Empire actor Jussie Smollett was hospitalized early this morning after surviving a physical attack in Chicago, according to a report by TMZ.
The tabloid news site reports that Smollett was attacked early Tuesday morning by two men wearing ski masks after leaving a Subway restaurant. The assailants allegedly asked Smollett "Aren't you that f****t Empire n****r?" before beating him.
The Advocate also reports that the incident is being investigated as a possible hate crime by Chicago authorities.
After news broke out of the Jussie's horrific attack, many notable celebrities (many of whom are friends with and have worked with Jussie) took to Twitter to send the actor well wishes and remind everyone that hateful, homophobic, and racist rhetoric has real life consequences.