The move came a day after the 36-year-old was charged with lying to Chicago police about the allegedly staged incident, in which he said two masked men beat him and slung a noose around his neck while yelling racist and homophobic abuse.
Smollett faces up to three years in prison if convicted in the case, which fueled political divisions that have roiled the United States since Donald Trump's 2016 election.
"The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us," the show's co-creators and producers said in a statement. "While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out."
Lawyers for Smollett did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
According to police, the actor, who is black and openly gay, paid two brother $3,500 to attack him on Jan. 29 in the hope of advancing his career and because he was unhappy with salary.
Police did not spell out how he hoped to boost his salary by staging such a hoax.
While the actor initially received an outpouring of support on social media, others were skeptical about the attack, which he said took place outside his Chicago apartment at 2 a.m. on a frigid night.
In his account, Smollett said his attackers also shouted "This is MAGA country," referring to Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan.The Jewish actor apparently "took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career," according to Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson.Smollett has already received backlash for the accusations. Donald Trump, Jr. said, “It appears that Jussie Smollett tried to manufacture a hate crime to make Trump supporters look bad, and most of the media not only uncritically accepted his lies as facts for weeks, but attacked those who questioned the validity of his false story.”“The Smollett story isn’t about conservatives pouncing,” wrote political commentator Ben Shapiro. “It’s about an insane hoax propped up and promulgated as ‘Trump’s America’ for political purposes.”Ryan Fournier, a political commentator and the chairman of Students for Trump, said, “This is how mentally insane the Left has become. They will do anything to bring us down. Well it’s not happening, because Jussie is going to jail.”African-American Jewish Actor Smollet provided false information to Los Angeles law enforcement authorities in 2007, and police in Chicago have requested details regarding the case after Smollett was accused of faking a self-inflicted hate-crime upon himself.According to a Washington Times report, the actor pleaded no contest to these charges in 2007, including a DUI and driving without a license. He received two years probation for his actions.
Reuters contributed to this report..@JussieSmollett - what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 21, 2019