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Empire star Malik Yoba gains retraction from website after it's learned rumour of his departing the Fox show started with a 'rogue blogger' in Thailand

Published: 21:33 EST, 26 March 2015 | Updated: 21:33 EST, 26 March 2015

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Malik Yoba gained a public retraction on Thursday after unfounded rumours were published that he was killed off on the Empire finale due to drug abuse.

The 47-year-old actor told TMZ that his lawyer tracked down a 'rogue blogger' in Thailand who started the rumour that was picked up over the weekend by the Inquisitr website.

The Inquisitr on Thursday published a retraction for recent stories about Yoba that it said were 'attributed to unfounded rumors'.

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Unfounded rumours: Malik Yoba, shown earlier this month in New York City, gained a retraction on Thursday after unfounded rumours were published about his exit from Empire

'While no Inquisitr writer was responsible for generating said rumors, which alleged substance abuse, the Inquisitr’s management and editorial staff would like to officially retract these stories in full and apologize to Mr. Yoba for any duress he may have endured as a result of these reports,' the retraction said.

Yoba had a key role in the hit Fox show as Vernon Turner, the right-hand man to hip-hop mogul Lucious Lyon played by Terrence Howard.

Vernon was shown snorting cocaine on the show and was killed during the first season finale earlier this month that drew 17.6 million viewers.

Character confusion: Malik tweeted on Monday that his character Vernon Turner did cocaine on the show and not himself

Hit show: Trai Byers as Andre Lyon and Malik as Vernon as shown in a still from Empire

'#Empire fans #Vernon Did The Coke Not Malik Yoba #spreadLOVEnotRUMORS,' Yoba tweeted on Monday after the rumor had gained steam.

Yoba told TMZ that Empire creator Lee Daniels called him on Sunday and assured him that 'everybody knows you're not on drugs.'

'This is pretty unfortunate that people want to spread these lies,' Yoba said.

Killed off: Malik's character Vernon was killed in the show's season finale after being struck in the back of the head during a fight

Yoba also pointed out his steady Hollywood career that spans more than two decades as further proof the rumour had no foundation.

The actor has appeared in dozens of television shows and two dozen films in an acting careet that dates back to his featured role in the 1993 comedy Cool Runnings.

He television work includes the ABC drama series Defying Gravity and the TNT drama series Bull.