After Appearance on Good Morning America, Media Reports Indicate Attack on Jussie Smollett Is “A Hoax”
It has been a little over two weeks since Empire actor Jussie Smollett first reported to police that he had been the victim of a disgusting homophobic and racist physical assault at the hands of two men who allegedly yelled, “MAGA country” during the attack. Smollett has since returned to the public purview, making appearances at music venues to perform for his fans and on television programs to discuss his attack. Unfortunately, leads concerning the case have thus far been few and far between, with authorities making only slight progress towards bringing Smollett’s alleged attackers to justice.
On the morning of February 14th, Smollett made an appearance on Good Morning America, in an interview hosted by GMA anchor Robin Roberts. In the interview, Smollett tells Roberts that he hesitated to call the police initially because:
There’s a level of pride there. We live in a society where as a gay man you are considered somehow to be weak and I’m not weak. I am not weak and we as a people are not weak.
He goes on to detail the immediate aftermath of the attack to Roberts:
During that time before [police] came, it took them maybe a half hour to come, and during that time, I was looking at myself, just checking myself out. I saw the bruise on my neck, you know, like the rope burn around my neck. But I smelled bleach. I know the smell of bleach. And I saw on my sweatshirt, it had marks on it, like spots on it, when you have a bad bleach job. Then I was like ‘There’s bleach on me too.’ So when the police came, I kept the clothes on. I kept the rope on.
Roberts: So you had the rope on the entire time?
It wasn’t like wrapped around, but it was around. Because I wanted them to see, I wanted them to see what this was. I told them what happened, everything. I also asked them to turn their body cams off because they were trying to stay in the hallway. I was like ‘Please just come in. I don’t want to a big scene with my neighbors.’ And with the second round of police officers, I went down to where it happened and I walked them through exactly what happened. And I looked up and I saw that there was a camera, directly on the light post that is in the intersection. So, I’m like, there it is. And then the detective told me that the camera inside of the casing was facing north, so they didn’t have it, and that was disappointing.
Smollett also explains his frustration with those who doubt his story, claiming to Roberts:
It feels like, if I had said ‘It was a Muslim’, or ‘a Mexican’, or ‘someone black’, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot more. And that says a lot about the place where we are in our country right now.
At one point, Roberts touches upon the doubts raised by Smollett’s refusal to turn over his phone, to which Smollett explains why he made the refusal:
They wanted me to give my phone to the tech, for three to four hours. I’m sorry, but, I’m not going to do that. Because I have private pictures, and videos, and numbers, my partners number, my family’s number, my castmate’s number, my friends’ numbers, my private e-mails, my private songs, my private voice memos. I don’t know what that’s going to be, to hand over my phone for. And honestly, by then, inaccurate, false statements had already been put out there.
When asked by Roberts if he had any suspicions as to why he targeted, Smollett replied that it may be because of his vocal opposition to President Donald Trump:
I come really, really hard against 45. I come really, really hard against his administration. And I don’t hold my tongue.
Following Smollett’s interview, investigators announced a break in the case. The Chicago Police revealed that they were questioning two people in connection with Smollett’s attack after the two people of interest were picked up Wednesday morning at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department, Anthony Guglielmi was quick to remind the public that these were not suspects but were in the area of the attack and were being questioned:
Through s meticulous investigation, #ChicahoPolice detectives have identified the persons of interest in the area of the alleged attack of the Empire cast member. These individuals are not yet suspects but were in area of concern and are being questioned. Investigation continues. pic.twitter.com/tmy2jNvww5
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 14, 2019
Important for media reporting: The people of interest are alleged to be in the area where a crime was reported. They are not considered suspects at this time as they are currently being questioned by detectives. We remain in communication with the alleged victim. pic.twitter.com/JuH1kYRTYV
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 14, 2019
To safeguard the investigation, details about the case including timelines & backgrounds of those being questioned by police will not be released or commented on while detectives question persons of interest. Media reports of investigative details cannot be confirmed at this time pic.twitter.com/I1ug6u53E9
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 14, 2019
Shortly after this announcement, further details broke in the case as police continued their investigation. According to WGN Investigates, the men questioned by police were both African-American, with one having a connection to Empire:
.@WGNInvestigates has learned new details about the two men police are questioning about Jussie Smollett’s claim he was the victim of a racial & homophobic attack:
1) Both men are African-American
2) At least 1 of them is connected to the “Empire” showLatest on @WGNNews at 4p pic.twitter.com/Xw7aBHjh5M
— Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyTV) February 14, 2019
CWB Chicago, an independent news organization based out of the North Side of Chicago, claims to have received a tip one week prior to February 14th from someone claiming that the perpetrators were friends of Smollett, and that police have known the identities of Smollett’s attacker for some time:
Charlie De Mar, a reporter for CBS Chicago, broke the news that police had raided the home of the two men in question, securing among other items bleach, shoes, and a red hat (it is currently unknown if the hat recovered is a Make America Great Again hat):
BREAKING:Police raided the home of two persons of interest in Jussie Smollett case last night. Both men are of Nigerian decent and have appeared as extras on the show. Police took bleach, shoes electronics and more.Officers asked family if they knew #Jussiesmollett. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/PDSFtf5jwb
— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 14, 2019
The family whose home was raided believes that the two men were persons of interest due to the fact that they left for Nigeria on the day of the attack:
This information is according to family who says home was ransacked. I asked family why they think police picked the two brothers up for questioning and they replied by saying the men left for #Nigeria the day of the attack. @cbschicago
— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 14, 2019
In an update on Thursday evening, ABC 7 Chicago’s Rob Elgas reported that, according to multiple sources, the attack was staged by Smollett and the two men due to Smollett’s character being written out of Empire:
BREAKING: Multiple soucres 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.
— Rob Elgas (@RobElgasABC7) February 15, 2019
Elgas also noted that Smollett was absent today for a scheduled interview with the authorities:
MORE: Someone familiar with the investigation says Smollet was a no-show for an interview earlier today with detectives. All of this coming hours after Smollett spoke to @GMA speaking out in his first media interview taking aim at those who doubted his story.
— Rob Elgas (@RobElgasABC7) February 15, 2019
However, according to Guglielmi, these reports are currently unconfirmed by case detectives:
Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate. pic.twitter.com/iSO5YFv452
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 15, 2019
As of writing, the investigation is still ongoing. At this time, no one has been charged and the police have not detailed a conclusive narrative of events.
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