BREAKING NEWS – Chicago, Illinois – Jussie Smollett name-dropped his former boss Lee Daniels during his hate crime hoax trial and not in a good way.

The 39-year-old actor took the stand for the first time, claiming he hired the Osundairo brothers to help him lose weight only after the Empire creator fat-shamed him.

Jussie didn’t hesitate to throw Daniels under the bus, saying under oath that Lee called him “fat.” The ex-Empire star claims Daniels’ crude comment made him want to drop pounds for a music video, and that’s why he sought help from the two brothers.

“When I realized that I had to lose weight, my original plan was for me to create and market a new exercise video,” Smollett said on the stand. “I was going to call the jogging exercise video, ‘Running from Fabricated Racists’. In hindsight, the promotional idea I planned on using to introduce the new product was ill advised, and I wish I would’ve hired a marketing firm.”