Jussie Smollett, an actor on the hit television show “Empire,” said that in Jan. 29 he was attacked by two men in Chicago. Now, it appears that the whole thing may have been staged.
CNN: Chicago Police believe Jussie Smollett paid two men to orchestrate the assault.
The sources tell CNN that the two men are now cooperating fully with law enforcement.— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) February 16, 2019
The two men were taken into custody on Wednesday but apparently were released without being charged on Friday.
Regarding #JussieSmollett:
A source close to the investigation tells CBS News that 2 brothers – arrested & then released – told detectives that Smollett paid them to participate in the alleged attack, & that they purchased the rope found around Smolletts neck at a hardware store— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) February 16, 2019
Smollett, who is a gay, said two men used homophobic slurs, put a rope on his neck and even poured something thought to be bleach on him. In recounting his story, he said that one of the men who attacked him said “this is MAGA country” before hitting him.
Since that initial report, this story has taken a number of strange twists and turns, including Smollett redacting some information on his phone before involuntarily turning it over to police. Smollett said he did it in order to protect the privacy of others.
On Thursday, Smollett appeared on “Good Morning America” to talk about the case.
THIS MORNING: An @ABC EXCLUSIVE: @RobinRoberts sits down one-on-one with @JussieSmollett as he tells his story of being attacked in a vicious hate crime. “How do you not believe that? It's the truth." https://t.co/3HbyU3agVO pic.twitter.com/PmkDh4uw8g
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 14, 2019
"I come really, really hard against 45. I don't hold my tongue." @JussieSmollett says he believes he was targeted because of his criticism toward Pres. Trump's administration based on what was said during the attack. https://t.co/b5efiP0JCG pic.twitter.com/uaxer5iTB1
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 14, 2019
In the interview, Smollett says that he’s been hurt that people would doubt that the attack actually happened.
If this is true and the entire thing was orchestrated in order to look like a hate crime, this guy should spend many, many years in prison. How sick and demented do you have to be to plan something like this?