For the first time since the raid by two unfounded perpetrators, the actor and musician Jussie Smollett has publicly commented on the act in Chicago. He was "not healed," Smollett said on stage during a Los Angeles concert. "But I will heal and I will stand strong next to you all," said the 36-year-old to the audience.
Smollett, best known for his "Empire" series, had been ambushed in the open at night in late January 2018. The Internet portal TMZ reported that he had been beaten up by the two unknowns and allegedly insulted homophobic and racist.
The police investigate suspected hate crimes. As the Washington Post and other media report, the men allegedly placed a rope around the black and homosexual Smollett's neck and showered him with an undefined chemical substance. According to TMZ, they yelled the slogan of US President Donald Trump, "Make America Great Again".
As part of his concert, Smollett clarified some of the rumors surrounding the expiration and consequences of the crime: "I was injured, but none of my ribs broke, and I went to a doctor on an outpatient basis but was not hospitalized." His body is strong, but his soul is stronger, the actor continues.
AP
Smollett with raised fist at concert appearance
At the same time, he used the attention that comes with his celebrity status for a message. He did not spread it during the show, but in the Essence magazine: "This kind of cowardly attack is on my sisters, brothers and non-sexually-defined siblings every day, I'm not an isolated case and should not be treated like that. (...) In times of grief, pain and trauma, there is still the responsibility to go ahead with love, otherwise I can not, and no one will beat that out of me. "
The attack on Smollett had caused quite a stir in the US. Among other things, former US Vice President Joe Biden commented on Twitter. He wrote that no room should be allowed for such hatred: "Homophobia and racism have no place on our streets and in our hearts."