Jussie Smollett’s ‘Empire’ Co-Star, Terrence Howard, Breaks His Silence Amid Controversy

Jussie Smollett’s Empire co-star, Terrence Howard, is breaking his silence for the first time since the actor was arrested for allegedly staging his own violent attack.

According to Hollywood Life, Terrence Howard took to his Instagram account this weekend to share a video of Jussie Smollett, and let his followers know exactly how he feels about his on-screen son following all of the controversy that has been surrounding him in recent weeks.

In the video, Jussie is seen holding Terrence’s baby boy, Qirin Love Howard, while the trio flew on a private plane together. Smollett makes the baby boy giggle as he plays with him and tickles him with a big smile on his face. Later, the little boy snuggles up to Smollett, who reveals just how sweet the little guy is.

Jussie can also be heard asking Terrence how many teeth his young son has. In the caption of the video, Howard reveals that he and his family “love” Smollett, seemingly showing off another side to the actor who has been through so much drama over the past month, and showing support for his friend in the process.

Terrence didn’t reveal whether he believes Jussie’s story about being attacked, or his pleas of innocence, but simply that he loved his friend and co-worker.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Jussie Smollett told police that he was attacked by two masked men in late January. The Empire star stated that the men had called out racist and homophobic slurs to get his attention, and once they had him they poured a chemical substance on him, hit him with their fists, and put a rope around his neck.

Smollett filed a police report and later went on Good Morning America to tearfully tell his story. However, Chicago police claimed they didn’t believe everything that the actor was saying and eventually arrested two Nigerian brothers who say that Jussie had staged the attack with them.

Smollett was charged with a felony for filing a false police report and arrested earlier this week. He was let out on bail and was said to go immediately to the Empire set to apologize to his co-workers for all of the negative attention he was bringing the show.

Fox then announced that they would be cutting Jussie from the final episodes of the season, leaving fans wondering if he’ll get fired for good in the coming weeks.

Jussie Smollett has continued to maintain his innocence through all of the controversy, and still has the support of at least one of his co-stars in Terrence Howard.