“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett appeared on ABC‘s Good Morning America today to discuss the details of the alleged attack he says happened to him on Jan. 29th.

During the interview with Robin Roberts, Smollett focused on responding to skeptics who say his story about a hate crime doesn’t add up:

Smollett admitted that he was hesitant to turn over his phone records to police to corroborate his claims. Earlier this week, cops confirmed they received the records but said they were “heavily redacted” and insufficient for a criminal investigation. “They wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to four hours. I’m sorry but I’m not gonna do that,” the singer said. “Because I have private pictures and videos and numbers: my partner’s number, my family’s number, my castmate’s number, my friends’ numbers, my private emails, my private songs, my private voice memos.”

He also told Roberts he believes the two people shown in grainy screen captures released by the police are the ones who allegedly attacked him.

.@JussieSmollett tells @RobinRoberts that there is no doubt in his mind that the men pictured in surveillance footage attacked him. "I don't have any doubt in my mind that that's them." See more of the EXCLUSIVE interview TOMORROW on @GMA. https://t.co/3HbyU2SFxe pic.twitter.com/hiNGiHDyl0 — Good Morning America (@GMA) February 13, 2019

NRO‘s Kyle Smith took note of how Smollett’s story has changed.

Smollett, who has his fair share of defenders, too, also lashed out during the interview at those who question his story, suggesting that they’re motivated by race:

Jussie Smollett says those questioning his account are racially motivated: "If I had said it was a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me much more" pic.twitter.com/n0JZ4CRJYW — Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) February 14, 2019

Oh please. The reason there are questions and criticism is because a lot about the story doesn’t make sense. As I noted Tuesday:

So if I’m reading all of this correctly, within a 60 second time span Smollett was viciously attacked by two hooded men who knew who he was while on his way back to the hotel from grabbing a sub. They yelled something about “MAGA country!” to the well-known actor, who detests President Trump. These two random people who were walking around in the middle of the night happened to have their faces covered and were carrying a thin rope and a hot sauce bottle that contained bleach. The allegedly poured it on him and called him homophobic and racist names, and put the rope around his neck. Smollett managed to stay on his phone with his manager throughout the attack, keep his sandwich, and he still had the rope around his neck when he casually walked into the hotel. He was “hesitant” to call the police about the attack until he went to the hospital later that morning, and waited until two weeks after the alleged incident to give the Chicago PD only partial, redacted phone records.

Not only that, but a lot of people are skeptical of stories like this because of the growing number of FAKE hate crimes reported on in the news.

Chicago Police have said they will consider filing false report charges against Smollett if the story turns out to be a hoax. They are also questioning the two “persons of interest” seen in the grainy screen captures.

Stay tuned.

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—Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–