One of the creators of Fox's newest hit series Empire has responded after an actor whose character was killed off was rumored to be from suffering drug addiction.

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Danny Strong spoke with Sister 2 Sister magazine Friday and cleared the air after actor Malik Yoba's character, Vernon, was killed off.

He said that despite rumors that swirl (including some that claim Yoba was fired because of drug issues), Yoba was only let go because that was the direction writers wanted to take.

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"It was story related. Malik is a terrific actor. And we were thrilled to have his talents on the show. But this is where the story led us. It was completely related."

Speaking of casting, Strong also set the record straight once again that actor Mo'Nique was not originally offered the role of Cookie (played by Taraji P. Henson), unlike what she had claimed recently.

"The role was not offered to Mo'Nique. It was only offered to Taraji."

Still, he confirmed that they were in talks of Wesley Snipes actually playing the role of Lucious Lyon before offering Terrence Howard the role.

Yoba also shut down the rumors of him being addicted to drugs, like his character Vernon was toward the end of the season.

He said, "People confused what the character Vernon was doing with what Malik Yoba is. The sad part is that people will be wiling to listen to lies and rumors from unsubstantial sources and pass it around. I've obviously never had a problem with substance abuse. This is pretty unfortunate that people want to spread those lies."

Tags: Empire Show fox television