During his set, Smollett thanked his fans again for their love and support.

"I'm so proud of myself, I promised myself I was not gonna cry tonight," he said, adding, "There's somebody in the crowd that when I was younger, I used to sneak into the room and I would read articles about him because he was the first person that I ever saw on television that slightly looked like me, that I could identify with...Mr. Wilson Cruz."

Cruz, an actor and gay activist for LGBTQ youth, rose to fame playing a troubled gay teen on the short-lived '90s cult series My So-Called Life and went on to star on shows like Party of Five, and most recently, Star Trek: Discovery. He also appeared in a number of films, and played Angel on the national tour of Rent.

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