FAKE NOOSE?
Detectives to probe whether Trump-hating actor Jussie Smollett staged his own hate crime attack
IT was the race hate crime against a Hollywood star which shocked the world and highlighted Donald Trump’s divided America.
It was claimed two white Trump supporters roared f****t and n****r as they battered Empire TV star Jussie Smollett, before throwing a chemical said to be bleach in his face and putting a noose over his head.
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But now, in a twist more sensational than anything portrayed onscreen, cops say the gay black actor PAID two friends to carry out the “attack” in Chicago last month.
Detectives will now quiz him after suggesting he staged the elaborate assault, possibly in a bizarre bid to boost his career.
A Grand Jury, which decides whether someone should be indicted for a serious crime, was notified it would hear testimony as early as this week alleging Smollett filed a false police report, according to law enforcement sources
Just days earlier, and before the shock twist in the story emerged, A-listers had flooded social media with their support for the 36-year-old.
COPS WANT TO QUIZ ACTOR
Brit catwalk queen Naomi Campbell — who previously starred in hip-hop drama Empire — was one of the first to leap to Smollett’s defence.
Alongside a picture of the two of them, she called on Chicago’s mayor to catch the “despicable people” who had committed this “act of hate”.
Empire actor Jussie Smollett details his alleged attack by two men who he says put a 'rope around my neck' in TV interview
Oscar-winner Viola Davis also shared a photo of the actor on Instagram, saying: “OMG!! This is why the LGBTQ community continue to fight to be seen and protected against hate!
“We ALL have to take this racist and homophobic act of violence very personally! My arms are around you @jussiesmollett. You are loved!”
OMG!! This is why the LGBTQ community continue to fight to be seen and protected against hate!
Oscar-winner Viola Davis
And TV host Ellen DeGeneres, referring to an interview when the actor revealed he was gay, said: “Four years ago, @JussieSmollett came out on my show. I’m sending him and his family so much love today.”
Smollett, who was treated in hospital, had told cops his white “attackers” were “yelling out racial and homophobic slurs” and made reference to “MAGA” — the “Make America Great Again” election catchphrase used by President Trump.
On Thursday last week, he gave a tearful US TV interview where he described being set upon at 2am while speaking to his manager on his phone after leaving his apartment to get food.
'THIS IS MAGA COUNTRY' CLAIM
He told Good Morning America interviewer Robin Roberts: “While I was on the phone I heard . . . I was crossing the intersection . . . I heard ‘Empire!’ I don’t answer to Empire. My name ain’t Empire.”
Smollett, who first rose to prominence in 1992 children’s movie The Mighty Ducks, then said he heard one of them utter a racial slur. He said: “So I turned around and said, ‘What the f*** did you just say to me?’ I see the attacker masked.”
Getting emotional, Smollett continued: “He said: ‘This MAGA country n*****’. And he punched me in the face so I punched his ass back.”
There is a f***ing rope around my neck
Jussie Smollett
Smollett said they started tussling and ended up near some stairs, as a second person kicked him in his back. Smollett claimed the attackers ran off then saw his phone had fallen out of his pocket.
His manager Brandon Moore was still on the line and Smollett said he told Brandon he had been jumped.
Then, looking down, Smollett claimed he saw a rope. He said: “I noticed the rope around my neck and I started screaming: ‘There is a f***ing rope around my neck.’ ”
Choking up, Smollett added: “I will never be the man that this did not happen to. I am forever changed.”
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But some people had early doubts about the authenticity of the attack — and why the star refused to hand over his phone to detectives.
Cops were also curious as to why he still had the rope around his neck when they arrived on the scene 30 minutes after the attack. He also asked responding officers to turn off their body cameras and come into his apartment — because he said he did not want neighbours witnessing the scene.
Expressing frustration, Smollett told 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.” Smollett insisted he was targeted because of his vocal criticism of Trump, the 45th US President.
COPS BELIEVE SMOLLETT PAID MEN TO 'ATTACK' HIM
In his TV interview, he added: “I come really hard against 45.”
But his story seemingly unravelled after cops arrested two black men with connections to him.
Brothers Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, 27, and Abimbola “Abel” Osundairo, 25, were held on Wednesday after leaving the US for a holiday just days after the alleged attack. Ola — who had worked as an extra on Empire — and Abel were released when officers revealed new evidence had come to light and they were “eager to speak to” Smollett.
It appears that Smollett tried to manufacture a hate crime to make Trump supporters look bad
Donald Trump Jr
A Chicago police spokesman said: “The information received from the individuals questioned earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation.”
Cops are now understood to believe the star paid the men £2,700 to attack him and £390 when they returned from Nigeria.
They reportedly have proof that Smollett directed his “attackers” to buy the rope used in the “assault” at a local store. Sources told website TMZ the trio even REHEARSED the assault. Following their release, the two brothers would only say: “We are not racist. We are not homophobic, and we are not anti-Trump.”
Jussie Smollett says there has never been a 'closet to come out from' on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Smollett has hastily appointed a lawyer, ironically one who represented Trump’s jailed former fixer Michael Cohen.
But many are now asking why Smollett would invent the whole thing. Trump’s son Donald Jr tweeted: “It appears that Smollett tried to manufacture a hate crime to make Trump supporters look bad.”
It is also suggested Smollett wanted to raise his profile because his gay character Jamal Lyon was being written out of Empire, which airs in the UK on channel 5Star.
The show’s fifth series has been promoting the death of a major character, with shots of lead character Lucious Lyon — Smollett’s dad in the show — standing next to a coffin.
'MAKE TRUMP SUPPORTERS LOOK BAD'
But programme bosses refuted the claim. Co-creator Danny Strong said: “There is zero per cent truth that @JussieSmollett was going to be written off of Empire.”
Another theory is that Smollett might have staged the attack because a threatening letter he said he received the week before was not given enough police attention.
A photo of the letter mysteriously emerged online after the actor mentioned it for the first time in his emotional TV interview.
It contained “a powdery substance”, which was ruled to be aspirin or another painkiller. On it were the words “You will die black f***”, spelled out in cut-and-pasted letters, and “MAGA” scrawled in red pen.
Speaking to TV host Roberts, Smollett added: “Did I make that up too?” Cops are now investigating whether that was the case.
Smollett’s solicitors said in an early statement: “As a victim of a hate crime, Jussie is angered . . . he has now been victimised by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack.”
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Empire is set to return to screens in March. Smollett was supposed to have nine scenes and a big musical number in the penultimate episode — which is being shot now — but five scenes have now reportedly been cut.
As the questions mount, Smollett is now facing the role of his life.
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Cardi B says she's 'disappointed' in Empire actor Jussie Smollett after police sources claim he fabricated a racial and homophobic 'attack'
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