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Jussie Smollett, Star of 'Empire,' Attacked in Possible Hate Crime

Jussie Smollett, Star of 'Empire,' Attacked in Possible Hate Crime
Jussie Smollett, Star of 'Empire,' Attacked in Possible Hate Crime

Smollett, who is black and publicly came out as gay in 2015, was walking on a downtown street when two people approached him and yelled the slurs, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department. The attackers then began hitting Smollett in the face and poured an “unknown chemical substance” on him.

One of the attackers also wrapped a rope around Smollett’s neck before the duo fled. Smollett took himself to Northwestern Hospital and was described as in “good condition.”

“Given the severity of the allegations, we are taking this investigation very seriously and treating it as a possible hate crime,” the police statement said.

Representatives for Smollett did not respond to a request for comment. 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment released a statement Tuesday expressing outrage at the attack and saying that the “entire studio, network and production stands united in the face of any despicable act of violence and hate.”

Lee Daniels, a co-creator of “Empire,” said in a video posted to Instagram, “Jussie, you are my son. You didn’t deserve, nor anybody deserves, to have a noose put around your neck.”

Danny Strong, another co-creator, wrote on Twitter that he was “deeply horrified and saddened” by the incident, calling the assailants “hate filled cowards.”

GLAAD, an organization that tracks representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the media, released a statement that said that it had reached out to Fox and Smollett’s team “to offer assistance as well as support for him.”

“Jussie is a true champion for LGBTQ people and is beloved by the community and allies around the world,” the group said.

Smollett, in addition to his acting, is also a singer and is well-known as an activist, particularly in HIV/AIDS prevention. On “Empire,” Smollett plays Jamal Lyon, the gay son of music moguls Lucious Lyon, played by Terrence Howard, and Cookie Lyon, portrayed by Taraji P. Henson.

Smollett has been a prominent ally of advocacy groups like the Human Rights Campaign. Last year he released an album called “Sum of My Music” and gave a portion of a summer tour’s proceeds to the Black AIDS Institute, of which he is a board member.

Both of his parents, Janet Smollett and Joel Smollett Sr., were civil-rights activists. He comes from a family of performers: He and all five of his siblings were cast on the 1994 ABC sitcom “On Our Own.” Jurnee Smollett-Bell, a sister, has appeared on the TV series “Underground,” “True Blood” and “Friday Night Lights.”

According to the most recent data from the FBI, hate crimes increased 17 percent in 2017 from the year before. Of the more than 7,100 recorded incidents attributed to some sort of prejudice in 2017, roughly 60 percent were caused by biases involving race, ethnicity and ancestry. About 16 percent were due to sexual orientation.

Hate crimes are generally underreported. The FBI survey was based on self-reporting from more than 16,000 law enforcement agencies.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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