Cyrus Langhorne
“Empire” star Trai Byers has stepped forward to speak out on widespread reports about him wanting to leave the hit television series.
Byers shot down the gossip on his Instagram page last night (March 3) and promised to return for season three.
Reports this week about Trai wanting to ditch the hit Fox television series landed across various media outlets.
“Trai wants out,” said an insider. “He feels that he studied at Yale and he’s a ‘true thespian’ . . . The character is beneath him. He has an idea of himself as being this big Shakespearean actor.” “At first, being on ‘Empire’ was major for him. But he feels his character is not as important this season, and he hates not being the star,” said a source. “He thinks he has the acting chops of Taraji and Terrence. He doesn’t get how the show benefits him, and he feels he has way too much talent when he’s not the star by any means.” (Page Six)
Last month, Young Money’s Tyga revealed he had a chance to star in “Empire.”
“I got offered a lot of movie roles before, like, I had got offered to be on ‘Empire,'” Tyga revealed. “You gotta think, when people sell this stuff, have you heard of The Maze Runner? I was supposed to be in that movie. It was a lot of movies but I just wasn’t focused. I wasn’t where I wanted to be in life where I just wanted to act and I felt like I’m not going to take on something if I couldn’t be 100 percent fully invested in it. I feel like now is the right time to do the right roles. [Would I do ‘Empire’ season three?] Yeah, possibly, for sure. Whatever, I’m with it.” (KMEL)
West Coast rap veteran Xzibit is expected to have a big role when season two returns next month.
Xzibit will play Leslie “Shyne” Johnson, who is 100% wolf and 100% gangster. He has managed artists, started record imprints and even sold a few units here and there, but his bread and butter always has been — much to his years-long frustration — drugs, guns and extortion. Feeling shut out by the other heavy hitters in the music industry, he carries a big chip on his shoulder, especially for Lucious (Terrence Howard). (Deadline)
