Empire star Jussie Smollett has furiously denied paying two Nigerian brothers $3,500 to attack him and says he is 'angered and devastated' after investigators in Chicago claimed he orchestrated his own assault.    

Smollett’s attorneys, Todd S. Pugh and Victor P. Henderson, told Entertainment Weekly: 'As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with.