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The Jussie Smollett Case Just Keeps Getting Weirder

But should we even care?

Jussie Smollett

By Tinseltown/SHutterstock

Remember how two MAGA enthusiasts supposedly attacked Jussie Smollett and then the police didn't find any evidence and then they seemed to think he actually orchestrated the whole thing and then he was indicted on 16 felony accounts?

Well now prosecutors have dropped all the charges against Smollett and he's quadrupling down, saying he's "been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one." So first of all, what the hell?

Did this attack happen or didn't it? If it did happen as Smollett insists, how did the Chicago police department fail to find any evidence whatsoever? What was the deal with those two brothers who admitted to being paid by Smollett?

And if it didn't happen, why would the prosecutor possibly drop all charges? Is this just another case of a celebrity getting off the hook? Is someone high up a really big fan of Empire?

Unfortunately, the case file is completely closed, so no information about the reasoning behind this will be released to the public.

While the whole Jussie Smollett case seems to have been a massive waste of time all around, it also says something more substantial about the way media coverage shapes social narratives. When a story like this breaks, even if we approach the claims with skepticism, people jump to conclusions one way or the other – either assuming it happened or assuming the subject is lying. In other words, someone is always assumed guilty, be it the "attacker" or the "victim."

In this vein, stories like the Jussie Smollett case will always cause a cultural divide one way or the other, no matter how neutral the reporting may be. It's impossible to cover a loaded story like this one without causing polarization. So is the answer to simply ignore this type of story before they're fully formed (assuming that ever even happens)? Or does the public benefit from the media circus in the many cases where these stories turn out to be true (ie: Harvey Weinstein)? Perhaps we just need to learn to strike the proper balance. Of course, that's easier said in hindsight.

Dan Kahan is a writer & screenwriter from Brooklyn, usually rocking a man bun. Find more at dankahanwriter.com

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Of Course People Don't Just Carry Rope, the Jussie Smollett MAGA Attack Was Premeditated

Pretty obvious if you actually read the article.

While most people are horrified by the reports of the vicious hate crime committed against Empire actor Jussie Smollett, some MAGA enthusiasts have been especially incensed—but not for the same reasons.

As we've heard over and over again from MAGA fans on social media, this is definitely fake news. Their evidence mainly boils down to the belief that a homosexual black man is more likely to be lying about a hookup gone wrong or to have beaten himself up (?) than to have actually been assaulted by two racist homophobes. Besides, people don't just walk around with rope and bleach, just in case they see someone they want to assault…

...unless it was premeditated—a part of the story that was pretty clear from the earliest reports on the assault. To reiterate, Smollett's employer received a death threat personally addressed to him in the mail eight days before the attack. It also said MAGA.

Oh, and the Chicago PD publicly released footage of two persons of interest, showing they're taking the assault seriously too.

— (@)

Moreover, a woman who lives in Smollett's apartment building has just come forward with further information. At 12:30 AM on Tuesday morning, an hour and a half before Smollett was attacked, she saw an agitated white man who "looked out of place," loitering outside the building with what looked like a rope or clothesline protruding from his sweatshirt. Assuming her account turns out to be accurate, it lends further evidence to what seems so obvious already: this attack was premeditated.

Smollett wasn't attacked by two people who were randomly carrying rope and bleach, he was attacked by two people who brought rope and bleach specifically to attack him. But yeah, MAGA folks, it's way more likely he just beat himself up for no reason, right? That's surely why the Chicago PD is investigating the situation as a hate crime.

Then again, the MAGA crowd has already made it very clear that they aren't the type to let facts and evidence get in the way of their feelings.

From Your Site Articles

MAGA Supporters Attack 'Empire' Star Jussie Smollett In Potential Hate Crime

Making America Great Again by committing hate crimes, I guess.

The right and left seem to disagree on the meaning of MAGA.

The right claims that MAGA (Make America Great Again) is a slogan advocating for a time when America was simpler, safer, and more prosperous. The left sees MAGA as a dog whistle for racism, a throwback to a period where minorities could be segregated and where LGBTQ people lived closeted lives in fear. As it turns out, the left might not be so off base.

Late Monday night, after flying into Chicago from New York, 'Empire' star Jussie Smollett went to Subway to get a sandwich. As he left, a man yelled, "Aren't you that f****t 'Empire' n*****r?"

Then he and his accomplice, both white men, brutally attacked Smollett, beating him and fracturing his rib. They then tied a rope around his neck and poured bleach on him. As they fled, one of them yelled, "This is MAGA country."

Furthermore, the attack seems to have been premeditated, as Fox Studios received a letter 8 days prior that said "MAGA" on one side and "SMOLLETT JUSSIE YOU WILL DIE BLACK F*G" on the other in magazine-clipped letters.

Smollett, who came out as gay in 2015, has been discharged from the hospital and is presumably in stable condition.

His attackers have yet to be caught, but you can be sure they're making America great again by committing blatant hate crimes. It's frankly astounding that anyone can view themselves as the "good guys" when people shout their slogans before viciously attacking another person, and the rest of us aren't even surprised.