VIDEO : Attackers Put Empire Star in Noose

(Newser) ? Empire star Jussie Smollett was viciously attacked in Chicago early Tuesday in what police are investigating as a possible hate crime. The African-American actor, who is openly gay and plays gay character Jamal Lyon on Empire, was leaving a Subway restaurant around 2am when he was recognized by two white men in ski masks who referred to him using racial and homophobic slurs and referenced his role on the TV show, reports TMZ.