Jussie Smollett shares first Instagram post since alleged attack during Pride month
Jussie Smollett returned to Instagram for the first time since January, when he claimed to be a victim of a hate crime that Chicago Police widely called a "hoax."
On Monday, Smollett shared a clip of playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney's Tony Awards speech Sunday night on "Choir Boy," a play about "a black queer kid" named Pharus.
"Pharus, tries to use their gift of song to uphold his great legacy of spirituals and the moment his community accepted his gift but diminished his light," McCraney said in the video. "The bodies that uphold the great legacy of spirituals are often black and queer. When will we love all of them for who they are, not just for what they can do?"
Smollett captioned the clip, "So much #PRIDE," paying tribute to Pride month.
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🙏🏾 @octarell_again 🙏🏾 So much #PRIDE
A post shared by @ jussiesmollett on Jun 10, 2019 at 9:48am PDT
The video marked Smollett's first Instagram post since Jan. 29, the same day the former "Empire" actor alleged that two men punched him in the face, poured bleach on him and wrapped a rope around his neck.
Smollett, who is openly gay, claimed the assailants called him racial and homophobic slurs before yelling, "This is MAGA country," a reference to President Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan.
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A post shared by @jussiesmollett on Jan 28, 2019 at 11:04pm PST
He was later arrested and charged in February with filing a false police report and disorderly conduct after police said Smollett staged the attack in an attempt to gain publicity. But, prosecutors suddenly dropped the 16-count indictment against Smollett in March.
Smollett was written out of the final episodes of Season 5 of "Empire" amid the controversial case but his future on the show remained unclear until last week, when co-creator Lee Daniels tweeted that "Jussie will NOT be returning."
Smollett maintains his innocence.
Related: 'Empire' co-creator Lee Daniels says Jussie Smollett will not return for final season
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jussie Smollett shares first Instagram post since alleged attack during Pride month
