Taraji P. Henson Shows Support for Empire Costar Jussie Smollett, Cites Emmett Till: ‘Free Jussie’

Taraji P. Henson is such a loyal woman and a loyal friend. She’s standing by her former Empire costar Jussie Smollett.

Days after the actor and musician, 39, was sentenced to jail time followed by probation for staging his own hate crime and filing a false police report, Henson, 51, shared her support for Jussie in an Instagram post on Sunday.

Sharing an image with “#FreeJussie” written in white font on top of a black background, the actress pleaded for Jussie’s freedom, writing, “I am not here to debate you on his innocence but we can agree that the punishment does not fit the crime.”

Henson then cited the case of Emmett Till — a Black teenager who was abducted before being beaten, mutilated and lynched by two white men in 1955 after a woman falsely accused him of lewd behavior — and said in Jussie’s case, “No one was hurt or killed.”

“He has already lost everything, EVERYTHING!” Henson continued. “To me as an artist not able to create that in itself is punishment enough. 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.”

Henson concluded her post, adding: “My prayer is that he is freed and put on house arrest and probation because in this case that would seem fair. Please #freejussie 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾..”

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Leave it up to the black woman to always take up for the black man. No matter what he does, the black woman does not want to see him continue to suffer.

Does Taraji have a man yet? I’m ready to see her happily married.