Actor/singer Jussie Smollett has 'come out' as a gay man after playing a homosexual on hit Tv show Empire.

The 31 year old refused to talk about his sexuality during a recent taping of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which aired in the U.S. on Monday (09Mar15), but he opened up to the talk show host, who famously revealed she was a lesbian on her comedy series in 1997, after his scheduled chat.

He said, "I choose not to talk about my personal life (on Tv), but there is without a doubt, no closet that I've ever been in, and I just wanted to make that clear. It was most important for me to make that clear to you on your show at this time in the world. And that's where I'm at. So let's not read into it the wrong (sic) when I say that I don't talk about my personal life.

"My mama knows. My mama likes me a lot... I take her to the Sound of Music sing-along every, single year. So, any questions? But you know honestly, we're humans and we love and we do all that good stuff. So I'm honoured for this opportunity and I'm honoured to be here with you."

The news comes days after Smollett's co-star Malik Yoba hit back at reports suggesting he 'outed' Smollett in an online interview last month (Feb15), insisting his comments were misquoted.

During a chat with BlackFilm.com, Malik appeared to openly discuss Smollett's sexuality, but he now insists he was talking about the actor's character on their hit new Lee Daniels Tv drama.

Malik said, "I think that our show represents a huge opportunity to stay in the culture beyond entertainment value and there's an intrinsic nature if you have the gay factor, right? So, obviously, Lee is gay. That was an important storyline for him. I think it's important for people to see themselves. Even within the Black community.

"I know Jussie, he is gay, and he's very committed to issues around the Lgbt community. He and I have a very close relationship."