WATCH | Jussie Smollett 'attack': Why it's important to wait for the facts

The past few days have seen an unprecedented amount of hatred towards Empire actor Jussie Smollett after a report by CBS claimed that insiders had revealed to the publication that the actor had "staged" his attack.

Almost three weeks ago Jussie said he had been attacked by two white men who had hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him. He said they had tied a rope around his neck and thrown bleach on him.

The reaction to the incident was shock and police immediately went on a hunt for the suspects.

Chicago police said that there was no video footage from the incident, despite the area where the incident happened being full of cameras.

Two Nigerian men who were spotted walking around the area the day after the incident were taken in for questioning. They are both known to the actor.

It was then that speculation grew that Jussie had "planned" the attack, despite police saying they had no reason to believe this was the case.

Officials have only said they want to re-interview the actor.

News site Vox reports that the reports about the attack being staged create the impression that the media blindly accepted Jussie's version of events. This while police are still investigating the case and have stated Jussie is not being investigated.

Jussie himself has denied the idea that he paid people to attack him. He issued a statement through his legal team saying he would cooperate fully with law officials and that there was no truth to the idea that he was involved in any way.

Despite police denying the rumour that Jussie had been involved in planning the attack, social media users have already found him guilty.