Chicago police on Saturday said "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett is no longer considered a victim in the case

A Chicago police spokesperson on Saturday said "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett is no longer considered a victim in the case that allegedly involved an attack by two masked men who shouted racial and anti-gay slurs at the actor and, "This is MAGA country!"

Police earlier said that the "trajectory of the investigation" shifted and that they wanted to conduct another interview with Smollett about the alleged hate crime last month. Police released two Nigerian brothers who were held for questioning about the reported attack. They were released late Friday without charges.

"We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the "Empire" case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation," Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement. "We've reached out to the Empire cast member's attorney to request a follow-up interview."

The men were arrested Wednesday night after investigators tracked their movement on surveillance cameras in the area where Smollett said the attack occurred. Smollett, who is black and openly gay, said he was attacked by two masked men on Jan. 29 as he was walking home from a Subway restaurant.

Police have said they were investigating the attack as a possible hate crime and earlier considered Smollett a victim. Reports of the assault drew outrage and support for him on social media, including from U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California and TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.

Smollett's attorneys, Todd S. Pugh and Victor P. Henderson, vehemently denied that the attack was a hoax, telling press, "As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with. He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying."

"One of these purported suspects was Jussie’s personal trainer who he hired to ready him physically for a music video. It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie’s complicity," the statement continued. "Jussie and his attorneys anticipate being further updated by the Chicago Police Department on the status of the investigation and will continue to cooperate. At the present time, Jussie and his attorneys have no inclination to respond to “unnamed” sources inside of the investigation, but will continue discussions through official channels."

Smollett previously said he was cooperating with police and gave an emotional speech during a concert in West Hollywood, California, on Feb. 2 saying that he went ahead with the show because he couldn't let his attackers win.

Smollett also gave an interview to Robin Roberts of ABC News that aired Thursday, saying that he was "pissed" at people who did not believe he was attacked.

"I've heard that it was a date gone bad, which I also resent that narrative," he said. "I'm not gonna go out and get a tuna sandwich and a salad to meet somebody. That's ridiculous. And it's offensive."

Investigators have not been able to find surveillance video of the attack.




https://www.foxnews.com/entertainme...into-jussie-smollett-assault-case-has-shifted

what was he thinking and what was he trying to accomplish? bizarre,
and I thought kuchar had a publicity nightmare and an image problem.
Smollett just made matt's issues look trivial.

niltes said:

what was he thinking and what was he trying to accomplish? bizarre,
and I thought kuchar had a publicity nightmare and an image problem.
Smollett just made matt's issues look trivial.

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How about the left wing liberal media,& how they portrayed the story w/o any evidence.....& many on the left, politicians, actors, etc......calling it a modern day lynching, what a joke. There's an agenda by the media & liberal left to put out fake news & hope the public bites on their agenda.

Mark the tone of absolute certainty about an unconfirmed claim. Many other news outlets took the same tack. “Celebrities, lawmakers rally behind Jussie Smollett in wake of brutal attack,” reported ABC News. “Jussie Smollett Performs at Troubadour Just Days After Chicago Attack: ‘I Had to Be Here Tonight,’ ” read a Los Angeles Times headline. Many commenters linked the alleged attack to larger alleged sicknesses: “The racist, homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett is far-right America’s endgame,” tweeted GQ, in a sentiment echoed by many others.

Possibly it might be wise to establish whether an incident actually happened before leaping to conclusions about it. Remember Covington? Oh, right, that was almost a whole month ago.

The certain tone of the reports about an attack that Jussie Smollett may or may not have suffered was notable given the strange circumstances surrounding the actor’s claims. The Times would have been on firm ground if it simply added six letters — “says he” — between the words “Empire” and “was attacked.” And the Times is generally wary of publishing as fact information that may or may not turn out to be true. So why put their reputation at risk by abandoning normal practice? I and many others expressed doubt that any attack had transpired the way Smollett described it.

This week Chicago’s ABC7 News reported that “multiple sources,” presumably in the Chicago Police Department, had called the alleged attack “staged” by Smollett and two accomplices. CBS2 News and the Chicago Tribune made similar reports. A spokesman for the CPD rushed to say that the sources cited were “uninformed and inaccurate.”

That there might be more to this story than met the eye seemed evident from the outset. Who walks around Chicago on a frigid night with a rope and a bottle of bleach looking for gay black men to attack — but then suddenly turns and runs away from the victim without doing him much injury or robbing him?

Yet Cory Booker went on Twitter to say, “The vicious attack on Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching.” Joe Biden: “What happened today to Jussie Smollett must never be tolerated in this country. We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor; that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts.” Kamala Harris: “This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin.”

One progressive reaction that case might be a hoax is simple dejection. Our friends on the left are saddened that a gay black man perhaps wasn’t viciously beaten up by Trump-loving thugs.

How dismal it must be to be a progressive, to rest your political purview on extremely dark assumptions about the nature of the American psyche. No matter what the era or who is in charge, disaster always looms, and any weird anecdote that supports the larger doom narrative is eagerly, even devoutly, believed.




https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost...ttack-proves-the-medias-rush-to-judgment/amp/

obviously the media's fault; why didn't i see that earlier.

Not sure what he was trying to accomplish here. In the end he was a disgruntled employee on the verge of being fired? With this stunt he'll be blackballed from Hollywood for sure.
He would've better off shooting up the work place like a regular disgruntled employee would do.

niltes said:

obviously the media's fault; why didn't i see that earlier.

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damn..thought for sure liam neeson was totally behind this

Don’t expect apologies from the left over Jussie Smollett ‘attack’ fraud



A lot of explosive material can get defused with nine little letters: “I was wrong.” It works wonders with your significant other. Try it. Frequently.

This week, now that the Chicago Police Department has “shifted the trajectory of the investigation” and now believes Jussie Smollett may have faked his own bias attack, we’ll be hearing apologies from a lot of progressive activists, celebrities and politicians.

With three simple words, they’ll disarm their detractors, pour oil on troubled waters. They’ll help to reunify a culture by admitting that sometimes their ideological opponents are correct.

Just kidding. Don’t hold your breath waiting for mea culpas from Cory Booker, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris, or (throwback time!) Al Sharpton, who opined that if Donald Trump simply remained silent on the Smollett matter, it would be sinister. The formerly successful actress Ellen Page blamed the nonexistent assault on…Mike Pence.

People said to be super-smart, and also Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, fell all over themselves to announce that they not only believed the woke 21st-century version of a 1980s abducted-by-aliens story but that they were in anguish about it. And they were not only in anguish but had detected an urgent sociological message about the nefariousness of the hateful right in America today.

Just to grease their path as they were skiing off the cliff, Trump pulled off one of his subtlest trolls yet when he publicly agreed with them, so they couldn’t accuse him of being insensitive. As an old military saying goes, never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.

Ariana Grande tweeted, “what happened to jussie makes me really f—ing sick to my stomach. i can’t believe s–t like this is really still happening everyday.” Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either, so I didn’t. GQ writer Joshua Rivera, in a piece blaming “late-stage whiteness,” came up with this unforgettable description of the supposed attack: “While its veracity isn’t confirmed, its sentiment needs no fact-check.”

“I stand with you @JussieSmollett. We all do. This is America. Unfortunately,” said actress and writer Lena Waithe on Instagram. Fortunately not, I guess. Writer Roxane Gay tweeted, “I am so sorry to hear what happened to @JussieSmollett,” adding that she was “committed to holding this administration and its ilk accountable for this hothouse of hate being fostered.”

Oscar-winning “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins tweeted, “Thinking of Jussie. Saddened. Heartbroken. Angry. ALL of it…this is F***ED. This what all that hateful mongering has wrought. Are you PROUD???” The question might today be turned back on him: How proud are you feeling of Smollett? How ashamed do you feel of yourself now?

“I was wrong” solves so much, but this week the apologies will be few and grudging, if there are any at all. Some progressive hysterics — the progsterics — will quietly delete their outraged tweets (as activist Shaun King has already done). Some will simply stew silently.

Most will use the latest #NarrativeFail to find some other reason for bashing President Trump, Vice President Pence, their supporters, the Republican Party and anyone declared guilty of “gloating” after being proven correct to doubt Smollett’s ridiculous made-for-television story.

Progsterics who made the previously little-known actor the most talked-about TV performer in America for the last three weeks will denounce conservatives for not shutting up about the whole affair. Smollett won’t apologize either. Nor will he suffer much in the way of repercussions, because he “started a conversation,” meaning he smeared the right people.

Denzel Washington, in a 2016 speech, had some wise words about media practices. “In our society, now it’s just first — who cares, get it out there. We don’t care who it hurts. We don’t care who we destroy. We don’t care if it’s true. Just say it, sell it. Anything you practice you’ll get good at — including BS.”

Given how social media has become a publishing platform for anyone famous enough to attract an audience, actors and activists have become a huge new source of progsteria.

These loudmouths and lamebrains have no editors, no oversight and no standards. They live in their fantasies. So it’s hardly surprising that they’re among the biggest spreaders of fake news.



https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost...e-left-over-jussie-smollett-attack-fraud/amp/

3peet said:

Not sure what he was trying to accomplish here. In the end he was a disgruntled employee on the verge of being fired? With this stunt he'll be blackballed from Hollywood for sure.
He would've better off shooting up the work place like a regular disgruntled employee would do.

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Simple economics of the Liberals/Left/Media

When you demand acts of racism, and there is very very little supply... you are forced to create your own

NFLTrends said:

Simple economics of the Liberals/Left/Media

When you demand acts of racism, and there is very very little supply... you are forced to create your own

Click to expand...

This is exactly what's going on in today's society, & the liberal left have an agenda to keep pushing this view.

now I really understand.

It's unfortunate some media outlets and high-profile politicians didn't wait for all the details to be revealed before commenting.

Needs to be in jail. Examples need to be set..

I believe I read somewhere 12 detectives were used to investigate this allegation. That's a lot of money spent on a hoax.

Lock his Ass up and make a huge example out of him, what a piece of garbage

I doubt a loser like this with a name like " Jussie " will be a good fit in prison...

Won't happen. If only Chicago weren't one of the most leftist leaning cities in the world...he would be clanked up.

Seems like his best bet is to claim he has a drug problem and check into rehab. Even if he doesn't.