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What Made Empire Star Jussie Smollett Cry?

Jussie Smollett

Source: Paras Griffin/ Getty Images Entertainment / Getty

Jussie Smollett’s character on Empire is a pretty tough cat. When he isn’t dangling Baretti over a balcony or dodging bullets at the studio, he’s ripping up his daddy’s checks and kneeing his brother in his man parts. But a recent encounter broke him down to tears.

Jussie’s been very open about his sexuality and confidently told Ellen Degeneres, “There’s never been a closet that I’ve been in. I don’t own a closet, I got a dresser, but I don’t have a closet…I have a home and that is my responsibility to protect that home.”

Jussie’s fearless story inspired a fan who told him he saved her life.

“I get really incredible people,” Smollett tells E! News. “This girl came to a signing and she showed me she had cuts on her arm and she said, I swear to god, she said she was about to commit suicide and just happened to see me on Ellen and it changed her life. And she cried to me and I literally started bawling, ’cause I am a little sucker for emotion…But that stuff right there is crazy to think that you can have such a affect on someone’s life. It touches me in a really, really deep way.”

Thug tears.

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For 2024’s iteration of MadameNoire and HelloBeautiful’s annual series Women to Know, we knew we wanted to celebrate the people who help make the joys of film and television possible. To create art is to create magic. This year, we spotlight Hollywood Executive’s changing the face of cinema.