Terrence Howardis standing behind Jussie Smollett following hisEmpirecostar’sarrest for allegedly staginga fake hate attack last month.
“All your lil homies got you… We love the hell outta you,” Howard, 49, captioned the post, adding a heart emoji.
In the video, Smollett asks, “How many teeth does he have?” before tickling the laughing child.
The clip found support in actressGabourey Sidibe, who commented with three red heart emojis, andTaye Diggs, who wrote, “Atta boy!”
Smollett, 36, wasarrested Thursdayafter the actor was charged with filing a false police report about hisalleged hate attackon Wednesday. If convicted of the felony charge, he could serve up to three years in prison.
His bond was set at $100,000, and he was released after posting $10,000. He is next due in court March 14.
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Smollett has maintained his innocence in the Jan. 29 incident, and his attorneyshave promised to launchan “aggressive defense.”
RELATED VIDEO: Jussie Smollett Allegedly Paid $3,500 to Stage Attack Because He Was Unhappy with Salary: Police
On Thursday, Chicago police held apress conferencein which they alleged Smollett paid $3,500 to stage a “bogus” attack against him to draw attention to himself because he was dissatisfied with his salary. A source denied to PEOPLE that Smollett had any sort of issue with his pay, saying, “There’s never been a dissatisfaction with his salary.”
PEOPLE confirmed Smollettreturned to the setofEmpireafter posting bond Thursday, though the Fox show’s executive producersissued a statementon Friday announcing that the actor’s character Jamal Lyon will be removed from the final two episodes of season 5.
Jussie Smollett.Kamil Krzaczynski/AP/Shutterstock
“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us,” read the statement from Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo and Dennis Hammer. “Jussie has been an important member of our EMPIRE family for the past five years and we care about him deeply. While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out. We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of ‘Jamal’ from the final two episodes of the season.”
source: people.com
