Source: FayesVision/WENN.com / WENN The nation is thoroughly disturbed as we all try to figure out if Jussie Smollett really got himself attacked last month. After Jussie was accused of staging the hate crime, and subsequently charged with felony disorderly conduct, many public figures have spoken out about the bizarre story—including, Senator Kamala Harris. Harris, who after finding out Smollett had been attacked hailed him as one of the “kindest” and “most gentle human beings” she knows, now says she is “disappointed.” “Like most of you, I’ve seen the reports about Jussie Smollett, and I’m sad, frustrated and disappointed. When anyone makes false claims to police, it not only diverts resources away from serious investigations but it makes it more difficult for other victims of crime to come forward,” she wrote in a statement, according to The Grio . Despite frustration with Smollett, Harris doesn’t want us to forget that hate crimes are on the rise , stating “ At the same time, we must speak the truth: hate crimes are on the rise in America. Just last year, the FBI released statistics that revealed a 17 percent increase in the number of hate crimes in America.Part of the tragedy of this situation is that it distracts from that truth, and has been seized by some who would like to dismiss and downplay the very real problems that we must address. We should not allow that. I will always condemn racism and homophobia. We must always confront hate directly, and we must always seek justice. That is what I will keep fighting for.” Click here to get caught up on the details surrounding Smollett’s case…it really is one of the most bizarre stories we’ve come across. Photo: WENN
Source: Nuccio DiNuzzo / Getty Smollett Reportedly Told Police He Is Suffering From An Untreated Drug Problem Jussie Smollett reportedly told authorities he was suffering from an untreated drug problem. According to TMZ , the actor made the claim Thursday while surrendering to police on a felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false report. Smollett is believed to have purchased drugs from one of the brothers who allegedly helped him stage the phony hate crime. Prosecutors claimed to have reviewed text messages indicating one of the brothers sold Smollett “designer drugs” on many occasions. Legal documents also reportedly show Smollett answering “no” when asked if he had any alcohol or mental health problems. Smollett was released from police custody Thursday on $100,000 bond. He’s expected to enter a plea at his next court hearing March 14
Source: Scott Olson / Getty Superintendent Eddie Johnson Speaks On Jussie Smollett Arrest Jussie Smollett turned himself in to the Chicago police this morning to answer to charges of disorderly conduct and filing a false police report, the latter of which is a felony. A few hours later, Superintendent Eddie Johnson held a press conference where he laid out some of the police department’s findings and explained his frustration with what he calls a “concocted story”. What do you think? Are you still holding on to hope that Jussie can explain all of the inconsistencies in his story? Do you think the CPD is lying out their a$$?
Join Our Text Club To Get The Latest Music, Entertainment, Contests And Breaking News On Your Phone. Text BOX to 24042 to join! Source: FOX / Getty UPDATE: A Cook County grand jury has opted to charge Smollett with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. Felony criminal charges have been approved by @CookCountySAO against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report. Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest. pic.twitter.com/LvBSYE2kVj — Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 21, 2019 ORIGINAL: Well, the Jussie Smollett case, assault, situation, whatever you want to call it has taken another twist. Chicago PD spokesperson Anthony Gugleilmi revealed on Twitter that the 36-year-old Empire actor is now officially classified as a suspect for filing a false police report. The crime is a class 4 felony and detectives are delivering evidence before a grand jury in Chicago. Case Update: Jussie Smollett is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by #ChicagoPolice for filing a false police report (Class 4 felony). Detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County Grand Jury. pic.twitter.com/FhDcbBKsuU — Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 20, 2019 It just broke that the two brothers identified in the Smollett case were seen on surveillance purchasing the same items that were originally reported in the January 29 assault on Smollett. RELATED: Jussie Smollett’s ‘Empire’ Screen Time Reduced In Wake Of Attack Investigation RELATED: Did Jussie Smollett Stage His Own Attack?
Source: Xilla Valentine / GlobalGrind Hours after being charged with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, Jussie Smollett turned himself in to Chicago PD early Thursday morning, another twist in the now bizarre case following his alleged assault by two men on January 29. “Jussie [Smollett] is under arrest and in custody of detectives,” CPD spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi announced Thursday morning, adding that a press briefing is expected shortly ahead of Smollett’s court appearance. In a separate statement , CPD deputy director of news affairs Tom Ahern further specified that Smollett was in the custody of detectives. Press Briefing: Jussie Smollet is under arrest and in custody of detectives. At 9am at #ChicagoPolice Headquarters, Supt Eddie Johnson, Commander of Area Central Detectives Edward Wodnicki will brief reporters on the investigation prior to the defendants appearance in court. pic.twitter.com/YonrLkc724 — Chicago Police (@Chicago_Police) February 21, 2019 Smollett alleged that two white men beat him, poured bleach on him and placed a noose around his neck while screaming, “This is MAGA country!” But as details continued to emerge and CPD continued their investigation, the story became too crazy to be believed, even by Empire standards. As the story unfolded, it turned out that it was two brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo who were Smollett’s “attackers”. They were not white but actually Nigerian and formerly worked as extras on the show. Yesterday, a video emerged of the Osundairo brothers caught on surveillance video purchasing some of the items that were used in the “attack”. Smollett has continued to cooperate with the police during the investigation but spoke publicly about the incident to both Good Morning America and in concert in Los Angeles where he told a crowd that he “ fought the f*ck back ” and jokingly referred to himself as “ the gay 2Pac .” The felony charge of disorderly conduct for filing a false report carries a maximum sentence of up to three years in prison. RELATED: Chicago PD Charge Jussie Smollett With Felony Disorderly Conduct RELATED: Jussie Smollett Tells GMA’s Robin Roberts He’s ‘Pissed’ That People Don’t Believe Him RELATED: Jussie Smollett’s Neighbors Don’t Believe the Actor’s Story
Source: FOX / Getty Jussie Smollett Situation Blows Up Twitter Well things have certainly escalated for Jussie Smollett . A couple of weeks ago, he claimed that he was assaulted by two men who yelled out racist slurs at him, including making him wear a noose and pouring bleach on him. The case was sort of fishy and has sparked all sorts of debate. As the days went by, the story got more and more bizarre. Now, police have enough suspicion that the whole thing is a lie that they have gone ahead and arrested Smollett this morning. There’s definitely a lot of evidence that Smollett told a lie. The whole thing has blown up Twitter and it’s getting ugly. This entire Jussie Smollett case… I just don’t understand pic.twitter.com/k4th8axqqs — Salem Westallen (@4lifeofs) February 21, 2019 Take a look…
It's been a glorious time for Teen Mom gossip, hasn't it? That's because Jenelle's just been on fire lately. We don't want to say that her life has been falling apart, but … well, it's not going great. It rarely is, honestly, but we think a divorce usually qualifies as extra bad, right? But is she even getting divorced? What is going on with this girl?! 1. Recap Time! OK, so there sure has been a lot going on with our favorite hot mess Teen Mom, huh? 2. Bad Times Whatever happened between Jenelle and David, it happened sometime last week — just in time for her to skip her traditional Valentine’s Day gushing. 3. More Fights? The general consensus, and this has been mentioned in a report we’ll get to in a little bit, is that they got into some kind of fight after last week’s episode of Teen Mom 2. 4. Yikes You know, the one that showed us what happened after Jenelle’s infamous 911 call. 5. One More Time You’ve almost definitely heard the call by now, but for the sake of being thorough, here it is again: you can hear Jenelle sobbing hysterically and telling the operator that she thinks David may have broken her collarbone. 6. Oooh, Barbara We always knew the call and its aftermath would have to be a big part of this season, and it has been — we even saw Barbara directly say that she believes her daughter is the victim of domestic violence. View Slideshow
Jussie Smollett is officially in major trouble with the law. About three weeks after the Empire star told police that he was savagely beaten by a pair of Donald Trump-loving racist, Smollett has been made a suspect by this same police force. Over the past several days days, there has been chatter that cops in Chicago believed Smollett orchestrated his own attack and then continually lied to the public and to authorities about what happened. Now, spokesman Anthony Guglielmi has Tweeted the following: Jussie Smollett is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by #ChicagoPolice for filing a false police report. Detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County Grand Jury. If Smollett is charged with the felony cited here, he could face up to three years in prison. UPDATE : Guglielmi has now Tweeted the following… Felony criminal charges have been approved by @CookCountySAO against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report. Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest. A Cook County Grand Jury handed down the indictment late Wednesday, after grand jurors heard testimonies and evaluated evidence. The details of this case have grown more troubling and bizarre each day. After initially receiving support and sympathy from friends, politicians and celebrities around the world due to his claim that he was a victim of a hate crime, Smollett is now the subject of extreme scorn. He was questioned on Wednesday by prosecutors from the Cook County District Attorney’s Office regarding various details of his assault explanation that simply do not add up. Perhaps more disturbing is this: Two brothers from Nigeria were briefly arrested by the police after surveillance footage depicted them in the area of the alleged beating around the time Smollett said it took place. However, these siblings formerly worked as extra on Empire. They’re pictured below: After speaking to these siblings, however, the cops released them without charging them with any crimes — and they released this statement in the process: “We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation.” It has since been reported that the brothers are cooperating with the police and pointing a finger at Smollett, alleging that he paid them to fake the assault and that they even rehearsed how it would go . TMZ writes that Smollett cut the brothers a check for $3,500, but he wrote “training” in the memo line. There’s also now video evidence of them purchasing supplies for the incident, presumably at the behest of Smollet. Smollett, who is openly gay, said late last month that two assailants taunted him with homophobic slurs around 2 a.m. and screamed that he was in “MAGA country.” He said they punched him, tied a rope around his neck and poured bleach all over him. In an interview with Robin Roberts, excerpted below, he stuck by this story: Jussie Smollett Speaks on Horrific Attack And then he did so again through his legal team just a few days ago, saying the following: As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with. He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying. Various sources have claimed that producers are in the process of writing Smollett out of Empire, but executives deny this is the case. If he’s arrested for falsifying a police report, however, his the future of his acting career may be the least of his concerns. View Slideshow: Jussie Smollett: Did He REALLY Stage His Own Attack?! Empire Star Under Investigation [UPDATED]
Source: Xilla Valentine / GlobalGrind The Empire star, Jussie Smollett after falsely accusing MAGA Trump supporters for of beating him and throwing bleach on him. Now, the “Gay Tupac” has to fight to stay on the set of Empire. For the Latest Entertainment News : His schedule was packed this week of shooting scenes, but now according to TMZ , “Jussie’s working Friday and possibly Thursday, and he won’t be rehearsing.” Jussie is has become the 2019, Tawana Brawley . Brawley accused four white men of raping her in 1987. She was 15, when she was found after her alleged rape and the case received national attention. Much like Smollett , Brawley’s case went to a Grand Jury came to the conclusion that there was no evidence to support her case. RELATED: Jussie Smollett Has Words For People Who Don’t Believe He Was Attacked Smollett allegedly paid two Nigerian mean to beat him up at 2am in Chicago , at negative forty-five degree weather. The actor, hasn’t officially been officially kicked off of Empire, but it’s looking like his co-stars don’t want to see him.
The investigation into Jussie Smollett has taken more twists and turns than an Empire season finale. In the latest unexpected development to emanate from what had originally appeared to be a simple (albeit horrific) case of assault against the star, Smollett has released a statement through his legal team. It seeks to end speculation that Smollett actually staged the attack late last month in which he was allegedly beaten and taunted by a pair of racist assailants. This is what Smollett’s attorney said late Saturday on his client’s behalf: As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with. He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. N othing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying. How did we possibly get to this point? It’s a long and convoluted story… Smollett told Chicago police that he was savagely beaten early on the morning of January 29. He told authorities back then that the two suspects screamed yelled that he was in “MAGA country,” that they tied a rope around his neck, that they poured bleach all over him and that he eventually took himself to a hospital for treatment. The case made national headlines. Numerous 2020 Presidential candidates sent their thoughts to Smollett, celebrities everywhere showered him with support and Donald Trump told the press it was a “horrible” incident. Donald Trump Comments on Jussie Smollett The beating was referring to in the press as a “hate crime” and a “modern-day lynching.” Shortly after this story went viral, however, the police and the media were given reason to have some doubts. Smollett, for example, reportedly refused to turn over his full cell phone records to the cops. According to a new TMZ article, the police were also suspicious after Smollett took them to the scene of the alleged crime and immediately pointed out an obscure security camera in the vicinity. Questions were raised internally over how Smollett know about this camera and whether he actually planned the attack to occur within the sight of it. Then… two arrests were made in the case . However, the men arrested were brothers from Nicaragua who actually worked in the past as extras on Empire. They knew Smollett somewhat well. This raised even more questions, along the lines of: Would two African-Americans really scream racial epithets at Smollett? Might Smollett have paid these associates off as part of an elaborate hoax? This theory is now gaining quite a bit of momentum. For starters, the brothers were released without being charged — and the reason given by Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi certainly raises a bunch of eyebrows: “We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation.” View Slideshow: Jussie Smollett: Did He REALLY Stage His Own Attack?! Empire Star Under Investigation [UPDATED] Shifted the trajectory of the investigation . The latest update from CNN also begins as follows: Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation tell CNN that Chicago Police believe actor Jussie Smollett paid two men to orchestrate an assault on him that he reported late last month… Multiple outlets claim that Smollett paid the siblings $4,000 in exchange for their role in the assault. Why would he do this? Presumably, sources have alleged, because he was being written off Empire and thought producers would change their minds after he became such a sympathetic figure on the national stage. It’s worth noting, however, that all executives and writers associated with Empire have strongly denied having any plans to let Smollett go. As you can see, this is a confusing and disturbing case all around. Either Smollett really was the victim of a violent hate crime… or he’s lying about it. There’s no in between at this point. Speaking to Robin Roberts of Good Morning America last Thursday, Smollett insisted he was telling the truth. “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 much more,” Smollett said. “And that says a lot about the place where we are as a country right now.”
