Lee Daniels Reveals He Was Confused By Jussie Smollett Legal Case: I Have To Believe Him Because That’s The Boy That I Cast

Lee Daniels, Jussie Smollett

Lee Daniels Reveals He Was Confused By Jussie Smollett Legal Case: ‘I Have To Believe Him Because That’s The Boy That I Cast & That’s The Boy I Love’

Lee Daniels is getting candid and sharing his thoughts on the Jussie Smollett, 39, scandal! The 62-year-old director/producer who worked closely with Smollett and casted him for his hit show, ‘Empire’ spoke openly about the controversial matter.

He says that at one point, he was upset and confused with Jussie Smollet and the scandal that took place.

“I was confused…He said it didn’t happen, so I have to believe him. I have to believe him because he said it didn’t happen…I have to believe him because that’s the boy that I cast and that’s the boy I love and he was me.. It’s too painful to talk about, I can’t.” 

He also confessed to crying over the publicized scandal.

Lee Daniels says “I have to believe him”, as he talks Jussie Smollett hate crime scandal (? @therealtsmadison) pic.twitter.com/nl7k7EWmyP

— BACKUP ACCOUNT (@JasmineBrandTHE) April 6, 2022

 

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Lee Daniels

As previously reported, Jussie Smollett had been sentenced on March 10 to 150 days in jail and required to pay a $25,000 fine and $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago for lying to police about an alleged hate crime in 2019. He reported to police that he was walking in Chicago in the wee hours of the morning in January 2019 when he was jumped by two men, who hurled racial and homophobic epithets at him, doused him in a liquid thought to be bleach, and hung a noose around his neck.

Jussie Smollett

Smollett has since been released on bond during the appeal of his disorderly conduct conviction for lying to police about an alleged hate crime. On Wednesday (Mar.16), an appeals court said Jussie Smollett could be released after posting a personal recognizance bond of $150,000– which means he doesn’t have to pay bail, but agrees to show up for court as required. The court order comes after lawyers for Jussie Smollett requested an emergency release for the embattled star due to “vicious threats” toward him and his family, including one from a man who wished sexual assault on Smollett.

During his trial and sentencing, Jussie Smollett maintained his innocence. Amid sentencing, Smollett stood up and announced that he was indeed innocent and was “not suicidal” in case anything happened to him in jail.

Prior to his release from jail, actress Taraji P. Henson spoke out in support of her former ‘Empire‘ co-star, Jussie Smollett. Taraji expressed that her former co-star’s 150-day sentence is unjust via Instagram. She also compared him to Emmett Till, a Chicago teen who was brutalized beyond recognition during the Jim Crow era.

Taraji P. Henson

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