At first, the Chicago Police Department said “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett and his music manager were reluctant to hand over phone records of their conversation that occurred Tuesday morning during the alleged attack.
Jussie claimed two men beat him up, tied a noose around his neck, said racial and homophobic slurs and threw an unknown chemical substance, possibly bleach, on him.
Brandon Z. Moore, Smollett’s music manager, said he heard some of the attack while on the phone with Smollett, according to Variety.
TMZ reported Tuesday the attackers were two men wearing ski masks and screamed “This is MAGA (Make America Great Again) country.” Jussie suffered a fractured rib as well.
To clarify, Jussie didn't want to turn over his PHONE to police; He's currently working on getting them all of the records and everything else they need.
A police spokesman said Thursday,"The victim and his manager reported that they were talking on their cell phones to each other but CPD has been unable to independently verify this because they refused to turn over their cell phones."
Police expanded their search area and found two persons of interest on Wednesday.
Source: TMZ, ABC News
Photo Credit: Getty Images