"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett has turned over partial records of his cellphone use to detectives investigating an alleged assault by two men hurling racial and homophobic slurs, Chicago police said Monday.
Smollett, who is African-American and openly gay, has told police that he was beaten up by two men who shouted racist and homophobic slurs early on Jan. 29. Police say they are investigating the report as a possible hate crime.
The actor told police that he was on the phone with his manager as the alleged attack occurred.
His manager told police that he heard the attackers say "this is MAGA country," police officials said. "MAGA" is a common shorthand for "Make America Great Again," President Donald Trump's campaign slogan.
A few days after the reported attack, police said they asked Smollett to hand over his cellphone to aid in their investigation, but that he refused.
On Monday, 13 days after the alleged assault, Smollett gave investigators a PDF file containing a redacted list of his calls, Anthony Guglielmi, a police spokesman, told NBC News.
Carol Eggers reported from Los Angeles. Alex Johnson reported from Los Angeles.
