Taraji P. Henson Cites Emmett Till While Calling For Jussie Smollett’s Release

Jussie Smollett was given prison time following his trial for faking a hate crime. Jussie’s arrest sent shockwaves in the industry. Taraji P. Henson, who starred alongside Jussie on Empire, is calling for the actor’s release from jail. 

As we reported earlier, Smollett is serving time in connection to staging a hate crime in 2019. On Sunday, Taraji took to social media to call for Jussie’s release. The Oscar-nominated actress wrote in an Instagram post and evoked the name of Emmett Till in the process.

“I am not here to debate you on his innocence but we can agree that the punishment does not fit the crime, Emmett Till was brutally beat and ultimately murdered because of a lie and none of the people involved with his demise spent one day in jail, even after Carolyn Bryant admitted that her claims were false. No one was hurt or killed during Jussie’s ordeal. He has already lost everything, EVERYTHING!”

Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail, following a court ruling, earlier this week. Henson believes, Jussie should be on house arrest, rather than serve his time in jail. Taraji further said in her post, “To me as an artist not able to create that in itself is punishment enough,” She continued,

“He can’t get a job. No one in Hollywood will hire him and again as an artist who loves to create, that is prison. My prayer is that he is freed and put on house arrest and probation because in this case that would seem fair.”

In case you need a refresher, Emmett Till was a child who was actually killed in a heinous hate crime in 1955. That was quite a hot take indeed. Meanwhile, we will be on the lookout for more updates. Stay tuned to Thirsty. You can check out Taraji’s post below.

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