Terrence Howard Believes We “Have To Respect” Jussie Smollett Jury’s Decision In Hate Crime Hoax Case
“Empire” actor Terrence Howard is breaking his silence on the verdict in his co-star Jussie Smollett’s big hoax case in Chicago.
As we previously reported, Smollett was found guilty last week on five out of six charges at his hate crime hoax trial. The jury eventually found Smollett had indeed lied to police when he said he did not work with two brothers who worked on “Empire” to stage the attack on himself as a hate crime.
During an appearance on Mark Vargas’ “Mark My Words” radio show, Howard spoke about the verdict involving Smollett. He started by saying, “It’s interesting, it’s an uncomfortable question because anyone that’s aware of the show or my relationship with Jussie would know that Jussie is, for six years, he was my son,” Howard explained. “He was my son that I had the most difficulty with on that show as far as the character world goes. So you end up getting very close to individuals that you have the most struggle with. Whose characters you have the most struggle with.” Despite his love for Jussie, Howard noted that he respects the jury’s decision: “They judged him and found him guilty, 12 of them that judged from a completely unbiased position… you have to respect that,” he said of the jury.
Before concluding, the actor also made note that Smollett’s hate crime story could have “set the world on fire.”
“If they had gotten away with it, whoever orchestrated it. Whatever was set up. If they got away with it, then we would have the potential of Blacks feeling like they need to defend Black people against MAGA, and it could have turned into something very, very scary and very ugly,” he said. “People would have gotten hurt and killed and if that was the case, the blood on someone’s hands would have been massive.”
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