Empire season 2
Jussie Smollett has confirmed that Empire will return for season 2. Empire/Facebook

A fake story claiming that Fox TV show Empire has been cancelled is circulating online.

The bogus report originated from New York Times News, a gossip parody and satirical publication.

The fake story read: "It appears 'Empire' won't be around for another season like producers planned. Allegedly the show is cancelled until further notice. The news comes as a shocker seeing how Fox gross its highest views in years."

The satirical article carried made-up statement as well : "We would like to thank everyone who supported the show last season. We are keeping hope alive that Lee Daniels works this out with Fox so we can get back to filming one of the biggest shows of all time."

However, there is no truth to the story and US actor/singer Jussie Smollett confirmed on Twitter that it was indeed a hoax.

Many Twitter users expressed their disappointment over the website's fake story.

LRT, Where are all those rumour mongers that kept claiming Empire was cancelled? Too many people that are too lazy to fact-check.

— Sheikh Ese (@exotiknuella) April 26, 2015

bitch that post about empire being cancelled better be fake cause ima cut tf up if it's not!!!

— D.Marie (@xsmed_) April 26, 2015

Empire isn't cancelled or leaving FOX. Please stop giving satire sites any relevancy.

— Nina Parker (@MzGossipGirl) April 21, 2015

Last month, the two-hour season 1 finale of the show broke all prior records, scoring on average some 16.7 million viewers.

It was previously reported that Empire season 2 could return as early as September 2015.

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