Things have gone from bad to worse for actor Jussie Smollett, who has now been officially charged with a Class 4 Felony by the Chicago Police Department.
Entertainment
Smollett, the musically gifted star of “Empire” claimed he was attacked by 2 masked men following a late night “food run” while filming last month in Chicago. Smollett said the men shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him, tied a noose around his neck, then poured a bleach-like substance over him while yelling “This is MAGA country.”
After initially responding to the actor as a victim, Chicago PD began to discover holes in his story and could not find any footage of the alleged attack despite dozens of video cameras in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago.
On Wednesday morning, police announced they were no longer considering Smollett a victim, but a suspect. However, by Wednesday evening, the department had officially filed charges against him and had already made “contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest.”
Smollett has been charged with disorderly conduct, a Class 4 felony that carries a possible sentence of 1 to 3 years in prison. If convicted, he will face a number of substantial fines and will be required to pay restitution to reimburse the Chicago Police Department for the cost of their investigation. Additionally, his career would be ruined.
In light of his impending arrest, the actor has retained Chicago criminal defense attorneys Todd S. Pugh and Victor P. Henderson, as well as Los Angeles-based celebrity defense lawyer Mark Geragos (who represented singer Chris Brown in his assault case against then-girlfriend, Rihanna.)
Meanwhile, the FBI has launched their own investigation to determine if Smollett had any role in a threatening letter sent to him at Fox’s Chicago studio on January 22nd, exactly one week before his alleged assault.
Previously, the honcho’s at Fox offered their support for Smollett, even going so far as to publicly denounce any claims that he was being written off the show. However, on Wednesday, all of that changed.
According to Variety, Fox is now considering suspending him from production on “Empire.” He may, in fact, be written off the show completely after all.
The Jussie Smollett case is a strange one. Celebrities, high-profile politicians, and ordinary people raced to defend him against what initially appeared to be a blatant case of racism and homophobia. However, if his story does indeed turn out to be a huge hoax, his fabrication will be enormously detrimental for blacks, gays, and REAL victims of racist and homophobic violence going forward.
For someone whose career is riding high and on top of the world right now, the legitimate question is: WHY, JUSSIE? WHY??
OK WASSUP! discusses Entertainment News:
Actor Jussie Smollett charged with a felony.
“…if his story does indeed turn out to be a huge hoax, his fabrication will be enormously detrimental for blacks, gays, and REAL victims of racist and homophobic violence going forward. ” -DJ
And THAT, to me, is be the biggest crime. The enormous damage this guy has now set in motion going forward for Real victims of actual hate-crimes. And please Spare Me the “he’s mentally ill” defense.
Yes, dude is obviously a “headcase.” But he’s NOT mentally incompetent that he doesn’t know right from wrong. He knew darn well what he was doing when he staged this whole thing.
And my guess it, they’re going to find out he sent himself that threatening letter too.
He wanted attention. Well now he’s got it. He may no longer have a career though. And he’s got nobody to blame for all this mess but himself.