Jussie Smollett Unfazed by Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Heart Part 5’ Deepfake: “You Won’t See Me Putting Out a Diss Track”

Kendrick Lamar has long been associated with sharp, confrontational tracks — but Jussie Smollett says he won’t be adding fuel to that fire. On a recent episode of Cam Newton’s Funky Fridays podcast, the former Empire actor was asked about Lamar’s divisive 2022 video “The Heart Part 5,” and his response was emphatic: he has no intention of mounting a musical rebuttal.

Smollett told Newton he wasn’t sure what Lamar’s intent was in the clip — which used advanced deepfake imagery to transform Lamar into several high-profile Black men, including Smollett, Will Smith, O.J. Simpson, Ye and Nipsey Hussle — and that he respects Lamar as an artist but won’t be answering with a diss track. “Maybe I’m completely naive… I don’t know what Kendrick meant by the video,” Smollett said with a laugh. “I respect him as an artist, and that’s about as far as it can go. You ain’t going to see me putting out no diss track against him, I’m not doing that!”

Lamar’s video — co-directed by Dave Free — sparked intense debate when it arrived, with many viewers reading it as a meditation on fame, public perception and hypocrisy because of the particular figures it invoked. The song and video drew major industry attention, earning Lamar 2023 Grammys for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance, as well as additional nominations in major categories.

Smollett’s comments come after a highly publicized legal saga: he was arrested in connection with an alleged staged hate crime, faced a civil suit from the city of Chicago, and received a 150-day sentence that resulted in six days of jail time before his conviction was overturned in 2024. The controversy led Empire’s writers to excise his character from the final episodes of the show’s fifth season. During his time on the series, Smollett also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 with soundtrack contributions such as “Keep Your Money,” “You’re So Beautiful” (with Yazz) and “Conqueror” (with Estelle).

“Most people have made up their minds about what they want to believe,” Smollett told Newton. “Either way, okay. Because at this point, my people know. My mother has always known. My siblings have always known. My love has always known.”

As for Lamar, he remains a dominant presence in the awards conversation. He is reportedly up for multiple nominations at the 2026 Grammys — including Album of the Year for GNX and Song and Record of the Year for “Luther” (with SZA). At the 2025 Grammys, he also claimed several awards, notably for the pointed diss record “Not Like Us.”

Watch Smollett’s full discussion with Cam Newton below.

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