Fox CEO Charlie Collier on Wednesday confirmed that out actor Jussie Smollett won't appear on the final season of Empire.

Collier made his remarks during a TCA panel in Hollywood.

“We as much as anything in case like this, you try to get all the information and make a good decision,” Collier explained. “[Creator Lee Daniels] is right, there’s no plans for Jussie to return to Empire … typically it’s about gathering right info and making sure we’re making the right decisions.”

Smollett plays gay musician Jamal Lyon on the Fox drama.

In June, Daniels said that Smollett would not return for the show's final season.

Smollett's future on the show came into question after a grand jury in Chicago indicted him on 16 counts of disorderly conduct for reporting a homophobic hate crime that police believe was staged by the actor. The charges were suddenly dropped in March. Smollett has consistently asserted that he's innocent of any wrongdoing.