Hollywood is reeling in the wake of the news thatJussie Smollettwas the victim of anapparent violent hate crime.
TheEmpirestar was transported to the hospital at around 2 a.m. Tuesday in Chicago,TMZfirst reported. The Chicago Police Department confirmed in a statement that a member of the hit Fox show was involved in a “racially-charged assault and battery.”
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/REX/Shutterstock; Shareif Ziyadat/Getty
Smollett’sEmpirecostar Vivica A. Fox tweeted, “I’m just now hearing the news about the senseless hate attack on my #EMPiRE Nephew @JussieSmollett IM SO ANGRY AND HURT ABOUT THIS! THIS MUST STOP!! SPREAD LOVE NOT HATE! PRAYERS UP TO U NEPHEW!”
HisEmpirecostarVivica A. Foxtweeted, “I’m just now hearing the news about the senseless hate attack on my #EMPiRE Nephew @JussieSmollett IM SO ANGRY AND HURT ABOUT THIS! THIS MUST STOP!! SPREAD LOVE NOT HATE! PRAYERS UP TO U NEPHEW!”
“god bless jussie may he have all the support he needs healing from this. hella speechless. no words,” singerKehlanitweeted.
Star Trek‘sGeorge Takeicalled the news “horrific.”
“What kind of country do we live in,” he asked.
Empirescreenwriter and director Eric Haywood also addressed the news with afiery tweet.
“I will burn your f–ing house down to protect @JussieSmollett,” he wrote. “Write that s— down.”
ComedianMargaret Chosaid she was speechless.
“No words. Love to you @JussieSmollett,” she tweeted.
“@JussieSmollett is one of the fiercest people I know,” tweetedSister, SisterstarJackée Harry. “This hatred won’t stop his championing for a better world. If anything, it will probably motivate him more. It has me.”
“PRAYING for my friend Jussie,” tweetedHolly Robinson Peete. “…and for the HATE and intolerance that has grown in this country.”
The statement added that the victim was transported to Northwestern Hospital and is in “good condition.”
Smollett’s reps did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Smollett, 35, first spoke publicly about being gay onTheEllen DeGeneresShowin 2015, though he said he never considered himself to be in the closet.
“There’s never been a closet that I’ve been in,” he said, adding that deciding not to talk about his personal life is not an attempt to “hide or deny who God made me. There is, without a doubt, no closet that I’ve ever been in,” he reiterated, “and I just wanted to make that clear.”
In a statement about the attack toThe Hollywood Reporter, GLAAD said it reached out to Fox and Smollett’s team to offer assistance.
source: people.com
