Terrence Howard Claps Back At Jussie Smollett Critics: ‘His Innocence Isn’t For Us To Decide’

From ridicule to full on condemnation, ‘Empire’ star Jussie Smollett has seen the general public go from an outpouring of support to an outpouring of outrage following his arrest for allegedly staging his highly publicized hate attack.

Ahead of his official trial (if it gets that far), the 36-year-old’s undoubtedly already been convicted in the “court of public opinion” – a truth his co-star, Terrence Howard, isn’t exactly fond of. Howard, who plays Smollett’s father on the hit FOX series, recently took to Instagram to show support for the embattled actor and was met with a fiery backlash for doing so…

After Howard posted this video:

View this post on Instagram

All your lil homies got you… We love the hell outta you .

A post shared by Terrence Dashon Howard (@theterrencehoward) on Feb 23, 2019 at 4:44pm PST

Furious commenters weighed in, prompting Terrence to say:

“Sorry you feel that way but that’s the only Jussie that I know,” he replied. “The Jussie I know could never even conceive of something so unconscious and ugly. His innocence or judgment is not for any of us to decide. Stay in your lane and my lane is empathy and love and compassion for someone that I’ve called my son for 5 years.”

He went on to state:

“It’s God’s job to judge and it is ours to love and hope, especially for those that we claim to have loved. There’s nothing more harmful than a fake friend! Real talk.”

[photo credit: Getty Images]