The Fox drama Empire this week
aired a same-sex wedding featuring two black men.
The wedding of Jamal (played by Jussie
Smollett) and Kai (Toby Onwumere) is a primetime first.
Jamal and Kai have had their fair share
of obstacles getting to the altar. Jamal's father, Lucious Lyon
(Terrance Howard), has struggled with accepting his son's sexuality.
On the episode, titled “Never Doubt I Love,” Lucious refused to
walk his son down the aisle with his mother Cookie (Taraji P.
Hensen).
Speaking with Extra, Onwumere
said that Empire was “culturally relevant.”
“The influence of Empire still
extends out well beyond America and it's culturally relevant and I
really appreciate the show for that,” he said.
After Smollett was accused by police in
Chicago of staging his own hate crime, Empire writers wrote
his characters out of the final two episodes of the series. While
charges against the actor were later dropped, Smollett's future on
the show remains in doubt. Smollett has maintained that he's
innocent.
(Related: All
charges against Jussie Smollett in alleged hate crime dropped.)