It has been a few weeks since the attack on Jussie Smollett in Chicago.
In his first interview since the attack, he sat down with Robin Roberts for ABC News to give a detailed story about what happened during that difficult night. Aside from giving Robin a detailed description of the attack, Jussie also addressed those who started to question his attack.
He said, “I have to acknowledge the lies and the hate. And it feels like if I had said it was a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me much more. A lot more, and that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now.”
Jussie added, “It’s not necessarily that you don’t believe that this is the truth, you don’t even want to see the truth.”
Jussie, who portrays Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox show “Empire,” said he was on the phone with his manager at the time of the attack. He said it all happened so fast, that when the attackers went away after calling him homophobic and racial slurs he realized they had placed a noose around his neck.
He also spoke about the investigation into the attack and confirmed reports that he was initially reluctant to contact the police or hand over his cellphone to help with the investigation.
Jussie said, “They wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to four hours. I’m sorry but — I’m not gonna do that because I have private pictures and videos and numbers: my partner’s number, my family’s number, my castmate’s number, my friends’ numbers, my private emails, my private songs, my private voice memos.”
He said that he finally decided to speak out about the incident so everyone could hear the truth.
“I think people need to hear the truth. Cause everybody has their own idea,” he said. “Some are healing and some are hurtful, but I just want young people, young members of the LGBTQ community — young, black children — to know how strong that they are.”
We continue to send our prayers to Jussie Smollett during this difficult time.
Check out the interview clip below:
