Lee Daniels has opened up about his current feelings towards Jussie Smollett, five years after the actor was convicted of fabricating a hate crime.
In an interview on iHeart Radio’s The Breakfast Club, the 64-year-old Empire creator shared that he is now open to working with Smollett, 42, again, despite the controversy.
“I’d work with him again,” Daniels said. “I’d cast him in something. He was like a son to me. He also represented me and the movement I was trying to start—something I didn’t even realize I was doing at the time.
I was so focused on Empire—on things like Cookie’s hat and the music we were playing—this was before *Insecure*, before *Black Panther*. We started it.”
Daniels reflected on the situation, acknowledging its complexity and his own uncertainty about the events. “That whole situation was complicated. I still don’t know what to believe,” he confessed.
“People say he didn’t do it, others say he did. Honestly, I don’t know. God bless him on his journey.”
Lee Daniels To Cast Jussie Smollett Despite Conviction (Photo: Getty Images)
In January 2019, Smollett, who is a gay Black man, reported being attacked by two men who allegedly assaulted him with racist and homophobic slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck, and poured bleach on him.
However, after an investigation, authorities accused Smollett of paying brothers Abimbola “Bola” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo $3,500 to stage the attack.
They claimed the actor orchestrated the hoax due to dissatisfaction with his Empire salary after five seasons on the show.
Years later, in March 2022, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of felony probation, $120,106 in restitution, and a $25,000 fine for the hoax and filing a false police report.
He was also removed from Empire for its sixth and final season. Despite this, Smollett has maintained his innocence.
One of Smollett’s attorneys, Tina Glandian of Geragos & Geragos, expressed hope for the actor’s future at the time, telling, “We are gratified that Jussie will be back with his family and loved ones and look forward to a dispassionate review and reversal of the serial injustices visited upon him.”
