Empire is known for its soap opera-leaning dramatics and intense storylines. And following the massive success of its first season, huge names in Hollywood are now clamoring to get a guest-spot on the series' upcoming second season. So it only makes sense to combine the two, right?

According to a thorough piece from the Hollywood Reporter, upcoming guest star Chris Rock was supposed to play a cannibal in the premiere episode of Season 2. The head honchos over at Fox, Empire’s network, weren’t too keen on that storyline, so they told show creator, Lee Daniels, to cut it.

But Daniels pushed back, shooting the scene the way he first intended it, with Rock’s character (who is in jail with Lyon family patriarch, Lucious) accompanied by a plate of human body parts set in front of him.

Don't get too excited: The network remained firm in their mandate that the storyline be cut, so Rock was forced to fly back to Chicago to reshoot his scenes. The cannibal plot wasn’t nixed entirely, but it’s "barely detectable” at this point, per Fox’s request.

Season 2 will, however, deal with a slew of current, topical plots like police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, both of which will be featured more prominently this time around. Actor Jussie Smollett said: "We'd be cowards if we dealt with something like pop music and pop culture and we didn't deal with the things that are going on in our world today, whether it's mental illness, homophobia, racism, classicism, sexism or police brutality."

Season 2 of Empire returns on Wednesday, September 23 at 9PM EST on FOX.

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