Source: Theo Wargo / Getty
***Update***
Police released surveillance footage of two persons of interest who are wanted in connection with the brutal and possible hate crime committed against Jussie Smollett. Authorities have reportedly gone through hours of footage, but have not come across the actual incident.
Even Agent Orange condemned the attack on Smollett, telling the White House press, “It doesn’t get worse, as far as I’m concerned.”
Empire star Jussie Smollett was reportedly attacked by MAGA supporters, in Chicago, who brutally beat him and left him with a fractured rib before putting a noose around his neck and pouring bleach on him, TMZ reports. He was treated at Northwestern Memorial before being discharged.
Smollett was reportedly walking out the subway at around 2am when two men, wearing ski-masks approached him and asked, “Aren’t you that fa**ot ‘Empire’ n*gga?”
The culprits reportedly yelled, “This is MAGA country” during the attack.
Days before the incident (which is being investigated as a hate crime), a threatening letter addressed to Jussie Smollett was sent to Fox Studios Chicago with the words, “You will die black f**.”
The Chicago Police Department released the following statement about the attack, not naming Jussie as the victim of this hate crime. They state that they are currently looking for the suspects and are investigating the attack.
20th Century FOX also released a statement denouncing the violence Jussie endured:
MAGA propaganda has become a symbol of hate in America. Smollett’s attack comes after a group a White teens, wearing MAGA hats, harassed a Native American war vet at the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington, DC.
While Jussie has yet to release a statement of his own, Black Twitter has taken to social media to uplift the actor and singer in the wake of this unimaginable event. That, and many made serious statements about how society fosters an environment for this type of violence to exist.
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Lee Daniels is breaking his silence about the racist and homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett: “You are better than that. We are better than that. America is better than that.” pic.twitter.com/Z4IwhOEO5L
— Entertainment Tonight (@etnow) January 29, 2019
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DEAR GOD! Prayers and justice for Jussie Smollett.
— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) January 29, 2019
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LGBTQ folks are not too sensitive
— George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) January 29, 2019
We are literally faced with violence for simply existing as we are.
SOMEONE ATTACKED JUSSIE SMOLLETT. DO YALL GET IT NOW?
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“Possible”??
— Jayce Baron (@JayceBaron) January 29, 2019
This was a PLANNED racist and homophobic attack because Jussie black and openly gay.
People don’t carry bleach, ropes, and ski masks around Chicago in the middle off the night. https://t.co/NsxVBn1Oo7
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Jussie Smollett has been someone I’ve always admired using his celebrity and platform for good. I wish light and healing for him and his family. Also that his assailants will be brought to justice.
— Rebecca Theodore-Vachon (@FilmFatale_NYC) January 29, 2019
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Sending prayers and healing to @JussieSmollett and his family. And praying for all of us who are survivors of homophobic and transphobic violence for whom this triggers so much. 😞😞😞
— Yolo Akili (@YoloAkili) January 29, 2019
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I'm fighting back tears on the bus, I'm so angry but I don't know what to do.
— Black Women's Lives Matter. Carolyn Hinds (@CarrieCnh12) January 29, 2019
Don't tell me racism is dead, ITS NOT. Its alive and well in North America, and the media, politicians and celebrities are perpetuating and giving it a platform.
I'M LIVID.
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We ALL have a responsibility to rise up against the ignorance and hate out there. If you know who did this to @JussieSmollett, REPORT THEM TO THE POLICE.
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) January 29, 2019
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Prayers up for @JussieSmollett. People think wealth stops all forms of violence. It doesn’t stop the intersection of racism and homophobia — never has and definitely not in this hostile climate. Being a Black queer man is hard enough. Be safe everyone. ❤️
— Preston Mitchum (@PrestonMitchum) January 29, 2019
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Sending love and light to @JussieSmollett.💋✨ This has to stop. We need our Country back.❤️
— Debbie Allen (@msdebbieallen) January 29, 2019
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Anyone trying to ignore the fact that Jussie Smollett is BOTH Black & gay need to sit down.
— Ernest Owens (@MrErnestOwens) January 29, 2019
This was a racially-motivated homophobic attack.
They called him racial slurs AND homophobic ones.
He carries BOTH identities and white supremacists made it a point to target both.
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Sending love to Jussie and his loved ones. 🙏🏽
— Raquel Willis (@RaquelWillis_) January 29, 2019
The hate that fuels white supremacy is the same hate that fuels homophobia. A conscientious society realizes it’s at war with both. https://t.co/hXo56SRDYj
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Given what we’ve seen so far, I fully expect the men who attacked Jussie Smollett to score a sit-down interview with Ellen at some point in the next few weeks. Maybe it will be a roundtable discussion with Kevin Hart.
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) January 29, 2019
20.
Do not separate Jussie Smollett’s blackness from his queerness here.
— SHINEE’S BACK 2021!!! (@IfIWereMagneto) January 29, 2019
He wasn’t attacked just because he is black nor was he attacked just because he is gay.
He was attacked because he is both black and gay at the same time.
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WE LOVE YOU, @JussieSmollett ! ! !
— Janet Mock (@janetmock) January 29, 2019
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This is why holding “a little homophobic joke” accountable is taken so FREAKING SERIOUSLY. To quote @amandaseales, you have to be overly confident...black gay men have to deal w/ not only racism but homophobia.” It is always abt duality and a form of respect. @JussieSmollett 🖤🖤 https://t.co/vzyZMzNHWB
— Ryan Jamaal Swain (@RyanJamaal) January 29, 2019
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To my brother @JussieSmollett I’m praying for your strength not only physically but that spiritually and mentally you recover from this tragedy. You are a King. 🙏🏾
— Danielle Brooks (@thedanieb) January 29, 2019
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The attack on Jussie Smollett was allegedly by MAGA white supremacists. This is exactly why we need to be defending ALL Black people.
— Frederick Joseph (@FredTJoseph) January 29, 2019
These people don't care if you're a woman, LGBTQ, or heterosexual. They want us dead. We can't let anyone force us against ourselves.
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This is heartbreaking and terrifying...please pay attention to what’s happening here. Sending all my love to @JussieSmollett https://t.co/YTJ6bwLDkZ
— Zendaya (@Zendaya) January 29, 2019
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If only congress had funded that wall to protect Jussie Smollett from the white terrorists who broke his rib, called him n****r and f*ggot, poured bleach on him and put a noose around his neck while shouting "this is MAGA country".
— Ethereal bisexual who wears mostly black (@Travon) January 29, 2019