Taraji P. Hensonis sharing the words of encouragement she gaveJussie Smollettafter he was targeted in anapparent hate crime last week.
The actress, who stars as Smollett’s mother on the Fox seriesEmpire, gave an update on Smollett while appearing on theTodayshow Monday morning.
“Life is spiritual warfare and we’re seeing it right before our very eyes. You just have to stay close to what you know,” she said. “Jussie is love, that’s who he is. That’s all he knows. In this situation, hate won’t win. It will not.”
Henson said she told Smollett to make sure he doesn’t forget who he is as he heals.
Smollett made hisfirst public appearancesince the attack on Saturday, performing at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. He addressed the terrifying incident.
“There are so many words on my heart that I want to say,” the 35-year-old said, visibly emotional. “The most important that I can say, to keep it simple, thank you so much. I’m okay … I’m not fully healed yet, but I’m going to. I’m going to stand strong with y’all.”
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“I had to be here tonight,” he added. “I couldn’t let those motherf—ers win. So I will always stand for love, I will never stand for anything other than that. Regardless of what anyone else says, I will only stand for love. I hope that you all stand with me.”
He also clarified reports about the apparent hate crime.
“Just because there has been a lot of stuff that has been said about me that is absolutely not true,” he said. “There are just a couple of points that I wanted to make really quick… I was bruised, but my ribs were not cracked. I went to the doctor immediately — I was not hospitalized. Both my doctors in L.A. and Chicago cleared me to perform but said to take it easy, obviously. And, above all, I fought the f— back.”
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source: people.com
