Empire star
Jussie Smollett has been brutally beaten and attacked in what police are treating as a possible hate crime.
The
Actor, who plays Jamal Lyon in the US series, was taken to hospital after his attackers beat him, put a rope around his neck and poured an unknown chemical substance over him, before fleeing the scene.
According to a police report obtained by HuffPost US, Jussie was walking down a Chicago street when two people approached him and began shouting racial and homophobic slurs at him.
![Empire Actor Jussie Smollett Attacked In Suspected Racist And Homophobic Incident](/images/files/2019129141955457443060.jpeg)
The offenders then began punching him in the face, before pouring the liquid on him and wrapping a rope around his neck.
US site TMZ was first to report the news, also claiming that Jussie’s attackers shouted “this is MAGA country” – short for Donald Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan – at him.
After his attackers fled the scene, Jussie sought treatment at a nearby hospital, and is described as being in “good condition”.
Police are now investigating, with a spokesperson saying in a statement: “The Chicago Police Department received a report of a possible racially-charged assault and battery involving a cast member of the television show Empire.
“Given the severity of the allegations, we are taking this investigation very seriously and treating it as a possible hate crime.
“Detectives are currently working to gather video, identify potential witnesses and establish an investigative timeline.
“The victim is fully cooperating with investigators.”
After starting out as a child star, Jussie rose to wider fame when he was cast in Empire in 2014, playing a gay musician who struggles to gain the approval of his father, the owner of a successful hip-hop record label.
The actor first spoke publicly about his own sexuality in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres a year after Empire debuted.