‘Empire’ Star Terrence Howard Reportedly Had Heated Confrontation With Jussie Smollett on Set After Hoax

Terrence Howard reportedly confront his Empire co-star Jussie Smollett over his alleged hate crime hoax.

Smollett had the full support of Empire‘s cast and crew when news first broke of his alleged assault. However, sources close to the production have now told TMZ that Howard was suspicious from the very start. After Smollett turned himself in to police on Thursday, Howard reportedly locked himself in his trailer all day.

The insiders said that Howard has been periodically confronting Smollett as the story progressed. Each time new holes seemed to emerge in his version of events, Howard would talk to the actor, and things got more and more tense over the last month.

Finally, things between the two actors reportedly hit a boiling point when Abel and Ola Osundairo were detained by police for nearly three days. Sources said that was when Howard and Smollett had their harshest encounter, with Howard screaming at Smollett to “come clean” on set.

When Smollett did address the entire cast and crew on Thursday night, sources said that Howard was not present. The actor reportedly represented a large portion of the cast and crew who believed that Smollett was lying.

The report makes it even more curious that Howard shared a heart-warming video of Smollett on Instagram on Sunday. The actor posted a short clip of Smollett holding Howard’s baby son in the seat of a private jet. It was presumably taken last month when Howard visited troops at the Osan Air Base.

In the video, a smiling Smollett played with baby Hero, tickling him and prompting smiles from the little one. He chatted with Howard at the same time, asking about Hero’s teething and remarking on how adorable he is.

“All your lil homies got you,” Howard wrote of Smollett. “We love the hell outta you.”

In spite of his arrest, Smollett and his lawyers continue to claim he is innocent. His attorneys released a public statement on Thursday condemning the Chicago Police Department’s charges against Smollett.

“Today we witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the American legal system,” it read. “The presumption of innocence, a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of Mr. Smollett and notably, on the eve of a Mayoral election. Mr. Smollett is a young man of impeccable character and integrity who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence and feels betrayed by a system that apparently wants to skip due process and proceed directly to sentencing.”