Now that the 16 felony charges against Jussie Smollett in Chicago's alleged hate crime hoax have been dropped, the actor's "Empire" family is sounding off against the media who they say ruthlessly dragged him through the mud.
Empire writer Cameron Johnson was especially irate at Chicago journalist Rob Elgas, who he accused of reporting "a bunch of false information and never retracted it."
"Reporting on leaks that have been proven false is beneath you," he added. Elgas asked Johnson what exactly it was he falsely reported, to which Johnson just responded with emojis.
A few of Smollett's costars are standing by him, too, with their own shots at the media. Terrence Howard promised Smollett on Instagram last month that all "your lil homies got you...We love the hell outta you."
“The Jussie I know could never even conceive of something so unconscious and ugly," he added when he got pushback from social media commenters. "His innocence or judgment is not for any of us to decide."
Taraji P. Henson was happy the truth had "finally been set free" when Cook County State's Attorney's office dropped the charges.
"I'm happy that the truth has finally been set free, because I knew it all along," Henson told USA Today. "We're all happy for him, and thank God the truth prevailed."
She said she wasn't one to be fooled by the "clickbait."
Yet, Chicago PD say they have evidence that proves Smollett fabricated the whole thing, including sending a death threat to himself and paying his attackers to ambush him. It was enough to get Fox producers to write Smollett's character off of the final two episodes of the season. Yet, when prosecutors erased the charges, the "Empire" writers signaled to fans that they were ready to forge ahead.
?? see y’all Wednesday. #empire #empirefox pic.twitter.com/jQUtsHcQBF
— Empire Writers (@EmpireWriters) March 26, 2019
The Chicago assistant state's attorney noted on Wednesday that while they dropped the charges against Smollett, they "didn't exonerate him."