Empire star Jussie Smollett has slammed the Chicago PD and ex-mayor Rahm Emanuel as villains, doubling down on his denial of a hate crime hoax in a recent interview with Variety
Actor Jussie Smollett launched a blistering attack on Chicago officials, calling the police and former mayor Rahm Emanuel villains in the saga over his alleged staged hate crime.
The 42-year-old, who is Black and gay, insists he was attacked in early 2019 by two masked men who he claimed hurled racist and homophobic insults.
In a case that saw many twists and turns, Smollett was charged with lying to the police and fabricating the attack, however, these charges were later dropped. Smollett continues to stand by his original story, accusing the citys establishment of framing him. He said, The villains are the two people who assaulted me, the Chicago Police Department and, if I may be so brave, the mayor, he said, pointing to Emanuel, who left office in 2019. When the charges was first dropped against Smollett in 2019, Emanuel attacked the decision at the time, calling it a “whitewash of justice” and even went so far as to say of Smollett , “Is there no decency to this man?”
Smollett also tied his case to the controversial 2014 police shooting of Laquan McDonald, questioning whether the mayor played a role in covering up evidence. Emanuel has never been accused of wrongdoing with respect to either Smollett or McDonald’s cases.
Could it be that they had just found out about the missing minutes and the missing tape from the murder of Laquan McDonald? Could it be that the mayor helped hide that? he asked in his recent Variety interview. Were living in a world where the higher-ups… distract us with the shiny object.
Every single other persons story has changed multiple times. Mine has never. I have nothing to gain from this, he told Variety. All I can say is, God bless you, and I hope it was worth it.
The two brothers, who carried out attack, said in a 2019 video that Smollett told them to carry out the hoax and planned it ahead of time, as per CNN.
In the no-holds-barred interview, Smollett also compared the medias treatment of him to how Michael Jackson was vilified. I saw firsthand the way that someone can take the exact opposite of who you are and literally sell it… God rest his soul, but homeboy Michael Jackson tried to warn us.
Smollett is featured in an upcoming Netflix documentary, The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, which raises doubts about his guilt. When asked why exculpatory evidence hasnt surfaced earlier, he said, I dont really know… I can only tell you what did not happen.
Recently, Smollett settled a civil lawsuit with Chicago, agreeing to donate $50,000 to charity after the city filed the lawsuit, accusing the actor of lying about a hate crime, without admitting any liability. Emanuel declined to comment.
Jussie Smollett began his career as a child actor in 1991, debuting in The Mighty Ducks. He is now best known for his role as Jamal Lyon on the TV drama Empire.
The Mirror US has contacted the Chicago Police’s press team and Rahm Emanuel representatives for comment.
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