One of the strangest stories of the entire year has been about Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor, and an alleged hate crime that he staged in Chicago. The entertainer had hired two brothers to train him and, apparently, part of the deal was that they had to attack him and leave him laying in the street with a noose around his neck and bleach poured over his body. It was staged to look like a racist and homophobic attack and the way Smollett described the crime had us all confused, searching for the truth. Because of all the hate being directed his way, he disappeared from the internet for a while but today, he returned to celebrate Pride Month and last night's Tony Awards, making his first post since January.
Jussie Smollett has not been active online for a while but that all changed a few hours ago when the actor shared a video of Tarell Alvin McCraney's speech from last night's Tony Awards. The playwright was speaking about Choir Boy and how it pertains to the black queer experience, which Jussie has lived through for his entire adult life. He related to the message McCraney conveyed, writing that he has "so much #PRIDE." As you would likely expect, the comments have been disabled to prevent bullying or harsh remarks from fans.
In other Pride-related news, we recently highlighted some of the most influential LGBTQ+ artists in a feature here.
