President Donald Trump condemned the attack of “Empire” star Jussie Smollett, calling it “horrible” on Thursday.
“That I can tell you is horrible. It doesn’t get worse,” the president told White House reporter April Ryan when asked about the incident.
Smollett was attacked at around 2 a.m. Tuesday in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood when he said that two people began yelling racial and homophobic slurs at him. Smollett told police that the attackers yelled “MAGA.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Chicago Police Department said a “cast member from the Fox series ‘Empire’ was injured in what police called a ‘possible racially-charged assault and battery.’”
On Wednesday evening, detectives released photos from a surveillance video showing “potential persons of interest” in the attack.
The photos show two silhouettes walking in the area of where Smollett was sometime between 1:30 a.m. and 1:45 a.m., but does not show the actual attack. Chicago police said they would like to question the two people.
Smollett has yet to comment publicly on the attack.
Smollett is best known for his role as Jamal Lyon, the gay son of Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) in Fox’s hit show “Empire.”