Lee Daniels Is 'Beyond Embarrassed' About Jussie Smollett's Hate Crime Scandal

Lee Daniels is sharing his candid feelings about Jussie Smollett‘s alleged hate crime hoax scandal.

The Empire co-creator and director spoke out in an interview with Vulture.

“I’m beyond embarrassed. I think that when it happened, I had a flash of me running from bullies. I had a flash of my whole life, of my childhood, my youth, getting beaten,” he said of initially pledging his support for Jussie when news broke of the alleged hate crime.

When asked if it was something he would have suspected or out of the blue, he responded: “Blue. Blue.”

“If it turned out that he did it, was guilty, and all of it’s accurate,” he added.

He also admitted he doesn’t know for sure what’s true.

“Of course, there’s some doubt. I’m telling you that because I love him so much. That’s the torture that I’m in right now, because it’s literally if it were to happen to your son and your child, how would you feel? You would feel, Please, God, please let there be that glimmer of hope that there is some truth in this story. That’s why it’s been so painful. It was a flood of pain.”

“We weren’t there. I can’t judge him. That’s only for the f–king lady or man with that black robe and God. I had to detach myself and stop calling him, because it was taking away the time I have for my kids, the time I have for my partner. It was affecting my spirit and other shows, everything,” he went on to say.

He also addressed whether Jussie is returning to Empire. Click here to see his reaction!

To read more of Lee‘s reaction, head to Vulture.com.