third rate reality show. But I think that Jussie Smollett’s career in Hollywood is essentially over.”
Torossian minces few words describing how he’d react to a client planning on hiring Smollett for a future gig: “What do you need this clown show for? What do you need this sideshow for?”. ‘If a client of mine wanted to hire him – this is not some mega star that’s gonna bring in more of an audience, it’s just a sideshow.”
Torossian added that he would be ‘surprised’ if Jussie returned to Empire as his character Jamal has been written out of the last two episodes of season five. He said: “If I was advising Empire I would tell them not to welcome him back. The reality is who needs this headache? ‘What does he bring besides a lot of noise? I don’t know what that contributes. If I was advising them I would tell them not to take him back.”
“‘I don’t think in the court of public opinion there has been anything which involves racial, sexual, political allegations like this. I think it’s really something different. ‘I think he’s gonna come out and make a lot of noise but I think there’s still a lot of questions. Even if he says he’s innocent there’s still a lot of weird questions.”
“I’m sure he’s gonna do interviews, I’m sure he’s gonna need to speak out. But I simply don’t see how he can make a return. I don’t see who’s gonna want him.”
Indeed, this is one PR crisis the actor will not be able to recover from.
