Real reasons Jussie Smollet's character was written off, plus I think it was a publicity stunt.

When Freda Gatz ( rapper Bre Z) pulled the trigger on Luscious Lyon ( Terrence Howard) and  Jamal Lyon ( Jussie Smollet) took the bullet, a lot of us were in shock. We could not believe there is any way in the world that Jamal Lyon's character would be killed off.

MTO has inside scoop on why the sensational singer was killed off the show and it is quite interesting.

What happened? Well Jussie and his reps tried to get GREEDY, according to an insider who works with the show. The insider explained, "Terrence [Howard] and Taraji [Henson] are the stars of the show, and they are going to be paid as stars. But the rest aren't going to make huge sums from the show."

As MediaTakeOut.com reported LAST SEASON, Taraji ad Terrence Howard threatened to PULLOUT of Empire when they didn't get a raise. But MediaTakeOut.com's insider explained how FOX managed to get Taraji and Terrence to return. The insider explained, "the contracts were set, so there was nothing that FOX could do to give [Terrence and Taraji] more money. So instead, they did all those one off specials that [the two stars] hosted, and got them paid that way."

Jussie wasn't given the same opportunities - so he was NOT getting paid like a star on the hottest show on television.

MediaTakeOut.com's snitch continued, "Jussie wasn't asking for way too much money - just a nice raise. But the people at FOX were like no,there was no money left in the budget."

However, I personally think producers of the show are playing a fast on viewers. First of all, Jamal did not say the word "Leave". He said he thoroughly enjoyed his time on the show. Time to make a record and some movies is what he said.

If you think a bit outside the box, it might mean. make a record and some movies while I wait for season three filming to kick off.  And the trailer, they said A Lyon will fall...Jamal did fall when he got shot but in a typical mischievous fashion, they use fall not "Killed"

So relax empire fans, our darling Jamal will be fine!