In the early morning hours of January 29, 2019, Empire actor Jussie Smollett was attacked by 2 masked men outside his Chicago apartment as he walked home from getting some food. The men shouted racial and homophobic slurs at Smollett, told him this was MAGA country (a reference to support for President Trump) and they punched him. As they fought, the men would pour bleach on Smollett and loop a rope fashioned into a noose around his neck before running off into the night. Love and support poured in from around the country for Jussie Smollett, some even calling this hate crime a modern day lynching. The ensuing investigation would eventually reveal there was much more to the story than first thought.

https://apnews.com/JussieSmollett

https://apnews.com/JussieSmollett

https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-alleged-jussie-smollett-attack/story?id=61124090

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg9vVMNi4N0