Assignment #7: Exploiting a News Story

 It is not uncommon to see the names of celebrities in the news for a variety of things, some intentional others not so much. I constantly remind myself that celebrities are people, who are capable of making mistakes and such just like everyone else.  For decades we have seen celebrities mauled by crowds of paparazzi while the most mundane of acts, like taking a stroll through the park or enjoying a nice meal. In this particular case, this particular celebrity wanted all the attention. 

Back in January of 2019, we heard tell of an incident involving singer and actor Jussie Smollett being the alleged victim of racial and homophobic hate speech in the form of a letter that that was laced with a powdery substance that was sent to his workplace at Fox Studios, where he worked on the hit show Empire. Investigators believed the substance was more than likely crushed Tylenol. One week later, January 29th, Smollett was allegedly attacked by two men at 2 am as we walked back to his Chicago apartment. In Smollett’s initial interview with the Chicago Police Department, it was said that the two men doused him with a chemical substance, tied a rope around his neck. In a second interview with police, he claimed to remember that his attackers yelled, “MAGA country” a reference to Donald Trump’s election slogan. The following day Smollett’s family spoke with ABC News and are quoted as saying, “Jussie has told the police everything from the very beginning. His story has never changed, and we are hopeful they will find these men and bring them to justice." Days later Smollett returned to work, a while at a show in Hollywood he shared with the crowd that stood with love and hoped his supporters stood with him as well. After looking for the assailants Chicago PD arrested “persons of interest” brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, who police acknowledged that the two had a relationship with Smollett. When the brothers were interrogated they said that Smollett paid them to help him stage the attack.

On the left are the two brothers that accused Smollett of panning his own attack and bring them on board to help him.

There were various components to the case that people found odd or questioning early on like his reluctance to cooperate or speak with the police initially. I did not want to turn over his phone for evidence or be recorded on the body cams of the officers once they arrived after he called them to his apartment. Others found it odd that he still had the rope tied around his neck even after the police arrived and when asked by the officer if he wanted to go ahead and remove it, he said he wanted them to see it before he removed it. Others questioned why he did not mention the political remarks made to him by his assailants in his initial interview and wondered if he had fabricated that component due to the racially charged nature of the country at the time. Everyone with social media and an option seemed to have taken to the internet to make them known. Smollett said, "For me, the main thing was the idea that I somehow switched up my story, you know? And that somehow maybe I added a little extra trinket, you know, of the MAGA thing," Smollett said. "I didn't need to add anything like that. They called me a f----, they called me an----. There's no which way you cut it. I don't need some MAGA hat as the cherry on top of some racist sundae."  Keep in mind he made these comments before the brothers told the police about how the attack was orchestrated by Smollett and agreed to cooperate with the police so it made much more sense to the public. The brothers also claimed that they helped Jussie plan the attack because he was displeased with the hate-speech-filled letter that was sent to his workplace on the set of the Fox Show Empire.

After a continued investigation into the connection between the brothers and Smollett as well the brothers claim that the attack was scheduled, on February 20th Smollett was charged with 16 counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false report, which carries a sentence of one to three years. The following day Jussie turned himself into the police and a spokesperson for the Chicago police, Anthony Guglielmi, said, “Detectives will make contact with his legal team to negotiate a reasonable surrender for his arrest”. On March 26th after an emergency hearing in Illinois, all charges against Smollett were dropped. The news came as a shock to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, the two accused State Attorney’s office in Illinois of preferential treatment. The police superintendent had this to say, “At the end of the day, it's Mr. Smollett who committed this hoax, period," Johnson said. "I heard that they wanted their day in court...so America could know the truth, and they chose to hide behind the secrecy of a brokered deal to circumvent the judicial system.” Smollett allegedly created this attack on himself to get his name into the news to make known the hate speech against him. Jussie understood the high levels of civil unrest in our country at the time and saw it as an opportunity for many people to take heed to the alleged attack in the news.