Jussie Smollett broke down in tears at several points as he spoke about the racist, homophobic attack he was subjected to on January 29 and the aftermath of speculation and skepticism it has been met with since in his first interview about the incident.
In an hour-long interview with Good Morning America, the Empire actor, wearing a collection of badges to show his support of Black Pride, Time's Up, Pride and other causes, revealed his frustration at some of the public disbelief surrounding his version of events and said he does not think he would have been met with the same cynicism if his attackers weren't white Trump supporters.
Smollett also went into detail about why he did not immediately hand over his phone to the police to verify parts of his story and said he was trying to protect private photographs, videos, songs and phone numbers of high profile people and his partner.
He said he was frustrated that Chicago Police had not yet found surveillance footage of the incident and revealed his disappointment after learning that a camera at the very spot of the attack was turned in the opposite direction when it took place.
Choking back tears, he explained when asked why it took so long for him to contact the authorities: 'There is a level of pride there. We live in a society where as a gay man you are considered somehow to be weak and I am not weak. I am not weak and we as a people are not weak.'
Later, he said he believed he was targeted because he is a vocal critic of the president and was buckled by emotion when asked what he would do if his attackers were never found.
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Wearing a collection of pins to show support of Pride, Time's Up, Black Power and others in his interview with Good Morning America that aired on Thursday, Jussie Smollett spoke in detail about the attack he suffered on January 29 and was overcome with emotion at several points
Smollett also shared new photographs of his injuries which he said included a burn on his neck where the rope was placed and facial scratches
Describing the chain of events once police arrived at his apartment at the request of 60-year-old Frank Gatson, his friend who was at the apartment when the attack took place.
'I told them what happened. I asked them to turn their body cameras off. I was like, "Please just come in.
'I don't want a big scene with my neighbors,"' he said, adding that he had left the rope around his neck and his bleach-doused clothes on for them to see.
He said that while he left the rope around his neck, it was not 'wrapped' tightly.
After the police had come into his apartment, he took them down to where the attack happened to walk them through it and became excited when he noticed a camera overlooking the exact spot where it took place.
'I told them what happened. I asked them to turn their body cameras off. I was like, "Please just come in. I don't want a big scene with my neighbors,
'I looked up and saw there was a camera, directly on the post on the intersection.
'Then the detective told me that the camera was facing north so they didn't have it and that was disappointing.'
Later, he added how desperate he was for them to find footage of the attack.
'I want that video found so badly because, for probably four reasons.
'Number one, I want them to find the people that did it.
'Number two, I want them to stop being able to say "alleged" attack.
'Number three, I want them to see that I fought back,' he continued, welling-up.
'I want a little gay boy who might watch this to see that I fought the f*** back. They ran off,' I didn't,' he said.
He was overcome with emotion when presented with the prospect that his attackers might not be found.
'Let's just hope that they are found. Let's not go there yet. I was talking to a friend and I said,"I just hope they find them." And she said, "Sweetie, they're not going to find them."
'That made me so angry. I'm just going to be left here with this? They get to go free and go about their life and do this to someone else and I am left with the aftermath of this bulls**t? That's not cool to me.
'I understand how difficult it will be to find them, but we gotta.
'I still want to believe there's something called justice,' he said.
Addressing why he did not hand over his phone to prove that he had been on a call with his manager when the attack took place, he said he did not feel comfortable being without the device for several hours when it contained the private information and phone numbers of celebrities and friends.
'They wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to our hours. And I'm sorry but, I'm not going to do that because I have private pictures and videos and phone numbers, my partner's number, my family's numbers, my cast mates' numbers, my private emails, private songs, voice memos, pictures, videos...
'Honestly, by then, inaccurate statements had already been put out,' he said, referring to the false reports which emerged in the immediate aftermath of the attack including that the assailants were wearing MAGA hats and that his ribs were broken in it.
Chicago PD released this image of two unidentified men in the days after the attack. They described them as persons of interest and asked the public for information but they have not found the pair or any other suspects
Smollett became tearful at several points during the interview as he described how he did not want to seem 'weak' when he finally agreed to report the incident to the police
Smollett condemned the avalanche of false information and speculation over why he had gone out so late which ensued after it became public.
'I've heard that it was a date hone bad which I so resent that narrative. I'm not going to go out to get a tuna sandwich and a salad to meet somebody. That's ridiculous and offensive.
'Yes there's Grindr... I have not been on that in years. I can admit that I was on that back in the day when I was single,' he said.
Another falsehood was that Smollett had told police his attackers were wearing MAGA hats.
'That I had said they were wearing MAGA hats,' he said, giving an example of the
