Xorkoth
Bluelight Crew
And honestly I don't follow the logic here. I don't see how such an attack would prevent him getting written off the show.
@RobElgasABC7
"BREAKING: Multiple sources tell ABC7Chicago Eyewitness News Jussie Smollet and the 2 men who are being questioned by police staged the attack - allegedly because his character was being written out of the show Empire."
If that's true it's fucking disgusting.
So the question really is: if he faked it, should he be jailed?
(I'd like to hear cduggles and jess' opinions plz)
The reps for the show replied that they absolutely had no desire or plans to write him off the show, that he was one of the primary characters and it would be stupid to write him off. So that part of the "hoax" seems fabricated (as in, a fabricated hoax - not a fabricated hate crime). If the primary motivation being pushed for it being faked is being refuted by the reps for the show... what does that say about the "faked it" narrative? And if it WAS faked, and he wasn't being written off the show... wouldn't being caught faking it be a huge risk for then actually being written off the show?
The only evidence I could see was that the police were investigating the possibility he it was a hoax (the above linked article about neighbors casting doubt is not evidence at this point, clearly whichever side is lying about it is pushing an agenda real hard). That does not mean it was a hoax. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? In the case of an alleged hate crime, you shouldn't jump on the bandwagon of "IT WAS A HOAX!!!!!!111!!!" (which is how Grimez and Priest are coming off about it - intense anger and castigation at the alleged victim at the drop of a hat) until there is proof. If anything you should assume it was real until proven otherwise because if it was real... how horrible. If it was a hoax, yeah that's shitty, and judge once it's been proven. If it's NOT a hoax... then you're a fucking douchebag for perpetuating this victim blaming. And it says something about what you want to believe that you would jump so vehemently onto the side of "fuck this narcissistic loser for faking a hate crime". You should at least remain neutral on this until there's a verdict after the investigation.
Anyway I can buy that fame/infamy itself is a valid motivation for something like this because yeah, everyone's talking about him now, as would be "verifying" dangerous racism among the MAGA crowd, if you want to see that side brought down. But for fuck's sake, let's let the dust settle before judging the guy. Possible motivation does not equal reality. This has become a lightning rod for racism or the lack therefore in our society right now so both sides are going to overblow their case and twist this thing up because that's the fucking situation we find ourselves in as a society right now. Jumping to a sure conclusion 5 minutes after you see the headlines is indicative of where you want to believe the truth lies, not on where the truth actually lies. And yes, I did want to believe it was a hate crime. That was my initial reaction. But at this point I'm going to reserve judgment because I can't be sure, and it would be decent of everyone else to do the same.