Jussie Smollett interrupted his own courtroom grilling to make an interesting request -- that the prosecutor does not use the n-word in full ... because he found it offensive.
The "Empire" actor stopped prosecutor Dan Webb -- who's white -- during his line of questioning during cross-examination Tuesday, and flat-out asked the guy to stop repeating the slur while quoting messages Jussie had sent to the Osundairo brothers on the day of the alleged attack.
Smollett interrupts special prosecutor Dan Webb as Webb was reading aloud one of Smollett's messages that had N word in it.
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) December 7, 2021
Smollett: can you spell or say the N word out of respect for every African American in this room? you've been saying that word a lot.
Jussie said in court, "Can you spell or say the n-word out of respect for every African American in this room? You've been saying that word a lot."
Webb made a compromise ... asking that Jussie read the messages himself, which he apparently did. One of the messages Jussie read himself was from Abimbola, which said ... "N**** finally made it just landed haha."
After cross, Jussie stepped down ... and the defense rested its case. Closing arguments are expected to begin tomorrow.
As you know ... Jussie's on trial for allegedly making up the attack he says he fell victim to and faces 6 disorderly conduct charges for what prosecutors say amounted to falsifying police reports. He's denied the allegations and has maintained his innocence throughout.