On Tuesday, openly-gay black actor Jussie Smollett of the US television program Empire was hospitalised in Chicago. The attack is suspected to be a hate-motivated attack in which assailants tied a rope around his neck, police and his co-workers said.News of the early morning attack left the entertainment world reeling and the gay advocacy groups are speaking out in support of the 36-year-old actor.
Smollett was beaten at around 2:00 am by two attackers who yelled "racial and homophobic slurs" while he walked downtown in the third-biggest US city, said police. The attackers had poured "an unknown chemical substance" on him, and then wrapped a rope around the actor's neck, according to police. "Given the severity of the allegations, we are taking this investigation very seriously and treating it as a possible hate crime", said the Chicago Police Department.
Jussie Smollett was reportedly in Chicago for a scheduled Saturday concert.