# Jussie Smollett (Empire) alleged hate crime attack. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 17, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706 "2019-02-17T04:04:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/61 "2019-02-20T04:01:04Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > First of all, Smollett should do his homework better if he wants to pull off a hoax. Chicago is hardly a hotbed of MAGA activity. Trump supporters round these parts stick out about as much as a palm tree on Lake Shore Drive. Depends on where you are in the city. Trump won a few precincts near my house on the SW side, and I encounter Trump supporters quite regularly. It’s not quite universally blue in Chicago, but certainly Streeterville is not where you expect to find MAGA-types hanging around. What an idiot, though. The whole story stank from the get-go. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/62 "2019-02-20T04:34:27Z")
If this was an episode of Law & Order what would the third act twist be? (If the attack is the first act and uncovering the hoax is the second act) I say he actually gets targeted by a real hate crime but nobody believes him. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/63 "2019-02-20T05:14:51Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > If this was an episode of Law & Order what would the third act twist be? (If the attack is the first act and uncovering the hoax is the second act) > > I say he actually gets targeted by a real hate crime but nobody believes him. Ha! Like the boy who cried wolf getting eaten by the wolf. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/64 "2019-02-20T10:47:57Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > If this was an episode of Law & Order what would the third act twist be? (If the attack is the first act and uncovering the hoax is the second act) The hoax was the brainchild of the show’s producer; the actor only agreed because the guy who signs his paychecks knows from publicity. After all, didn’t ‘celebrity’ status result from that whole _pretending-to-be-gay_ plan? [/CLUNG-CLUNG] ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/65 "2019-02-20T11:09:12Z")
Forget Law & Order. Considering it happened in Chicago, and NBC’s primetime is now nothing but a bunch of procedurals and dramas set in Chicago, it’ll be a massive crossover between shows. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/66 "2019-02-20T14:37:12Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > If this was an episode of Law & Order what would the third act twist be? (If the attack is the first act and uncovering the hoax is the second act) > > I say he actually gets targeted by a real hate crime but nobody believes him. IF? I think you mean “WHEN.” If Law & Order doesn’t run with this one, they don’t deserve to be on TV. The hoaxer calls 9-1-1 and says someone is in his house with a gun. They don’t believe him, and he gets killed by the intruder, a gay African-American two-bit actor who claims “mental insanity,” gets off, and writes a best seller made into a TV movie starring the killer, and he becomes an A-list actor. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/67 "2019-02-20T15:39:28Z")
Something is going on behind the scenes. The brother’s testimony has been delayed after a last minute call from the defense team. I think the defense team realizes just how devastating a grand jury indictment would be for Smollett. Putting it bluntly, it’s time to _shit or get off the pot_, for Smollett. Time is running out for him. > **[Testimony from brothers in Jussie Smollett case scrapped after "Hail Mary"...](https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/jussie-smollett-empire-nigerian-brothers-testimony-hail-may-call/)** > > CBS News source says the last-minute call from "Empire" actor's lawyers apparently is what scuttled grand jury testimony from two brothers ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/68 "2019-02-20T16:14:48Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > I hate Trump, but I also think that there IS a liberal hypocrisy in this country right now. What I mean is that had the race and political parties been reversed (e.g. a white actor fabricated an attack from men wearing “Change We Need” hats), he’d have been immediately fired. > > The fact that this clown still has a job is wrong. He hasn’t actually been charged or officially accused. These bits of info are all coming from ‘sources within the police department.’ Right now, he’s still officially a victim. My guess is that they have no reliable proof tying him to the hoax and are putting pressures on him, hoping that he breaks. Including leaking info to the press. I’m pretty sure if/when his involvement is officially announced, he’ll not only be fired but deemed professionally toxic. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/69 "2019-02-20T16:33:31Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > I’m pretty sure if/when his involvement is officially announced, he’ll not only be fired but deemed professionally toxic. He already is. He’s done. Unless by some miracle he is shown to be a victim of a racist attack AND a police conspiracy, he will never get another acting job. This will follow him forever. No producer will want him associated with their project. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/70 "2019-02-20T16:39:16Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > IF? I think you mean “WHEN.” If Law & Order doesn’t run with this one, they don’t deserve to be on TV. Uh, _Law & Order_ was cancelled almost ten years ago. And it doesn’t seem like it would work for SVU. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/71 "2019-02-20T17:12:52Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > He already is. He’s done. Unless by some miracle he is shown to be a victim of a racist attack AND a police conspiracy, he will never get another acting job. This will follow him forever. No producer will want him associated with their project. I would hope that you are right, but for my money, if his PR people are not as we speak churning out a heartwrenching narrative of a proud, strong, gay black American pushed over the edge who was spiritually broken and cruelly driven to the depths of desolation, mania and dispair by the ceaseless, unrelenting racism and bigotry that defines 2019’s Donald Trump’s Amerikkka, they are worse than bloody useless. This guy is a moral hero to more than a few on the Professional Victim circut. I am betting the book deals are already being drawn up. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/72 "2019-02-20T17:27:55Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Uh, _Law & Order_ was cancelled almost ten years ago. And it doesn’t seem like it would work for SVU. It absolutely would work for SVU. A story about a gay Black man who gets attacked in a hate crime but then it turns out it’s all a hoax is the \*perfect \*story for SVU! They don’t only do sexual assault plots. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/73 "2019-02-20T17:29:32Z")
> [@Royal\_Nonesutch](#): > > I would hope that you are right, but for my money, if his PR people are not as we speak churning out a heartwrenching narrative of a proud, strong, gay black American pushed over the edge who was spiritually broken and cruelly driven to the depths of desolation, mania and dispair by the ceaseless, unrelenting racism and bigotry that defines 2019’s Donald Trump’s Amerikkka, they are worse than bloody useless. … You don’t think he’s gotten into enough trouble already trying to blame stuff on President Trump? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/74 "2019-02-20T17:37:35Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > It absolutely would work for SVU. A story about a gay Black man who gets attacked in a hate crime but then it turns out it’s all a hoax is the \*perfect \*story for SVU! They don’t only do sexual assault plots. Huh – I haven’t watched it in years. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/75 "2019-02-20T17:45:38Z")
> [@Royal\_Nonesutch](#): > > This guy is a moral hero to more than a few on the Professional Victim circut. I am betting the book deals are already being drawn up. No longer. As a victim, he could be a moral hero. As a hoaxer, he can be nothing more than a self-serving opportunist. Even if he wants to be a political activist and speak for causes he believes in, he can do nothing but hurt them. No other activist will want to share a stage with him. If they do, they can be easily dismissed by his very presence. His only hope now is to claim this was all performance art, ala Andy Kaufman. And to pull that off, he will have to resurrect Andy Kaufman. “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/76 "2019-02-20T17:48:41Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > You don’t think he’s gotten into enough trouble already trying to blame stuff on President Trump? There are millions of supposedly reasonable, responsible, college-educated people who would happily, steadfastly agree that Pres. Donald John Trump is to blame for the Falkland Islands War, the great Spanish gonorrhea epidemic of 1729, the burning of Joan of Arc, the cancellation of TV’s “Eight Is Enough” and the unsolved murder of Bea Arthur. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/77 "2019-02-20T17:50:17Z")
> [@Royal\_Nonesutch](#): > > the Professional Victim circut The only professional victim circuit I know of is Gamergate. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/78 "2019-02-20T19:17:57Z")
[Moderating] Does Trump have anything to do with this event? No? Then let’s leave him out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/79 "2019-02-20T20:18:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Moderating] > > Does Trump have anything to do with this event? [Sorta](https://www.tmz.com/2019/01/29/empire-star-jussie-smollett-attacked-hospitalized-homophobic-hate-crime/): > [@](#): > > 4:00 PM PT – Chicago PD confirms to TMZ Jussie told them, in a follow-up interview, about the attackers yelling, “MAGA country.” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706/80 "2019-02-20T21:31:26Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Isn’t this pretty much what happened in the current case: 3 adults set out to fabricate a racially charged media event ? There are similarities sure. There are significant differences with regards to motivation and impact. The current story is interesting on a TMZ level. The Brawley case caused considerable harm to the city and tore apart the lives of several innocent men. And it gave us Al Sharpton is a national figure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jussie-smollett-empire-alleged-hate-crime-attack/829706.md?page=5)