Jussie Smollett recently sat down for his first in-depth, television interview since he was attacked in an alleged hate crime last month.
A preview of the Empire actor's interview with Robin Roberts, which will appear on Good Morning America Thursday (February 14), shows Jussie discussing the horrific incident in detail for the first time. At one point in a teaser the clip of the sit down, Jussie breaks down after Robin asks, "At any point during the attack, did you fear for your life?"
In a separate clip of the interview, shared on Wednesday (February 13), Jussie admitted that he's "pissed off" at the men who attacked him â and by the attacks of those who have doubted his story. "It's like, you know, at first, it was a thing of, like, 'Listen, if I tell the truth, then thatâs it,' because itâs the truth," he said. "Then it became a thing of like, 'Oh, how can you doubt that? Like, how do you â how do you not believe that? Itâs the truth.' And then it became a thing of like, 'Oh, itâs not necessarily that you don't believe that this is the truth, you donât even want to see the truth.'"
Jussie previously opened up about the attack during his first public appearance, which was a performance at West Hollywood's Troubadour Club, on February 2. "There are so many words on my heart that I want to say," he told the crowd. "The most important thing that I can say, to keep it simple, thank you so much. Iâm okay ⊠Iâm not fully healed yet, but Iâm going to. Iâm going to stand strong with yâall."
"I had to be here tonight," he continued. "I couldnât let those motherf**kers win. So I will always stand for love, I will never stand for anything other than that. Regardless of what anyone else says, I will only stand for love. I hope that you all stand with me."
As previously reported, the 35-year-old Empire star was attacked in Chicago around 2 AM on January 29 by two men wearing ski masks. Jussie had just arrived to the city from New York and made a late-night run to a Subway when someone reportedly yelled: "Aren't you that f**got 'Empire' n**ga?" The two attackers, who have been identified as white males, then proceeded to jump the actor. While he fought back, Jussie was ultimately overtaken by the men. During the attack, the suspects also reportedly put a rope around Jussie's neck, poured bleach on him and yelled, "This is MAGA country." Jussie rib's were fractured and he was admitted to Northwestern Memorial Hospital for treatment. He was released soon after.
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