Actor Malik Yoba is sorry he ever opened his mouth about Jussie Smollet’s down low gay status.
In a new interview Yoba said he was as surprised as you were when he found out Daniels was killing off his character on Fox TV’s hip hop soap opera, Empire.
Yoba implied that Empire‘s openly gay co-creator killed off his character in an act of vengeance after Yoba accidentally outed Smollet (who played Jamal Lyons) in an interview he did with Blackfilm.com.
So, obviously, Lee (Daniels, co-creator) is gay. That was an important storyline for him. I think it’s important for people to see themselves. Even within the Black community. But if you aren’t really, really taking it off of screen and making it live in the community in a significant way … like I know Jussie, he is gay, and he’s very committed to issues around the LGBT community. He and I have a very close relationship.” Source
Malik Yoba Accidentally Outs Jussie Smollett – Actor mistakenly reveals that his Empire co-star is gay. http://t.co/befGpJuH3W
— BET News (@BETNews) March 1, 2015
Once the proverbial sh*t hit the fan on social media, Yoba desperately tried to walk back his statements in a quote to USA Today.
“I was misquoted in the article. My reference to Jussie was only about his character and storyline on Empire,” Yoba said.
But it was too late. Yoba hinted to his character’s brutal demise in a sober Instagram video message to his fans just days before his character was killed off on Empire.
Yoba said when he asked Daniels why his character had to die, Daniels told him execs at Fox TV said ‘somebody’ had to die.
It is so typical for Daniels to blame others for decisions he alone makes.
Meanwhile Smollet, who conveniently claimed he was never in the closet, continued denying his homosexuality right up to the day he finally came out on Ellen Degeneres’s show. Even then he never actually mouthed the words “I’m gay.”
“No, (fans shouldn’t assume I’m gay), but it’s also fair, and I don’t see a problem with that and I don’t really care,” Smollet said in a recent radio interview with DJ Sway in February. “This is not a gay black show. This is a show about human experiences,” he added. “I’m not willing to confirm or deny anything. I live my life. If someone is looking for a box to put me in, that’s not going to happen. I live my life, and if you really want to know about me, just watch, because I don’t hide anything. I just don’t choose to talk about my personal life.”
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