As Jussie Smollett gears up for a colossal legal battle, his friend and ‘Empire’ boss Lee Daniels is speaking up and out about the scandal everyone’s talking about.

Last month, the 36-year-old was indicted on 16 counts related what Chicago authorities are saying was a “staged attack.”

At the time of the incident, Smollett filed a police report asserting that he was targeted because of his race and sexuality.

The fall-out from the drama not only has the actor’s role on ‘Empire’ placed in jeopardy, but the entire show’s future too.

It would appear the latter has prompted Daniels – who was one of the first to voice support for Smollett initially – to touch on the matter as best as he could.

See what he had to say below…

In an Instagram post, the show-runner begun with:

“These past couple of weeks have been a freakin’ roller coaster.

Me and my cast have experienced pain, anger, sadness and frustration,” Daniels continued. “And [we] really don’t know how to deal with it, ya know?”

He went on to stress that the show was conceived to “bring America together” versus the dissension occurring in the wake of what he referred to simply as “the incident.” Check out the full clip:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvPj8BNn2Bu/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again

Jussie, who asserts his innocence, is due back in court in mid-April.

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[Photo credit: Getty]