CNN's Don Lemon warned Jussie Smollett that police doubted his hate crime account

During Jussie Smollett's testimony on Monday, it was revealed that CNN host Don Lemon had warned the Empire actor that Chicago Police Department investigators were beginning to doubt his claims of being attacked in an alleged hate crime.

Smollett, who is currently on trial for allegedly staging a hate crime against himself, reportedly testified that Lemon had texted him during the early part of the CPD's investigation into the indecent, to say that the CPD was suspicious of his account of the attack, according to Fox News.

Lemon told his viewers shortly after the 2019 alleged attack that the story was "personal" since he and Smollett were acquaintances and were in constant communication since the alleged incident.

Lemon stressed that while Smollett is "innocent until proven guilty," he still "squandered the good will of a whole lot of people" if his story proves to be a lie.

"He even lied to a lot of people… including me. And that's not cool," Lemon said to his viewers. "He squandered the good will of very high-profile people who one day may be running this country like Kamala Harris and Cory Booker and people like President Trump."

During a segment of Lemon's show Monday night with CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez, the two talked about revelations in the case made that day, omitting the fact that Lemon had been named by Smollett as a key figure, according to the New York Post.

Smollett had reportedly testified that Lemon's text message swayed Smollett's decision not to hand his phone over to the police.

Lemon's connection to the case is now being questioned by social media users, who are drawing parallels to the recently fired fellow CNN host Chris Cuomo, who was fired for providing aid to his brother, Andrew Cuomo, during accusations of sexual harassment.