EmpirestarJussie Smollettwas transported to the hospital after he was the victim of an apparent hate crime Tuesday around 2 a.m. in Chicago.
TMZ first reportedthe news. 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,” though they did not name Smollett.
The statement adds that the victim transported himself to Northwestern Hospital and is in “good condition.”
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Smollett’s reps did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment released a statement: “We are deeply saddened and outraged to learn that a member of our EMPIRE family, Jussie Smollett, was viciously attacked last night. We send our love to Jussie, who is resilient and strong, and we will work with law enforcement to bring these perpetrators to justice. The entire studio, network and production stands united in the face or any despicable act of violence and hatred — and especially against one of our own.”
TMZ reports that his attackers allegedly yelled, “This is MAGA country.” PEOPLE has not been able to independently confirm this.
The Blastobtained a recording of the dispatch call concerning the incident, in which the dispatcher says friends reported that Smollett “was assaulted when he walked out of his apartment.”
His next-door neighbor, Steven Down, says he was upset to hear what happened to Smollett. “He’s always been a very friendly, outgoing, warm and personable neighbor,” he tells PEOPLE. “I was shocked when I read the news. I did send my message to him personally but I haven’t heard from him or spoken with him. My thoughts are with him.”
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.”
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In a statement about the attack toThe Hollywood Reporter, GLAAD said it reached out to Fox and Smollett’s team to offer assistance.
And Eliza Byard, executive director of GLSEN, further spoke to his contributions to the gay community.
“It’s really awful. It’s shocking, it is deeply saddening. But unfortunately it is of a piece with trends we see in the country right now,’ Byard said. “My main concern at this moment is of course that Jussie have all the support to make a full recovery but that also LGBTQ youth across the country, particularly black LGBTQ youth know, that there is a community out there ready to support and protect them. Jussie is a member of our GLSEN family and he’s such an important figure for LGBTQ youth everywhere. I know him as a beacon for young people. The larger context here is that racism and homophobia are deep legacies that our society has to wrestle with and we have far to go.”
Aili Nahas
source: people.com
