Celebrities and political leaders continue to show their support for "Empire" star Jussie Smollett, who was attacked Tuesday in what Chicago police are investigating as a suspected hate crime. But one celebrity's kind words were met with outrage.
Kevin Hart, who has come under fire for homophobic jokes he made in the past, addressed the "unbelievably sad" attack on Smollett in an Instagram post and a video posted to Instagram Stories, in which he decried a nation going "backwards."
"We as people have to do better," the comedian wrote. "WTF is going on the world???? Why are we falling in love with hate???? God damn it people....Choose love...I repeat...Choose love. I will forever choose love and I will continue to teach my kids how to do the same. Stand strong brother."
To Hart's critics, those words understandably come across as sadly ironic. The comedian joked in 2011 about abusing his son if he was gay. It was just one of the many since-deleted tweets led to Hart's decision to step down from hosting this year's Oscars ceremony and apologize to the LGBT community.
Hart's critics say the attack on Smollett, a black gay man, illustrates why his homophobic jokes were so offensive.
"This is why someone's jokes about beating their gay son were never funny," TV writer Ira Madison III tweeted. Filmmaker Sam Greisman, the son of actress Sally Field, echoed, "But keep joking about beating up your kid for being gay, Kevin Hart!"
Meanwhile, poet Saeed Jones referenced Hart's recent interview with Ellen DeGeneres, who begged people to give Hart a second chance.
"Given what we've seen so far, I fully expect the men who attacked Jussie Smollett to score a sit-down interview with Ellen at some point in the next few weeks. Maybe it will be a roundtable discussion with Kevin Hart," Jones tweeted.
During the attack in Chicago, Smollett was reportedly subjected to racist and homophobic slurs while a noose was put around his neck and an "unknown chemical substance" was poured on him. Smollett also told police that his two attackers shouted, "MAGA country."
