Lee Daniels now says he’s “beyond embarrassed” forsupporting formerEmpireactor Jussie Smollett’s claimsthat he was the victim of an alleged hate crime, which police later accused him of staging.Daniels, 59, toldVulturein a new interview, “If it turned out that [Smollett] did it, was guilty, and all of it’s accurate,” then it will feel like a betrayal.However, he also said “there’s some doubt” about whether Smollett, 36, staged the January attack. “If it were to happen to your son and your child, how would you feel?” he said. “You would feel,Please, God, please let there be that glimmer of hope that there is some truth in this story. That’s why it’s been so painful.”“We weren’t there,” he continued. “I can’t judge him.”Last week, Daniels, who created the hip-hop drama, confirmed thatSmollett will not return toEmpire‘s final season. He said elsewhere in the interview that the Smollett scandal played into Fox’s decision to end the show after season 6.Paul Archuleta/Getty Images; Alexander Tamargo/Getty ImagesHowever, he left the door open to continueEmpirein the future. “Empirein its current iteration may be over, butEmpireis far from over,” he said.“We’re trying something out, and if it works, thenEmpireis over and we have a great spinoff,” he continued. “And if it doesn’t, thenEmpiremay not very well be over. But the intent is to have our last season with a great spinoff.”RELATED VIDEO: Charges Dropped Against Jussie Smollett After He’s Accused of Staging Hate CrimeSmollett wasindicted in March with 16 counts of disorderly conductforallegedly filing a false reportclaimingtwo men attacked himin an alleged homophobic and racist hate crime in Chicago. He pleaded not guilty to allegations that he lied to police, and all charges against him weresuddenly dropped at the end of March.Earlier today, Smollettbroke his four-month silence on social media, posting on Instagram for the first time since the day of the incident. He shared a clip supportingMoonlightscreenwriter Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s Tony-nominated playChoir Boy.
Lee Daniels now says he’s “beyond embarrassed” forsupporting formerEmpireactor Jussie Smollett’s claimsthat he was the victim of an alleged hate crime, which police later accused him of staging.
Daniels, 59, toldVulturein a new interview, “If it turned out that [Smollett] did it, was guilty, and all of it’s accurate,” then it will feel like a betrayal.
However, he also said “there’s some doubt” about whether Smollett, 36, staged the January attack. “If it were to happen to your son and your child, how would you feel?” he said. “You would feel,Please, God, please let there be that glimmer of hope that there is some truth in this story. That’s why it’s been so painful.”
“We weren’t there,” he continued. “I can’t judge him.”
Last week, Daniels, who created the hip-hop drama, confirmed thatSmollett will not return toEmpire‘s final season. He said elsewhere in the interview that the Smollett scandal played into Fox’s decision to end the show after season 6.
Paul Archuleta/Getty Images; Alexander Tamargo/Getty Images
However, he left the door open to continueEmpirein the future. “Empirein its current iteration may be over, butEmpireis far from over,” he said.
“We’re trying something out, and if it works, thenEmpireis over and we have a great spinoff,” he continued. “And if it doesn’t, thenEmpiremay not very well be over. But the intent is to have our last season with a great spinoff.”
RELATED VIDEO: Charges Dropped Against Jussie Smollett After He’s Accused of Staging Hate Crime
Smollett wasindicted in March with 16 counts of disorderly conductforallegedly filing a false reportclaimingtwo men attacked himin an alleged homophobic and racist hate crime in Chicago. He pleaded not guilty to allegations that he lied to police, and all charges against him weresuddenly dropped at the end of March.
Earlier today, Smollettbroke his four-month silence on social media, posting on Instagram for the first time since the day of the incident. He shared a clip supportingMoonlightscreenwriter Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s Tony-nominated playChoir Boy.
source: people.com
