The Boy Who Cried Noose
posted by Law | March 27, 2019 | In OpinionJussie Smollett, how dare you? I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you! – Not really.
I’m certain as your reading this, you’re thinking “I knew it was a hoax.” I wish I could say the same. Like so many others, I believed his claim to be true. I wanted to support a brotha’, ya’ know? Raise my Black power fist, rainbow banner and silently, from my iPhone X, post memes and gif’s which illuminated my support of Jamal “Lying“ Lyon, but I didn’t. Instead, I bowed my head in disappointment, then in prayer for him.
Why would he make up this story? A narrative so despicable, a representation of times too painful to re-live. A noose. I can’t even fathom the depths to which he was willing to go to sell this farce. Is there a return from this? A shocking story of redemption, one that would wipe his slate clean?
The media argued Smollett was unhappy with his current contract on Fox, hit show Empire. The self-proclaimed “gay Tupac” allegedly staged his attack to leverage an increase in salary. I think a quiet sit-down with human resources would have been a little easier – is that a thing in the Hollywood? Smollett was an unknown actor to me before his role on Empire, which reportedly paid him $20,000 per episode. At the start of season 2, circa 2016 with approximately 18 episodes per season, that would bring his salary to $360,000 at that time. Its likely Jussie is making more as the show is in its 5th season, so why are we unhappy, Jussie?
Is he Innocent until proven guilty? Or is he guilty because he lied? If he’s lied, the nail in that coffin is so deep he’ll be paying on that debt, like a medical student paying back student loans. For weeks now, we’ve seen his photographs plastered across news stations, newsfeeds and YouTube channels, with all the evidence stacked against him. Unidentified assailants turned cooperating witnesses, signed checks, photographs of Nigerian brothers making purchase of items used in the alleged racial and homophobic attack, all on the side of the prosecuting attorney. Not, handing over his cell phone to help investigators establish timelines and facts certainly did not support his claim.
The words “This is MAGA country < beep>” resonated with many watching the Robin Roberts interview with Jussie. Who knew four simple words strung together could divide a nation? Make America Great Again, added to any action in this climate, would ensue any number of negative reactions and likely garner trust in whatever details followed, like a 2 a.m. walk in the Chicago cold on a food hunt, but the details just didn’t make sense. I love a good subway chopped salad situation myself, but it won’t happen at 2 a.m.! And it seems many others agreed with me.
Smollett now faces felony disorderly conduct charges for allegedly filing fraudulent report. Media reports say, Smollett could face three years for every false statement he made, roughly 16 years. Are we really counting the lies? I’m just saying, if the justice system is counting false statements, lets count them all, not just the ones made by 36-year-old, black, gay man, with a noose around his neck and a light scent of Clorox.
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