Former "Empire" star Jussie Smollett denies allegations he faked brutal attack: "There was no hoax"
CBSN
Former "Empire" star Jussie Smollett took the stand for the second day in his disorderly conduct trial on Tuesday, again denying allegations that he staged a brutal attack on himself in 2019. Smollett is facing six felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly lying to police about what happened that night.
"To answer all your questions about the hoax I am going to deny," Smollett said, according to CBS Chicago. "There was no hoax."
Smollett says he was attacked while walking in Chicago late at night on January 29, 2019. The actor, who is Black and gay, has described a brutal attack by two men in which they beat him, yelled "racist and homophobic slurs," dumped an "unknown chemical substance" on him and put a noose around his neck.
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.