Jussie Smollett FULL Interview on alleged attack — ABC News Exclusive

[0:00] I'm Robin Roberts in New York. [0:01] Musician and actor Jussie Smollett sat down with me [0:04] for his first interview since that night in Chicago. [0:07] Smollett told me how he's doing now [0:09] and responds to those who doubt his account. [0:12] I'm pissed off. [0:14] What is it that has you so angry? [0:18] Is it the attackers? [0:20] It's the attackers, but it's also the attacks. [0:24] It's like, you know, at first it was a thing of like, [0:27] listen, if I tell the truth, then that's it, [0:31] because it's the truth. [0:34] Then it became a thing of like, oh, how can you doubt that? [0:39] Like, how do you not believe that? [0:41] It's the truth. [0:42] And then it became a thing of like, oh, [0:44] it's not necessarily that you don't believe [0:47] that this is the truth. [0:49] You don't even want to see the truth. [0:52] What happened that night, Jussie? [0:54] When I landed in Chicago and Frank Gatson, [0:56] who's like my uncle, and he's also my creative director, [0:59] and he picked me up. [1:00] And then we got back to the apartment. [1:04] There was no food. [1:05] And so I went out to Walgreens thinking that they were 24 hours and to have a smoke. [1:12] Walgreens was closed. [1:13] So I called him up and I said, hey, I'm going to run to Subway, which was across the street, [1:18] and I'm going to get a salad. [1:19] Do you want anything? [1:20] I went to the Subway and got the order. [1:23] During that time, I texted my manager, thinking that he was still in Australia, [1:27] because he was on an Australian tour with one of his other clients. [1:30] And I said, yo, call me when you can. [1:32] He called me immediately. [1:34] And while he was on the phone, I heard, as I was crossing the intersection, I heard, [1:40] Empire. [1:41] And I don't answer to Empire. [1:44] My name ain't Empire. [1:46] So I turned around and I said, the did you just say to me? [1:55] And I see the attacker masked. [2:02] And he said, this MAGA country punches me right in the face. [2:08] So I punched his ass back. [2:09] And then we started tussling. [2:12] You know, it was very icy. [2:14] And we ended up tussling by the stairs, fighting, fighting, fighting. [2:19] There was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back. [2:23] And then it just stopped. [2:28] And they ran off. [2:31] And I saw where they ran. [2:33] And the phone was in my pocket, but it had fallen out. [2:35] And it was sitting there. [2:36] And my manager was still on the phone. [2:39] So I picked up the phone and I said, Brandon. [2:41] And he's like, what's going on? [2:43] And I said, I was just jumped. [2:45] And then I looked down and I see that there's a rope around my neck, which I hadn't. [2:49] You hadn't noticed it before? [2:50] No, because it was so fast. [2:52] You know what I'm saying? [2:52] It was so fast. [2:53] How long did this all take? [2:54] It felt like minutes, but it probably was like 30 seconds, honestly. [2:58] I can't tell you honestly. [3:01] I noticed the rope around my neck and I started screaming. [3:05] And I said, there's a rope around my neck. [3:07] Did you get any kind of description of the attack? [3:11] I gave a body description because I saw this right here or whatever. [3:17] But I didn't see. [3:17] I can't tell you what color their eyes were. [3:19] I can't tell you. [3:20] And I did not see anything except the second person I saw running away. [3:26] And the first person, yeah, I saw his stature. [3:30] I gave the description as best as I could. [3:33] You have to understand also that it's Chicago in winter. [3:39] People can wear ski masks and nobody's going to question that. [3:42] The police have gone through a lot of video and they were able to capture an image of two [3:48] people of interest. [3:50] Have you seen that image? [3:51] And do you believe that they could possibly be the attackers? [3:55] I do. [3:56] What is it about their size? [3:58] Or why do you feel that they could possibly be? [4:00] Because I was there. [4:03] For me, when that was released, I was like, okay, we're getting somewhere. [4:06] I don't have any doubt in my mind that that's them never did. [4:16] Why did you hesitate to want to call the police? [4:19] You know, there's a level of pride there. [4:22] We live in a society where, as a gay man, you are considered somehow to be weak. [4:30] And I'm not weak. [4:32] I am not weak. [4:33] And we, as a people, are not weak. [4:36] So I can accept that there was pride there. [4:39] There's also privacy. [4:41] You know, at the end of the day, look what has happened. [4:46] You know, look what has happened. [4:47] So I don't, I'm glad that Frank called the police. [4:53] I'm glad that we reported it. [4:55] During that time before they came, took them about maybe half an hour to come. [5:00] And during that time, I was looking at myself, just like checking myself out. [5:04] I saw the bruise on my neck, you know, like the little, the rope burn around my neck. [5:09] And then I, but I smelled bleach. [5:12] I know the smell of bleach. [5:13] And I saw on my sweatshirt, it had marks on it, like spots on it, when you have a bad bleach job. [5:20] So then I was like, there's bleach on me too. [5:23] So when the police came, I kept the clothes on. [5:28] I kept the rope. [5:30] So you had the rope on the entire time? [5:32] I mean, it wasn't like wrapped around. [5:33] But yeah, it was around because I wanted them to see. [5:36] I wanted them to see what this was. [5:38] I told them what happened, everything. [5:40] I also asked them to turn their body cams off because they were trying to stay in the hallway. [5:43] And I was like, please just come in. [5:45] Like, I don't want a big scene with my neighbors and with like the second round of police officers. [5:50] I went down to where it happened and I walked them through exactly what happened. [5:55] And I looked up and I saw that there was a camera directly on the light post that is in the intersection. [6:01] So I'm like, there it is. [6:04] A potential break in the case that would eventually fall apart days later. [6:08] And then the detective told me that the camera inside of the casing was facing north. [6:13] So they didn't have it. [6:14] And that was disappointing. [6:16] The vast majority of people have been supportive and loving and understanding. [6:23] And then as time has gone on and that there's no, you know, it's 2 o'clock in the morning. [6:30] You're going to Subway. [6:32] Sub-Zero. [6:33] Subway is open 24 hours. [6:35] Like, people kill me when they say things like that because it's like Subway is open 24 hours for a reason. [6:39] So that when you're hungry at night and you ain't got no food, you go to Subway. [6:43] Like, the camera facing north. [6:46] How is that my issue? [6:47] It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot much more. [7:02] A lot more. [7:03] And that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now. [7:06] The fact that we have these fear Mongols, these people that are trying to separate us. [7:15] And it's just not okay. [7:19] It's just not okay. [7:20] And for all of the people, the next time that you see someone report something, maybe well after the fact that it happened, and you say to them, well, why are you waiting until now? [7:35] Just remember that mine was reported right away. [7:38] And look what has happened. [7:39] The phone. [7:40] Mm-hmm. [7:41] When did you, because as you said, it was an accurate account of the timeline, valuable information, when did you make that information available to the police? [7:55] We gave, we had to give the phone records, which they didn't originally ask for my phone records. [8:01] They asked for my phone. [8:03] They wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to four hours. [8:07] I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do that. [8:14] Why? [8:14] Because I have private pictures and videos and numbers, my partner's number, my family's number, my castmate's number, my friend's numbers, my private emails, my private songs, my private voice memos. [8:29] I don't know what that's going to be to hand over my phone for, and honestly, by then, inaccurate, false statements had already been put out there. [8:40] Earlier this week, he submitted phone records from within an hour of the incident. [8:44] But Chicago police said they were limited and heavily redacted, adding they need additional information to cooperate the investigative timeline. [8:53] His attorneys tell us they are willing to cooperate. [8:56] Smollett also says he has been troubled by inaccurate claims. [9:00] What other ones had you heard that were inaccurate? [9:03] That I had said that they were wearing MAGA hats. [9:06] I never said that. [9:07] I didn't need to add anything like that. [9:11] They called me a ****. [9:13] They called me a ****. [9:15] There's no which way you cut it. [9:17] I don't need some MAGA hat as the cherry on top of some racist sundae. [9:23] I've heard that it was a date gone bad, which I so resent, that narrative. [9:32] I'm not going to go out and get a tuna sandwich and a salad to meet somebody. [9:36] That's ridiculous. [9:38] And it's offensive. [9:40] Yes, there's Grindr. [9:41] Yes, there's Jacked. [9:42] Yes, there's all of these things, which I have not been on in years. [9:45] I can admit that I was on that back in the day. [9:47] I was single. [9:48] You know what I'm saying? [9:50] But I haven't been on that in years. [9:53] But aside from that, it's offensive. [9:58] And I absolutely resent that narrative because it's bull. [10:02] It's bull. [10:03] And it's unfair. [10:04] It's unfair to the investigation. [10:07] It's unfair to, I hate this word, but it's unfair to the victim. [10:10] What were your injuries? [10:12] What were your... [10:12] They did x-rays. [10:13] I didn't have... [10:15] It was reported that I had, like, fractured ribs or cracked ribs or something like that. [10:20] That wasn't true. [10:21] I was just in a lot of pain. [10:23] You know, my clavicle was messed up. [10:25] My rib was bruised. [10:27] But I wasn't... [10:28] Nothing was cracked. [10:29] Like, I walked into the hospital. [10:31] I walked out of the hospital. [10:33] Why do you think you were targeted? [10:34] I can just assume... [10:36] I mean, I come really, really hard against 45. [10:43] I come really, really hard against his administration. [10:48] And I don't hold my tongue. [10:52] I want to ask you about Jesse Smollett. [10:53] I think that's horrible. [10:56] It doesn't get worse, as far as I'm concerned. [10:59] Were you aware that he made that statement? [11:01] I saw it. [11:02] I don't know what to say to that, you know? [11:04] You know, I appreciate him not brushing over it. [11:11] And there is no doubt in your mind what motivated this attack. [11:15] I could only go off of their words. [11:19] I mean, who says... [11:23] Empire... [11:23] This MAGA country... [11:26] Ties a noose around your neck and pours bleach on you. [11:33] And this is just a friendly fight? [11:34] I will never be the man that this did not happen to. [11:39] I am forever changed. [11:40] And I don't subscribe to the idea that everything happens for a reason. [11:45] But I do subscribe to the idea that we have the right and the responsibility [11:48] to make something meaningful out of the things that happen to us, good and bad. [11:54] What do you feel people need to hear the most from this story? [11:58] I think that what people need to hear is just the truth. [12:03] It's just the truth. [12:04] Because everybody has their own idea. [12:08] Some are healing and some are hurtful. [12:10] But I just want young people, young members of the LGBTQ community, [12:19] young black children to know how strong that they are, [12:24] to know the power that they hold in their little pinky. [12:28] It's been two weeks since that night left actor Jussie Smollett bruised but not broken. [12:34] And he's still processing the raw emotions. [12:37] Have you ever been threatened before? [12:38] Yeah, I get threatened all the time on Twitter and Instagram and DMs and things like that. [12:46] It's like, but, you know, I'm a public figure. [12:51] I'm very outspoken. [12:55] Sometimes maybe too outspoken. [12:59] But it's who I am, you know. [13:01] So I get the idea of pissing people off, that you're going to rub people the wrong way. [13:07] In fact, the week before the attack, police confirm a letter was sent to the Fox studio in Chicago [13:13] with threatening language and laced with powdery substance, likely Tylenol. [13:18] Do you think there's a link between the letter and the attack? [13:22] And you did mention it to the police right away about the letter. [13:26] Absolutely. [13:27] Just because on the letter, it had a stick figure hanging from a tree with a gun pointing towards it [13:33] with the words that said, Smollett, Jussie, you will die, black ****. [13:38] There was no address, but the return address said in big red, you know, like caps, MAGA. [13:44] Did I make that up too? [13:45] And despite lack of video surveillance footage, Smollett hopes to rewrite the narrative about that night, [13:51] saying he fought back against his attackers [13:53] and reported the incident after his creative director called 911. [13:57] I want that video found so badly because for probably four reasons. [14:08] Number one, I want them to find the people that did it. [14:11] Number two, I want them to stop being able to say alleged attack. [14:15] Number three, I want them to see that I fought back. [14:19] And I want a little gay boy who might watch this to see that I fought back. [14:25] And it does not take anything away from people that are not able to do that. [14:29] But I fought back. [14:30] They ran off. [14:31] I didn't. [14:31] What do you say to a young gay man, a young gay person? [14:35] To learn to fight. [14:37] And I don't just mean like learn to fight. [14:39] I mean, learn to fight. [14:42] Learn to be a fighter. [14:44] I am not advocating violence at all. [14:47] So let's be clear about that. [14:48] If you're going to die, fight until you do. [14:54] Because if you don't fight, you have no chance. [14:57] I have fought for love. [14:58] I'm an advocate. [15:00] I respect too much the people who I am now one of those people [15:05] who have been attacked in any way. [15:09] You do such a disservice when you lie about things like this. [15:13] If the attackers are never found, how will you be able to heal? [15:18] I don't know. [15:26] Let's just hope that they are. [15:29] You know what I'm saying? [15:30] Like, let's not go there yet. [15:33] Let's talk to a friend. [15:36] And I said, I just want them to find them. [15:39] And she said, sweetie, they're not going to find them. [15:42] It just made me so angry. [15:45] Because so I'm just going to be left here with this? [15:49] You know what I'm saying? [15:50] Like, I'm just going to be left here with, like, so they get to go free [15:58] and go about their life and possibly attack someone else? [16:03] And I'm here to left with the aftermath of this bull? [16:07] That's not cool to me. [16:09] That's not okay. [16:10] So I understand how difficult it will be to find them. [16:17] But we got to. [16:19] I still want to believe with everything that has happened [16:23] that there's something called justice. [16:27] Because if I stop believing that, then what's it all for? [16:32] Thank you, Jesse. [16:34] Thank you. [16:35] Thank you.