Not long after his character on the Fox hit Empire came out as gay, actor Jussie Smollett sat down with Ellen DeGeneres to talk about his own sexuality.
The chat occurred after his regular segment for her daytime show. According to Ellen, Smollett asked her to sit with him for a post-interview video filmed backstage.
"It was very important to me that my first talk show was with you," Smollett told DeGeneres. "You've been such an inspiration to so many and also to me. What you've done to the LGBT community is like what Michael Jackson did with the black community.