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Jussie Smollett, the “Empire” actor who claims he was attacked in Chicago last month, says he’s angry about “attacks” he’s received from people that don’t believe, or don’t care, about his allegations.
“I’m pissed off,” Smollett told ABC News’ Robin Roberts in an interview with “Good Morning America,” to air on Thursday.
JUSSIE SMOLLETT DEFENDED BY CRISIS MANAGER AS CHICAGO POLICE SAY PHONE RECORDS ‘INSUFFICIENT’
Smollett, 36, in a clip of the interview published Wednesday, said that while he’s angry about his alleged attackers, “it’s also the attacks.”
“At first it was a thing of like, listen, if I tell the truth, then that’s it — cause it’s the truth,” he said. “Then it became a thing of like, oh, how can you doubt that? Like how do you not believe that? It’s the truth.”
Smollett, who is black and openly gay, told the Chicago Police Department that he was attacked by two men on Jan. 29 while walking home to his apartment. He alleged the men hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, beat him and poured an “unknown chemical substance” on him.
Responding officers, according to a police report, found Smollett with a white rope hanging from his neck.
The actor told ABC News that while some people don’t believe what he says occurred, “then it became a thing of like, oh, it’s not necessarily that you don’t believe that this is the truth — you don’t even want to see the truth.”
Smollett initially told police that during the attack, he was on the phone with his manager, and his manager claims to have heard part of the attack — making him the only known witness.
Police, however, said that while Smollett submitted his phone records as evidence, they were “insufficient,” as the records were heavily redacted.
Smollett’s crisis manager defended the actor on Tuesday, telling Fox News that Smollett “is the victim here, which has been stated by the Superintendent of Police.”
“Jussie has voluntarily provided his phone records from within an hour of the attack and given multiple statements to police,” Chris Bastardi said. “Chicago PD has repeatedly informed us that they find Jussie’s account of what happened that night consistent and credible. Superintendent Johnson has been clear from Day 1 that Jussie is a victim.”
Bastardi told Fox News that any redacted information was “intended to protect the privacy of personal contacts or high-profile individuals not relevant to the attack.”
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“We are continuing to work closely with the Chicago PD and remain confident that they will find Jussie’s attackers and bring them to justice,” he continued.
A neighbor claimed to have seen a “redneck” with a rope but Chicago police were unable to find video surveillance from the area to support the claim. The description of the “redneck” did not match Smollett’s description of his attackers.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and Matt Finn contributed to this report.
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