'Empire' Actress Tasha Smith Refuses to Address Pulling Support for Jussie

One of Jussie Smollett's "Empire" costars doesn't want to answer for pulling her support when things were hot ... especially now that the case has gone ice cold and been dropped.

We ran into Tasha Smith -- aka, Carol Hardaway (Jussie's aunt on the show) -- leaving Chelsea Studios in NYC Thursday, where our camera guy pointed out that she was one of many "Empire" stars who yanked their initial supportive IG posts when Jussie was arrested.

Of course, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office decided to drop the charges altogether just this week.

Before our photog can get around to a question, Tasha jumps in to jokingly berate him, asking why in the hell he'd ask that about her "family" ... and turns the question on him.

It's a pretty hilarious back-and-forth here -- which ends with her telling us to kiss it where the sun don't shine. And, while Tasha and our guy made peace by the end of it ... she skated around a serious question, and seems to be pulling back from her initial pull-back.