Terrence Howard has broken his silence following the arrest of his embattled “Empire” co-star Jussie Smollett, telling fans “the Jussie I know could never even conceive of something so unconscious.”
Howard, who plays Lucious Lyon on the hip-hop drama, voiced his support for his on-screen son in an Instagram post on Saturday.
“All your lil homies got you… We love the hell outta you,” Howard captioned a video showing the 36-year-old actor playing with Howard’s young son, Hero.
Howard also fiercely defended Smollett against fans who were critical of his support.
“Sorry you feel that way but that’s the only Jussie I know,” he wrote in a reply to one fan. “The Jussie I know could never even conceive of something so unconscious and ugly. His innocence or judgment is not for any of us to decide.
“Stay in your lane and my lane is empathy and love and compassion for someone I’ve called my son for five years. It’s God’s job to judge and it’s ours to love and hope, especially for those that we claim to have loved.”
Smollett, who plays Lyon’s middle son Jamal on the hit Fox series, was arrested last week on charges of disorderly conduct for allegedly staging his own hate attack in Chicago.
He claimed a pair of attackers doused him in bleach, tossed a noose around his neck while yelling, “f—-t,” “n—–r” and “This is MAGA country!” at him on Jan. 29.
Smollett’s other co-stars, including his on-screen mom Taraji P. Henson, who plays Cookie Lyon, have been silent in wake of his arrest.
On Friday, Fox announced it was nixing Jamal Lyon’s character from the final two episodes of season 5, which is set to resume in March.