In February 2019, the world was shocked by an unthinkable crime committed to actor Jussie Smollett. Little did everyone know, it was all a hoax created and done by Jussie himself. The incident occurred at 2am in Chicago, Jussie was approached by two masked men and was punched several times. Smollett told police the two men were referencing MAGA (Make America Great Again) and his status was pronounced “good” following the attack.
Smollett started getting the attention of the media, fellow celebrities and fans/ outsiders. The next day, Jussie refused to give his cell phone to police and investigators because he referenced MAGA to his manager and they wanted to gather as much information as they could on this incident. Smollett spoke out on national television and said he was okay after what happened and that the two men are being looked for. And he also made an appearance at a local concert and said the same thing to the crowd. A few weeks later, he gives police what seemed like the cell phone information they were looking for but Jussie had covered up some things as to why he didn’t want to give them the records in the first place, he needed to make it look like the incident actually happened. The two men were found weeks later, who were also brothers from Nigeria and they both were extras on the same tv show as Jussie, “Empire”. The police rated their home and found masks, bleach, Empire scripts and much more. After police spoke with the men, they released them and wanted to talk to Jussie. The police took Jussie into custody after speaking with him for filing a false police report and disorderly conduct and eventually arrested him. More details came out after being arrested such as writing a hate letter to himself and including a noose. Jussie is suspended from his tv show and the two men regret getting involved in this act. Smollett then pleads not guilty and is dropped from all charges. No one is happy or supportive that Jussie got away for doing this mind blowing act Jussie was then ordered to pay police for their time. As if things couldn’t get any more messier in this, they do. In April of 2019, Jussie was sued by the city of Chicago and the brothers sued Jussie’s legal team and he was fired from “Empire”. Video of the noose and the brothers' acts were seen by police and the case was reopened. In February 2020, Smollett had six new charges against him for lying to police. In November of 2021, Smollett went back to trial and was later found guilty for his actions. And in March of this year, he was sentenced to 150 days in prison, has to pay $145,00 and has to serve 30 months of probation. The legal issue in this incident is defamation. This story has ruined Jussie’s reputation as a person and as an actor who created and harmed himself so he can gain the sympathy of others. It seemed like he didn’t give any sort of care that this would ruin his life and career, he just wanted to look like a hero. There are news stories published, podcasts discussing this crime, social media posts about this from news outlets and people interested in this case or known as libel. There are report after report from all walks of media proving Smollett ruined his reputation. No one will understand why he did something so damaging and hurtful to himself, his career and the people and fans who supported him.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
April 2024
Categories |