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Taraji P. Henson is facing criticism for comparing Jussie Smollett to Emmett Till after her Empire co-star was sentenced to jail for faking a hate crime against himself.
The cast mate of the disgraced 39-year-old actor pleaded for him to be sentenced to home confinement rather than incarceration after he was found guilty of lying to police about what he had initially described as a racist and homophobic attack in 2019 in Chicago.
"I am not here to debate you on his innocence," Henson wrote in an Instagram post along with a black and white picture that simply displayed the hashtag #FreeJussie.
"But we can agree that the punishment does not fit the crime. Emmett Till was brutally beat and ultimately murdered because of a lie, and none of the people involved with his demise spent one day in jail, even after Carolyn Bryant admitted that her claims were false."
Smollett is currently in custody in Chicago's Cook County Jail where he has been sentenced to serve 150 days behind bars,
Henson added in her caption: "No one was hurt or killed during Jussie's ordeal. He has already lost everything, EVERYTHING! To me as an artist not able to create that in itself is punishment enough. He can't get a job. No one in Hollywood will hire him and again as an artist who loves to create, that is prison.
"My prayer is that he is freed and put on house arrest and probation because in this case that would seem fair. Please #freejussie."
The Hidden Figures actress has faced criticism for including Emmett Till in her post about Smollett, and while she has turned comments off on Instagram, her remarks have sparked a conversation on Twitter.
Till's 1955 lynching and murder demonstrated the pervasiveness of racism and persecution of African Americans in the South and became a crucial galvanizer of the Civil Rights Movement.
The 14-year-old Black teen was brutally murdered in Mississippi after he was accused of offending a white woman. His murderers were acquitted by an all-white jury but subsequently admitted to the killing in a magazine interview.
At a hearing on Thursday, Judge James Linn labeled Smollett a "charlatan" whose "hypocrisy is just astounding."
During the hearing, Smollett shouted to the courtroom that he was not suicidal or at risk of self-harm and exclaimed: "If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBT community."
However, Henson referencing Till in her support for Smollett has not gone over well on Twitter.
"It's highly inappropriate to relate the two! This is not it sis he made up all this mess," reads one tweet.
Another said: "Could this comparison possibly get any more ridiculous? Emmett Till was actually lynched (66 years ago) and Jussie pretended to get lynched. Literally polar opposites."
One reads: "Just a insane take. And definitely disrespectful to the family of emmet till."
Another response to Henson's message on Twitter said: "I know you feel like you have to be loyal to him. But the whole Emmett till angle was not it."
While another said: "The first time I ever heard Emmett Till's story? I mean…t's still with me to this day. And to compare it to this? it's just disrespectful and tone deaf, on so many levels. For someone whose work i enjoy and who I've always respected, this is gonna be a tough stain to remove."
Some fans however have praised the actress for standing up for Smollett.
"Exactly. Stand firm in supporting your friend," reads one response.
A number of other celebrities have rallied behind Smollett and called for him not to be incarcerated for his crime.
"Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at nearly five times the rate of White Americans," his sister, actress Jurnee Smollett said on social media. "Jussie is innocent. And…you don't have to believe in his innocence to believe he should be free."
The Black Lives Matter movement has also called for the judge to consider an "alternative to incarceration" for Smollett's punishment.
"Black Lives Matter stands in strong support of an alternative to incarceration sentence for Jussie Smollett," the group said in a letter. "We applaud your long-held practice of imposing alternative to incarceration sentences for virtually all class four felonies. Such is Mr. Smollett's, and encourage you to continue this practice in this case."
