Empire (Photo : FOX)
"Empire" executive producer Lee Daniels recently responded to rumors that cast members Trai Byers will exit the hit FOX TV series.
Just recently, New York Post reported that Byers will leaving "Empire" after two seasons because he's become unhappy of how his character is being portrayed and developed.
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Daniels said that he actually read the article, and was really about the fact that people were talking about Byers, his character Andre and the show itself.
"When I picked up Page Six in the New York Post and saw that Trai Byers was leaving the show, I said, 'We are a hit,' because they were talking about us. That's when you know the haters gonna hate that, I was excited," he said.
"Empire" cast member Terrence Howard added, "I begged Trai to please stay on the show. He was never leaving the show.
Meanwhile, Daniels also responded to criticisms regarding the flow of the second season of the hit FOX series.
Since December, the show has been off the air, and is only expected to return towards the end of March.
"It was growing pains and I think it would have happened to any show. We were learning. Sometimes you don't feel like it's enough. That these people - these wonderfully talented actors - are enough and so you bring in this person, ok maybe we'll get more eyes," he explained.
However, Daniels stressed the upcoming eight more episodes of "Empire" will be very similar to the show's first season.
"It's just a process. And at the end of the day, we came back. It's a learning process. It's really learning about everybody and trying things out. How do you make greatness without testing?" he asked.
In other news, "Empire" season 2 will no longer focus too much on its guest stars like Chris Rock and Alicia Keys. Rather, the show will remain focused on its regular cast members.
According to Daniels, he realized that the cast members are more than enough to sustain the show because they are the people that fans want to see every week.
"Empire" season 2 will return to FOX on March 30.
