CNN host Don Lemon opened up to the hosts of "Red Table Talk" about what it's like to be openly gay as a black male on Monday's episode.

The show's topic comes about two weeks after "Empire" star Jussie Smollett, who is gay, was attacked on Jan. 29 in what police are investigating as a "possible hate crime."

For the interview, hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, daughter Willow and mom Adrienne Banfield-Norris traveled to New York.

"As black gay men, we carry the racism part, and we carry the gay part," Lemon said. "We're already a class of people who have been discriminated against, so why do I want to have another mark against me?"

"Historically, black men have stayed in the closet," the anchor added. "You have to decide your identity: Do I want to be black, or do I want to be gay?"

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Lemon said he was saddened but "wasn't shocked" by the attack on Smollett and said he called him after and texts him daily.

"Every day I say, 'I know you think I'm annoying' – I can show you a text – 'I know you think I'm annoying you, but I just want to know that you're OK, and if you need somebody you can talk to me, 'cause there's not a lot of us out there,' " Lemon recalled. "Sometimes he responds; sometimes he doesn't. He responds and says, 'You are not annoying.' "

When asked if he was afraid following the act of violence, Lemon said he had been living with angst.

"I've had fear recently... because of the political environment," he said. "I get death threats... I have security, all of these things that happened. Listen, we've always been divided ideologically, but there's something different going on now."

Smollett shared in a statement obtained by USA TODAY Feb. 1 that he was doing OK.

"Let me start by saying that I’m OK. My body is strong but my soul is stronger," Smollett wrote. "More importantly, I want to say thank you. The outpouring of love and support from my village has meant more than I will ever be able to truly put into words."

Smollett said his attackers poured an “unknown chemical substance” on him, placed a rope around his neck and used racial and homophobic slurs. Smollett later told police his assailants yelled “This is MAGA country!”

Contributing: Jayme Deerwester

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