Terrence Howard has opened up about his Empire co-star Jussie Smollett receiving a guilty verdict in his hoax hate crime trial. In a recent radio interview, the actor said, "It’s interesting, it’s an uncomfortable question because anyone that’s aware of the show or my relationship with Jussie would know that Jussie is, for six years, he was my son. He was my son that I had the most difficulty with on that show as far as the character world goes. So, you end up getting very close to individuals that you have the most struggle with. Whose characters you have the most struggle with."
He continued, saying that although he and his family both love Jussie, he respects the decision made by the jury. He explained, "They judged him and found him guilty, twelve of them that judged from a completely unbiased position… You have to respect that. "
He added, "If they had gotten away with it, whoever orchestrated it. Whatever was set up. If they got away with it, then we would have the potential of Blacks feeling like they need to defend Black people against MAGA, and it could have turned into something very, very scary and very ugly. People would have gotten hurt and killed and if that was the case, the blood on someone’s hands would have been massive."