'Empire' Creators Confirm Early Finale Due to Pandemic & Hope to Have a Proper Ending Someday

Empire‘s next episode will also be its finale for the foreseeable future.

The long-running show’s 18th episode of its final sixth season due to air next week will be its last for now, creators confirmed on Tuesday (April 14).

Lee Daniels and Danny Strong issued statements about the sudden ending of the show.

“The success of Empire and bringing the Lyon family to broadcast television will always be one of the proudest achievements of my career. This show is the definition of breaking barriers. Thank you to our incredible cast, especially Terrence and Taraji, along with our amazing writers and tireless crew, for all of their hard work and bringing this story to life. I think there’s more to do with these characters, and I’m heartbroken we aren’t getting to shoot the finale we wanted—at least not yet. But you know what they say in television? Stay tuned! To the Empire!” Lee said, via Deadline.

“We’re so proud of this show and of everything this incredible cast – led by Taraji and Terrence- and crew accomplished over six seasons. The episode airing on April 21 was never meant to be the series finale, but due to current events it will likely be the last one our fans will see for a while. We had an ending for the series planned that we all loved, and hopefully someday we’ll be able to film it and give the series its proper conclusion. But we hope everyone tunes in to our last original episode, because the work done by our cast and crew deserves to be seen by the widest audience possible. Big thank you to Fox for being our home for these many years. And here’s hoping this isn’t the end!” said Danny Strong.

Taraji previously spoke about how shooting was cut short for the series.