Jussie Smollett: From Victim to Suspect

Jussie+Smollett%3A+From+Victim+to+Suspect

Actor Jussie Smollett claimed that he was attacked by two men at 2 A.M on the 29th of January in Chicago. He stated that the attackers screamed racist and homophobic remarks at him, covered him in an unknown substance, and then tied a rope around his neck.

 

Recently the police discovered that Smollett had actually paid two brothers to help stage this attack. The police were able to come to this conclusion because once they discovered the attack was not recorded on surveillance cameras they became suspicious, and they investigated further. In the investigation, they questioned the two men that were accused of attacking Smollett who then to admitted that Smollett paid them to stage the event. Then, a tape from the day before the alleged attack was discovered from a nearby store of the two men buying masks, bleach, and ropes.

 

Some people are now speculating that Smollett faked the attack with the goal of getting more attention, fame, and money. Not long after the police announced that Smollett of criminal investigation, a felony disorderly conduct was charged against Jussie Smollett for filing this false report.

 

For the last five years, Jussie Smollett had continuously played the character “Jamal” on the show Empire. Although Smollett keeps claiming to his cast mates and the show that he is innocent,  the producers of Empire announced that Smollett’s character will have to be taken out of the last two episodes of this season. Many also think that it is likely that Jussie will never appear on the show again.

 

Smollett plans to go back to court on March 14th to plead his case. If after the court case he is convicted of the charge, he could have to pay substantial fines, spend up to three years in prison, and will cause his career to be ruined.

 

Update March 27th:

 

A couple weeks after Jussie Smollett was accused of 16 felony counts for filing a false police report, the state’s attorney’s office decided to drop all of the charges made against him. It is unknown exactly why this was decided, and the police superintendent and the mayor of Chicago still strongly believe that he is guilty of a false claim and that it was the wrong decision to drop the charges. “He used the laws of the hate crime association that all of us through the years have put on the books to stand up to be the values that embody what we believe in,” mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel said. “This is a whitewash of justice. A grand jury could not have been clearer.” After everything, Smollett still says that he has been truthful throughout this whole incident and that he would never do anything like what he was accused of. Unless more evidence is found to prove Smollett guilty, he will no longer have to face consequences for filing a false claim.