(Warning: This article contains sensitive language.)
“Empire” star Jussie Smollett reveals graphic details about his alleged attack on “Good Morning America.”
As previously reported by Dearly, the 36-year-old actor and R&B singer, who is openly gay, told Chicago police that he was targeted by two men shouting racial and gay slurs last month.
The suspects also reportedly yelled, “This is MAGA country” due to his strong stance against President Donald Trump, according to Smollett.
In his first interview since the hate crime last month, he told ABC News‘ Robin Roberts that he is “pissed off” over people doubting his alleged attack.
The Chicago Police Department released photos of the two potential persons of interests, though details of the incident remain scarce.
Photos of people of interest who were in area of the alleged assault & battery of Empire cast member. While video does not capture an encounter, detectives are taking this development seriously & wish to question individuals as more cameras are being reviewed pic.twitter.com/xJDDygtocr
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) January 31, 2019
Smollett said he was grabbing food at a Subway near his apartment after flying back home to Chicago when he left the sandwich shop, crossed the street, and heard people yelling. Smollett recalled:
“I heard ‘Empire,’ and I don’t answer to ‘Empire.’ My name ain’t ‘Empire,’ and I didn’t answer. I kept walking, and then I heard ‘f****t, Empire n****r.’ So, I turned around and I saidThe f**k did you just say to me?’”
One of his attackers shouted more racial slurs before punching him in the face. Smollett said:
“So I punched his ass back. And then we started tussling and it was very icy. We ended up tussling by the stairs, fighting, fighting, fighting. There was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back, and then it just stopped. And they ran off.”
The singer sustained injuries and said the two masked men put a white rope around his neck and doused him with an unknown substance like bleach.
Smollett was on the phone with his music manager Brandon Moore at the time of the incident. However, Smollett has refused to hand over his complete phone records to the police, leaving some people to question the validity of his story.
Watch the interview below:
He explained why he didn’t turn over his phone on “GMA”:
“I‘m sorry, but I’m not going to do that. I have private pictures and videos and numbers. My partner’s number, my family’s numbers, my castmates’ numbers, my friends’ numbers, my private emails, my songs.”
Smollett got very emotional about describing his attack and hopes the footage of the incident will be found soon so that “doubters” can stop saying his story doesn’t add up.
Watch more video below:
Police say they have found plenty of surveillance video, but none that captured the crime on January 29 at around 2 a.m.
His attackers were never caught.