Jussie Smollett Returns to Work on 'Empire'

Actor Jussie Smollett has made his return to Empire just a week after he suffered a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago.

According to a production source who spoke to TMZ, Smollett, who plays Jamal Lyon on the popular FOX drama, returned to the Chicago set on Monday to film the final scenes for one of the remaining episodes of the series' fifth season. He then completed a table read with the cast on Tuesday.

His return to the set was aided with an upped security presence, with it previously having been reported that the series held an "emotional" production meeting just after Smollett's attack. The cast and crew were reportedly informed that Fox had increased security around filming locations, including the presence of armed guards.

Just prior to the attack, FOX Studios in Chicago had received a letter threatening Smollett's life, reading "You will die black f—" in letters cut from magazines.

Smollett returned to Chicago on Sunday following his performance at the famed West Hollywood venue the Troubadour on Saturday, where he gave a live performance and addressed his attack to the audience of more than 300.

"I'm not fully healed yet. But I'm going to (be), and I'm gonna stand strong with y'all," he said. "I had to be here tonight, y'all, I couldn't let those (expletives)...win."

"I don't even care to name any names," he continued. "The hateful rhetoric that gets passed around, it has to stop. But guess what, it stops with the people that believe in love."

The show marked the actor's first public appearance since the Tuesday, Jan. 29 attack, in which two men wearing masks approached him in the early morning hours yelling racist and homophobic slurs. The verbal attack quickly escalated to a physical one, with the men assaulting Smollett with their hands and pouring an unknown chemical substance over him before tying a rope around his neck.

The incident required Smollett to be hospitalized for lacerations to his face and neck.

Investigating the attack "as a possible hate crime," the Chicago Police Department scoured nearby cameras for any surveillance footage that may have captured the attack or any possible suspects. Shortly after, they released images of potential persons of interest.

On Monday, authorities announced that they had found additional surveillance footage from the time leading up to and following the incident. The video, which has not been released, does not contain the attack nor any possible suspects, according to reports.

The Chicago Police Department is now hoping to speak to Smollett to gather more information on the case now that he is back in Chicago.