Jussie Smollett FULL Interview on alleged attack | ABC News Exclusive — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00i'm robin roberts in new york musician
2. 0:02and actor jesse Smollett sat down with
3. 0:04me for his first interview since that
4. 0:06night in Chicago Smollett told me how
5. 0:08he's doing now and responds to those who
6. 0:10doubt his account I'm pissed off what is
7. 0:15it that has you so angry is it that the
8. 0:19attacker is the attackers but it's also
9. 0:21the attacks it's like you know at first
10. 0:25it was a thing of like listen if I tell
11. 0:28the truth then that's it because it's
12. 0:32the truth
13. 0:32mm-hmm then it became a thing of like oh
14. 0:37how can you doubt that like how do you
15. 0:39how do you not believe that it's the
16. 0:41truth and then it became a thing of like
17. 0:43oh it's not necessarily that you don't
18. 0:46believe that this is the truth you don't
19. 0:49even want to see the truth what happened
20. 0:53that night Jesse when I landed in
21. 0:55Chicago and Frank Gatson who's like my
22. 0:57uncle and he's also my creative director
23. 0:59and he picked me up and then we got back
24. 1:02to the apartment there was no food and
25. 1:05so I went out to Walgreens thinking that
26. 1:08they were 24 hours and to have a smoke
27. 1:12Walgreens was closed so I called him up
28. 1:16and I said hey I'm gonna run to Subway
29. 1:17which was across the street and I'm
30. 1:18gonna get a salad do you want anything I
31. 1:20went to the subway and got the order
32. 1:23during that time I texted my manager
33. 1:25thinking that he was still in Australia
34. 1:27because he was on an Australian tour
35. 1:28with one of his other clients I said you
36. 1:31know call me when you can he called me
37. 1:33immediately and while he was on the
38. 1:35phone I heard as I was crossing the
39. 1:39intersection I heard Empire and I don't
40. 1:43answer to Empire a name a Empire and I
41. 1:48didn't answer I kept walking and then I
42. 1:50heard Empire so I turned around and I
43. 1:53said did you just say to me and I see
44. 1:57the attacker masked and
45. 2:03he said this maggot country punches me
46. 2:07right in the face so I punched his ass
47. 2:09back and then we started tussling you
48. 2:12know was very icy and we ended up
49. 2:14hustlin by the stairs fighting fighting
50. 2:18fighting there was a second person
51. 2:20involved who was kicking me in my back
52. 2:22and then it just stopped
53. 2:26and they ran off and I saw where they
54. 2:32ran and the phone was in my pocket but
55. 2:34they'd fallen out and it was sitting
56. 2:36there and my manager was still on the
57. 2:38phone so I picked up the phone and I
58. 2:40said Brandon and he's likes going on and
59. 2:43I said I was just jumped and I then I
60. 2:46looked down and I see that there's a
61. 2:47rope around my neck which I hadn't I
62. 2:49hadn't noticed it before because it was
63. 2:51so fast you know what I'm saying it was
64. 2:52so fast how long did this all if they
65. 2:55like minutes but it probably was like 30
66. 2:57seconds honestly I can't tell you
67. 2:59honestly I noticed the rope around my
68. 3:03neck and I started screaming and I said
69. 3:06there's a rope around my neck did you
70. 3:08get any kind of description of the
71. 3:10attack I gave a body description and I
72. 3:13you know because I saw this but and you
73. 3:15know right here or whatever but I didn't
74. 3:17see I can't tell you what color their
75. 3:19eyes were I can't tell you and I did not
76. 3:21see anything except the second person I
77. 3:24saw running away and the first person
78. 3:27yeah I saw saw his statures I gave the
79. 3:31description as best as I could you have
80. 3:33to understand also that it's Chicago in
81. 3:36winter people can wear ski masks and
82. 3:41nobody's going to question that the
83. 3:43police have gone through a lot of video
84. 3:45and they were able to capture an image
85. 3:47of two people of interest have you seen
86. 3:50that image and do you believe that they
87. 3:53could possibly be the attackers I do
88. 3:55what is it about their their size or
89. 3:58what why do you feel that they could
90. 3:59possibly be because I was there for me
91. 4:03when that was released I was like okay
92. 4:05we're getting somewhere I don't have any
93. 4:08doubt in my mind that
94. 4:11that's their never did it why did you
95. 4:17hesitate to want to call the police you
96. 4:19know there's a level of pride there we
97. 4:22live in a society where as a gay man you
98. 4:27were considered somehow to be weak and
99. 4:30I'm not weak I'm not weak and we are as
100. 4:34a people are not weak so I mean I can
101. 4:37accept that there was pride there
102. 4:39there's also privacy you know at the end
103. 4:42of the day look what has happened you
104. 4:45know look what has happened so I don't
105. 4:49I'm glad that Frank called the police
106. 4:52I'm glad that we reported it during that
107. 4:56time before they came took them about
108. 4:58maybe half hour to come and during that
109. 5:01time I was looking at myself just like
110. 5:03checking myself out I saw the bruise on
111. 5:05my neck you know like the little the
112. 5:08ropeburn
113. 5:08around my neck and then I said but I
114. 5:11smelled bleach I know the smell of
115. 5:12bleach and I saw on my sweatshirt it had
116. 5:15marks on it like spots on it when you
117. 5:17have a bad bleach job so then I was like
118. 5:22there's bleach on me too
119. 5:23so when the police came I kept the
120. 5:26clothes on I kept the rope so he had the
121. 5:30rope on the entire tonight I wasn't like
122. 5:32all wrapped around but yeah it was
123. 5:34around because I wanted them to see I
124. 5:36wanted them to see what this was I told
125. 5:38them what happened everything I also
126. 5:40asked them to turn their body cams off
127. 5:41cuz they were trying to stay in the
128. 5:43hallway and I was like please just come
129. 5:44in like I don't want a big scene with my
130. 5:46neighbors and with like the second round
131. 5:48the police officers I went down to where
132. 5:52it happened and I walked them through
133. 5:53exactly what happened and I looked up
134. 5:55and I saw that there was a camera
135. 5:57directly on the light post that is in
136. 6:00the intersection so I'm like there it is
137. 6:04a potential break in the case that would
138. 6:06eventually fall apart days later and
139. 6:08then the detective told me that the
140. 6:10camera inside of the casing was facing
141. 6:12north so they didn't have it and that
142. 6:16was disappointing the vast majority of
143. 6:18people had been supportive and loving
144. 6:21and understanding and then as time has
145. 6:23gone on
146. 6:25and that there's no you know it's two
147. 6:29o'clock in the morning you're going to
148. 6:31Subway sub Center is open 24 hours like
149. 6:35people kill me when they say things like
150. 6:36that because it's like Subway is open 24
151. 6:38hours for a reason so that when you
152. 6:40hungry at night and you ain't got no
153. 6:41food you go to Subway the the camera
154. 6:44facing north how is that my issue it
155. 6:47feels like if I had said it was a Muslim
156. 6:53or Mexican or someone black I feel like
157. 6:58the doubters would have supported me a
158. 7:00lot much more a lot more and that says a
159. 7:04lot about the place that we are in our
160. 7:06country right now the fact that we have
161. 7:08these fear Mongols these people that are
162. 7:12trying to separate us and it's just not
163. 7:18okay it's just not okay and for all of
164. 7:21the people the next time that you see
165. 7:24someone report something maybe well
166. 7:28after the fact that it happened and you
167. 7:31say to them well why are you wait until
168. 7:34now just remember that mine was reported
169. 7:36right away and look what has happened
170. 7:38the phone when did you because as she
171. 7:44said it was a accurate account of the
172. 7:48time line valuable information when did
173. 7:52you make that information available to
174. 7:54the police we gave we had to give the
175. 7:57phone records which they didn't
176. 7:59originally asked for my phone records
177. 8:01they asked for my phone they wanted me
178. 8:04to give my phone to the tech for three
179. 8:06to four hours I'm sorry but I'm not
180. 8:12gonna do that why because I have private
181. 8:16pictures and videos and numbers
182. 8:19my partner's number my family's number
183. 8:22my castmates number my friends numbers
184. 8:26my private emails my private songs my
185. 8:28private voice memos I don't know what
186. 8:30that's gonna be to hand over my phone
187. 8:32for and honestly by then in
188. 8:36you made false statements had already
189. 8:38been put out there earlier this week he
190. 8:41submitted phone records from within an
191. 8:42hour of the incident but Chicago police
192. 8:45said they were limited and heavily
193. 8:47redacted adding they need additional
194. 8:49information to cooperate the
195. 8:51investigative timeline his attorneys
196. 8:54tell us they are willing to cooperate
197. 8:56Smollett also says he has been troubled
198. 8:58by inaccurate claims what other ones had
199. 9:01you heard that were inaccurate that I
200. 9:04had said that they were wearing Magga
201. 9:06hats I've never said that I didn't need
202. 9:08to add anything like that they called me
203. 9:12up they called me
204. 9:14there's no which way you cut it I don't
205. 9:17need some maggot as the cherry on top of
206. 9:22some racist sundae I've heard that it
207. 9:25was a date gone bad which I so resent
208. 9:30that narrative I'm not gonna go out and
209. 9:33get a tuna sandwich on a salad to meet
210. 9:36somebody that's ridiculous and it's
211. 9:39offensive yes there's Grindr yes there's
212. 9:41Jack yes there's all of these things
213. 9:43which I have not been on in years I can
214. 9:45admit that I was on that back in the day
215. 9:47I was single you know what I'm saying
216. 9:50but I haven't been on that in years but
217. 9:53aside from that it's offensive and I
218. 9:58absolutely resent that narrative because
219. 10:01it's bull it's bull and it's unfair it's
220. 10:04unfair to the investigation it's unfair
221. 10:07to I hate this word but it's unfair to
222. 10:10the victim
223. 10:10what were your your injury is what we're
224. 10:12on they did x-rays I didn't have it was
225. 10:15reported that I had like fractured ribs
226. 10:18or cracked ribs or something like that
227. 10:20that wasn't true I was just in a lot of
228. 10:22pain you know my clavicle was messed up
229. 10:24my rib was was bruised but I wasn't
230. 10:27nothing was cracked like I walked into
231. 10:30the hospital I walked out of the
232. 10:32hospital why do you think you were
233. 10:33targeted I can just assume I mean I come
234. 10:37really really hard against 45 I come
235. 10:45really really hard okay
236. 10:47his administration and I don't hold my
237. 10:51tongue you don't want to ask you about
238. 10:52Jessie
239. 10:53I think that's horrible it doesn't get
240. 10:57worse as far as I'm concerned were you
241. 10:59aware that he made that statement I saw
242. 11:01it I don't know what to say to that you
243. 11:03know you know I appreciate him not
244. 11:09brushing over it and there is no doubt
245. 11:12in your mind what motivated this attack
246. 11:15I could only go off of their words
247. 11:17I mean who says em pipe this maggot
248. 11:25country ties a noose around your neck
249. 11:30and pours bleach on you and this is just
250. 11:33a friendly fight I will never be the man
251. 11:36that this did not happen - I haven't
252. 11:39forever changed and I don't subscribe to
253. 11:42the idea that everything happens for a
254. 11:44reason but I do subscribe to the idea
255. 11:46that we have the right and
256. 11:47responsibility to make something
257. 11:49meaningful out of the things that happen
258. 11:52to us good and bad what do you feel
259. 11:55people need to hear the most from the
260. 11:57story I think that what people need to
261. 12:00hear it's just the truth it's just the
262. 12:03truth because everybody has their own
263. 12:07idea some are healing and somewhat
264. 12:10hurtful but I just want young people
265. 12:15young members of the LGBTQ community
266. 12:18young black children to know how strong
267. 12:23that they are to know the power that
268. 12:26they hold in their little pinky it's
269. 12:28been two weeks since that night left
270. 12:30actor Jessie Smollett bruised but not
271. 12:33broken and he's still processing the raw
272. 12:36emotions have you ever been threatened
273. 12:38before yeah I get threatened all the
274. 12:41time on Twitter and Instagram and dm's
275. 12:44and things like that
276. 12:45like but you know I'm a public figure
277. 12:50I'm very outspoken sometimes maybe too
278. 12:57outspoken but it's Who I am
279. 13:00you know so I get the idea of pissing
280. 13:04people off that you gonna rub people the
281. 13:07wrong way
282. 13:07in fact the week before the attack
283. 13:09police confirm a letter was sent to the
284. 13:12Fox studio in Chicago with threatening
285. 13:14language and laced with powdery
286. 13:16substance likely tylenol do you think
287. 13:18there's a link between the letter and
288. 13:20the attack and you did mention it to the
289. 13:24police right away on the letter
290. 13:25absolutely just because on the letter it
291. 13:29had a stick figure hanging from a tree
292. 13:32with a gun pointing towards it with the
293. 13:34words that say it's small that just say
294. 13:36you will die black there was no address
295. 13:38but the return address it and big red
296. 13:41you know like taps Magga did I make that
297. 13:44up too and despite lack of video
298. 13:47surveillance footage smollett hopes to
299. 13:49rewrite the narrative about that night
300. 13:51saying he fought back against his
301. 13:53attackers and reported the incident
302. 13:55after his creative director called 9-1-1
303. 14:01I want that video found so badly because
304. 14:05for probably four reasons number one I
305. 14:08want them to find the people that did it
306. 14:10number two I want them to stop being
307. 14:13able to say alleged attack number three
308. 14:15I want them to see that I fought back
309. 14:17and I want a little gay boy who might
310. 14:21watch this to see that I fought back and
311. 14:25it does not take anything away from
312. 14:26people that are not able to do that but
313. 14:29I fought back they ran off I didn't what
314. 14:32do you say to a young gay man a young
315. 14:34gay person to learn to fight and I don't
316. 14:37just mean like learning to fight I mean
317. 14:40learn to fight learn to be a fighter I
318. 14:43am not advocating violence at all so
319. 14:47let's be clear about that if you're
320. 14:49gonna die fight until you do because if
321. 14:54you don't fight you have no chance I
322. 14:57have fought for love I'm an advocate I
323. 15:00respect too much
324. 15:02the people who I am now one of those
325. 15:04people who have been attacked in any way
326. 15:08you do such a disservice when you lie
327. 15:11about things like this if the attackers
328. 15:14are never found
329. 15:16how will you be able to heal down I
330. 15:24don't know let's just hope that they are
331. 15:28you know what I'm saying
332. 15:29like let's let's not go there yet let's
333. 15:33not
334. 15:33it's I was talking to a friend that I
335. 15:37said I just want them to find them and
336. 15:39she said sweetie they're not gonna find
337. 15:42them I just made me so angry because so
338. 15:46I'm just gonna be left here with this
339. 15:48you don't say it like I'm just gonna be
340. 15:50left here with with like so they get to
341. 15:58go free and go about their life and
342. 16:01possibly attack someone else and I'm
343. 16:04here to left with it left with the
344. 16:05aftermath that this book
345. 16:06that's not cool to me that's not okay
346. 16:10so I understand how difficult it will be
347. 16:14to find them but we gotta I still want
348. 16:20to believe with everything that has
349. 16:22happened that there's something called
350. 16:24justice because if I stop believing that
351. 16:30then what's it all for
352. 16:33pinkey chassis thank you thank you