Quote:LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. television network Fox on Tuesday renewed drama series “Empire” for a sixth season but said there were no plans to bring back the character played by Jussie Smollett, the actor who said he was the victim of a hate crime in January.

Smollett played gay singer-songwriter Jamal Lyon on the show about a family in the hip-hop entertainment business. Fox did leave a door open to possibly bring Smollett back by extending an option on his contract.

“By mutual agreement, the studio has negotiated an extension to Jussie Smollett’s option for season six, but at this time there are no plans for the character of Jamal to return to ‘Empire,'” according to a statement from 20th Century Fox TV and Fox Entertainment.

“Empire” airs on the Fox broadcast network, a unit of Fox Corp. The series is produced by the Fox television studio, which was recently sold to Walt Disney Co.