Terrence Howard screamed at co-star Jussie Smollett to come clean about his hate crime claims — then locked himself in his trailer on the set of “Empire” Thursday after the actor was arrested, according to a new report.
Howard had long been suspicious about the 36-year-old’s claim that he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack in Chicago last month — and periodically confronted him about inconsistencies in his story as the investigation unfolded, TMZ reports.
Then, when Olabinjo Osundairo — who worked as an extra on “Empire” — and his brother Abimbola were arrested as possible attackers earlier this month, Howard blew up at Smollett and told him to confess, sources from the set tell the site.
When Smollett himself was arrested last week for allegedly filing a false report after allegedly paying the brothers to stage the attack, Howard had a meltdown on set and refused to come out of his trailer for most of the day, according to TMZ.
Smollett returned to the set that night to apologize and profess his innocence, but his TV dad was nowhere to be seen, the site reports.
Nevertheless, Howard defended Smollett in an Instagram post over the weekend, saying: “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.”
Jussie Smollett charged with felony for falsely reporting attack
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