Justice for Jussie Smollett - Part 2

Can someone post this thread in part 1? That thread no longer loads for me.

Well that thread closed without a link to this thread.

I believe Jussie, why are people so quick to determine him a liar without all the facts in yet?

Someone in the last thread asked what he was doing in his apt with a man? Yall do know he is a practicing homosexual...

Here’s a link to CNN saying Police searched security cameras in area and found no images or videos of attackers

He has a man friend....ooohhhh damning!

I’m still waiting for sensational details, like...

MOTIVE?

Why did he wait to go “home” to have a friend call 911? Not a doorman? Or back to the Subway? Why decline EMS but THEN go to Northwestern Memorial? Why was he still wearing “the rope”? Why ask the police to turn off their bodycams?

But yeah. Motive would be helpful. Aside from RACISM! HOMOPHOBIA! or whatever else. Because I would expect him to be beaten to hell and back if it went down like that.

I noticed several of the people who are making the biggest stink about this being "definitely a lie" also happened to be on a thread about Rachel True from The Craft getting iced out of conventions, likely because she's black. Another one of the people who were absolutely insisting this was a lie was off defending Trump in a political thread. That's what I just happened to see after putting them on ignore.

We really do have a lot of posts from people who are shit stirrers and not gay or interested in gossip or anything.

THEY RAPED HIM!

If this were a British police procedural, they would have apprehended a suspect by now. It would have been a red herring, but nonetheless, an apprehension would have been made. Where is the CCTV footage?

Thanks for doing the poll OP! Wow, this is closer than I thought it would be.

• A man who identified himself as "Frank" called 911 around 2:32 a.m. Tuesday from a luxury apartment at 340 East North Water Street.

• The man stated that his friend had been assaulted and battered when he walked outside of his apartment, according to dispatch records. Frank stated that his friend is "well-known" and they want a report. Frank stated that a noose was placed over his friend's neck. There is no mention of bleach in the dispatch record.

• Frank refused EMS services for Smollett, according to dispatch records.

• Officers were on-scene at the apartment for slightly more than an hour.

From experienced observers, the most interesting part of the dispatch records is this: Responding officers never issued a "flash message" to give descriptions of the offenders to units in the field.

Police have made "good progress" in their investigation, according to a CPD source.

Darn.

[quote]Thanks for doing the poll OP! Wow, this is closer than I thought it would be.

As said above, there are just a handful of trolls working overtime here and in the Rachel True thread.

A professor of mine once declined an EMS ride but then later went to the hospital because his aches got worse, and it turned out he'd broken ribs in a bicycle accident.

Knowing some of the details come from Frank means we may be hearing what is basically the tail end of a game of telephone. Who knows what has gotten lost in all the third party reporting.

Who the hell calls their neighborhood "Streeterville"? It sounds stupid.

I believe him. Because I believe the victims. If you were attacked and told me about it, I would believe you too.

Was he beaten in front of the Subway?

Very strange story

Why don’t Dataloungers believe him? Is it because he’s a BLACK MAN?

After his “fuck no” to a white love interest, there’s animosity towards white people with him. I don’t think he didn’t expect this to get so big.

[quote]Why don’t Dataloungers believe him? Is it because he’s a BLACK MAN?

No, you moron. It's because the story has more holes than your head.

No bystanders or Subway employees came to his aid?

There’s so many cameras in Chicago that even if they didn’t record an attack it should record 2 men wearing face mask carrying a rope.

It’s a crazy story. Chicago is not known as MAGA land. And the weather is ridiculously cold so who would be out at 2 am on a Tuesday morning.

[quote]Why don’t Dataloungers believe him? Is it because he’s a BLACK MAN?

And just for the record, I didn't believe that dumb shit Corey Feldman was stabbed either.

[QUOTE]No bystanders or Subway employees came to his aid?

Nobody comes to a stranger’s aid when they’re being attacked at night! What do you think this is, a movie?

Someone in a Reddit's thread pointed out that "The building across the street from the Subway is basically covered in surveillance cameras"

[quote]No bystanders or Subway employees came to his aid?

Subway employees at that time of night are not going to go out on the street. It's not worth minimum wage to get in between two guns firing at each other.

We don't know the story, r22. The Chicago Police Department actually called out TMZ for saying things that were not part of the report, like the guys saying MAGA when that was not reported to the police at all.

TMZ made a bunch of shit up, which is what they do, and you guys are listening to TMZ, then saying it doesn't make any sense because you're idiots and don't realize that TMZ is selling you a story that doesn't make sense on purpose.

So hot!

r29 " the guys saying MAGA when that was not reported to the police at all"

But police later interviewed Jussie again to ask him about that when they heard it on the media, and he confirmed it (he didn't report it initially)

Chicago is known for being extremely racist. Who is saying otherwise? It's a huge city but it's also in the Midwest, and a lot of Midwestern transplants from small towns move there. The town is basically segregated.

I went to a Kansas high school with 80 people in my graduating class, and I know five of them who live in Chicago, and I've looked them all up on Facebook and they are all pro Trump birthers and MAGA heads. Two committed hate crimes in high school. They don't indicate that they feel like outsiders in Chicago at all.

I'm just baffled at people saying this couldn't happen in Chicago.

The CNN recap of all the relevant updates of the case. Posted in the last thread, but I'll post it again here.

[quote]A Chicago police spokesperson tells CNN that investigators canvassed the neighborhood where the reported attack occurred on actor Jussie Smollett and have found no still images or video from security cameras of the incident.

[quote]A dozen police detectives with the assistance of the FBI are working the case on Tuesday, according to police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi. The only image of Smollett police obtained from security cameras was inside Subway Sandwich shop near the location of the reported crime, the actor was standing alone.

[quote]Chicago police say Jussie Smollett did not mention the alleged attackers shouting, “This is MAGA country” during the initial police interview. Investigators heard the claim in media reports and called the actor. He later relayed it to detectives in a supplemental interview.

[quote]Police say they are testing the chemical Smollett claimed to have been doused with and have yet to confirm the nature of the substance.

Okay, I'll try to find that r31.

Never mind, r33 posted it, thanks

If they're still testing the substance, something tells me it wasn't bleach.

[quote]Jussie Smollett and have found no still images or video from security cameras of the incident.

I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS.

So, of this os turned out to be false—his career won’t be damaged someone claimed?

What Subway is open at 2 am?

Yeah, we've kind of been over that already r39, like 10 hours ago.

KEEP UP R39! Fucking hell.

I assumed r39 was trying to be funny. Maybe I give them too much credit.

[quote]Police say they are testing the chemical Smollett claimed to have been doused with and have yet to confirm the nature of the substance.

It's not that hard to identify semen.

The attacker sounded very internet troll-ish, like someone has gone Trolls Gone Wild, it seems hard to believe someone would actually do something so dramatic. But then again, I don't live in America, so maybe some people there are into troll lifestyles

Latest info for ya from Chicago’s favorite crime blog...

Of course it’s always called RAAAAACIST by the usual suspects because it... reports neighborhood crime.

Turn the body cams off. Alright. Yeah.

Played out: Flyoverland

New hotness: Places that don't even have a 24 hour Subway.

So if you tell a police officer to turn off their body cam they must oblige, or does that only work if you're famous?

There's one question that keeps rolling around in my mind. I can't seem to shake it and I'm wondering if it's the key to this whole crime.

Where was Meghan Markle when this happened?

Did he order the six incher or was it a foot long?

I may actually tune in to watch the view tomorrow. Joy Behar, and poor man's Soledad O'Brien must be creaming their jeans with anticipation to express their "view" on this story.

[quote] Smollett was said to be reticent to file a police report even after police arrived.

I don't know anything about the source r45 linked, but if they are accurate this is a significant new detail.

[quote]I may actually tune in to watch the view tomorrow. Joy Behar, and poor man's Soledad O'Brien must be creaming their jeans with anticipation to express their "view" on this story.

But was it a "Subway" Subway?

R50 Meatballs.

I saw this too, r52, and when you think, it was "Frank" who called 911, it makes me wonder if he was cheating on Frank and then came up with a convoluted story to cover almost getting caught.

To the poster calling everyone who doubts this story a racist: if it turns out he is lying, will you denounce your your comments in this thread?

No, even if he was lying, it's still racist forever!@#R$E@# Everyone is SUPER RACIST, they will just be slightly less racist because he turned out to have mental problems or was at a hookup gone wrong in the -20 degree temperatures at 2am! But everyone is STILL RACIST!@@@!

It was 12F at the time of the attack, stop making shit up, it won't be -20 until tomorrow.

No, they won’t R56. They probably don’t post here...often.

Is anyone bothering to organize a candlelight vigil?

If he really was reluctant to file a police report then something is off with the story. But apparently he did go to subway

Well I don't know about you bitches, but I'd sure like to be the one to keep him warm on this frigid winter night!

Next week, he'll announce that he found Jesus and everyone will forget this made up hoax.

I am not a blame the victim type and, sorry if I missed this in the original thread, but that quote from the original report in which the alleged attackers shouted out something like "Hey, you're that f*ggot n*g'er from Empire!" struck me as very odd. Is Jussie Smollett THAT well known and recognizable that two random strangers would immediately be able to identify him on the street? And would someone who harbors that kind of very specific prejudice even enjoy watching a show like Empire?

The idea that a couple of racist, homophobic assholes could be out late trolling and looking for potential victims I can KIND of believe, but it's that quote about instantly recognizing him from Empire that feels 'off' to me. Anyone else?

It's all about ...

[quote]wow. i am truly disturbed, as my good friend alluded to earlier, at the "support" for jussie, and the lack of support for DEAD trans women over the years.

LOL, r65.

[quote]In the midst of everything that has happened with Jussie, let's lot forget that trans WoC haven't gotten support like this, despite being very vocal about being murdered.

"... despite being very vocal about being murdered."

You can always tell the "EVERYONE IS RACIST!" trolls because they use "y'all" all the time.

Maybe 'Frank' was just Smollett's pseudonym for purposes of making the initial call.

Yes, R68. 99% of my block list uses y’all. All homophobic.

[quote]But apparently he did go to subway

Fake news, there are no Subways open at 2am!

That Twitter guy linked in r67 is a total FREAK. Check out the rest of his Twitter feed.

No, I see here that Chicago has a subway called the red line and it runs 24 hours!

r64, I found that odd to.

I see only two options:

1) He's telling the truth, but this is not a random attack. He must have a crazed probably closeted gay MAGA fan who stalks him, and is very intelligent considering how little evidence was left behind.

2) He's lying. There's no way a random group of MAGA losers would know who he is.

"Hey, there's that ridiculously handsome guy from the hit FOX Show EMPIRE, and since I'm an ugly deplorable who knows all about the hippest and gay shows, I'm gonna attack him for being a queer!"

That might've been a better quote.

[quote]If this were a British police procedural, they would have apprehended a suspect by now. It would have been a red herring, but nonetheless, an apprehension would have been made. Where is the CCTV footage?

We don’t live in Airstrip 1.

That threat letter he presented is about as real as the Jon Benet ransom note.

Clearly he's having trouble dealing with fame.

Jussie (if that’s really your name), just mention a small foreign faction. They love that.

[quote] Clearly he's having trouble dealing with fame.

I know how he feels.

R76, did you see the threat letter or just hear about it? Link?

R79 a site has the letter. It's one of those letter paste jobs from a '60s thriller. A total joke.

r79 there's links to it in the Daily Fail article on it.

He’ll be in rehab this time next week.

R64, apologizing but then still bringing up a point you have to know was discussed ad nauseam in the first thread is kind of a dick move.

Long story short for your lazy ass, Smollett has been making a lot of political comments against Trump and his supporters, and they have been very angry with him about it for months. He's one of the "liberal Hollywood elites" that they complain about all the time. So yes, it's likely somebody would recognize him.

A CBS reporter shared this on twitter

[quote]CBS News reports that surveillance video, obtained by police, shows Smollett walking around but doesn’t show an attack/assault. Chicago police tell CBS News that they don’t yet physical evidence proving the crime happened, but police have not said the claims are untrue.

Joke or not, it would be a real strange coincidence for a threat to be mailed to Fox just days before Smollett got beat up in "a drug deal gone bad that was entirely his fault" or whatever it is you're peddling.

The fact is that the letter appearing first, and the attack happening afterwards, are a pretty good indication that something beyond a nasty "hoax" from a lying liberal is happening here.

r83 Seriously? Practically EVERY Hollywood personality has been making disparaging remarks about Trump.

I wonder if he's being blackmailed.

Here is the hate mail received by Fox News:

Word in Hollywood is that stories of Jussie’s bizarre behavior on the set of Empire recently were about to become public. But no one in the cast imagined it would lead to something like this. That’s the reason for their Susan Dey-like silence right now.

Excuse me! EXCUSE ME!

[quote]I'll say it since no one else is. Jussie is famous but [bold]this has happened and could happen to anyone[/bold] be they brown, black, LGBT or Q. He is famous and so we hear about it. [bold]What about the trans women of color who have been attacked +killed[/bold] over the last 2 years?

Link r88?

It would be a little odd for a friend of his to call the police if it was obvious that Smollett had not actually had suffered an attack. Also, he does have broken ribs and a swollen face with a cut, so we know he was injured somehow.

This went out a few minutes ago

[quote]CASE UPDATE: Tonight #ChicagoPolice detectives expanded the search area for cameras to be able to provide photos of the alleged assailants in this attack. Thus far, no video of the alleged assailants or a vehicle has been discovered but we are continuing to broaden our search

I am gay. I hate Trump with all my being. I'm a white liberal. I wanted to take a hammer to my television when I heard scumbag George Zimmerman got off for the MURDER of Trayvon Martin.

When I was 18, I believed in the guilt of the Central Park joggers. I felt much shame when it turned out they were innocent years later. I learned a valuable lesson from that.

All that said, the second I saw the report, I knew this was fake. I've seen too many fake incident reports, and the truth just has a certain ring to it.

I feel very bad for Jussie. He needs help, and the situation sucks. But it's a fake report. I will not pretend I think it's real just no as not to seem racist or homophobic.

It is amazing how similar the stories are. This, Moron Downey, Jr getting his head carved with a Nazi symbol, that fat little cunt who carved the backwards B into her forehead and said it was Obama supporters.

I hope he gets help. I have no interest in seeing him lose his job or anything. Some people have trouble with fame. I think he likely felt himself inadequate, and something like this would make people think he's suffered in the battle, you know?

Some of my previous posts may have been flippant, and I'm sorry for that. It's a sad story.

Okay, that letter to the local Fox affiliate in Chicago is creepy. Thanks for posting that again in this thread. I'm sure I'm not the only one who was working all day and couldn't keep up with the original thread. If that letter turns out to be legit then it certainly suggests this wasn't some random attack, but one that the perpetrators were planning.

What's unclear from the articles I've read -- have the police or Jussie commented on the exact location at which the alleged attack took place? It would appear that it didn't happen directly outside the Subway.

R94 it didn't happen anywhere. There will be not footage of the attack because there was no attack.

I wish I could post my picture after I was mugged. My face was fucked. Jussie's face- well he just seems slightly forlorn.

r95 There's nothing that says you have to be beaten in the face during an altercation, i only wish you mugger and done more damage.

You don't know anything, r93. That's what's so frustrating about this topic on DL -- we don't know much, and those of us saying that we need to wait and see and get more information are being ignored in favor of people like you who write entire essays without realizing that you don't know enough to even write a paragraph.

[quote]Word in Hollywood is that stories of Jussie’s bizarre behavior on the set of Empire recently were about to become public.

Why don't you sit next to me and tell me what was going on? It will be between just you and me.

I can’t get enough of it

The letter would almost have to be legitimate. Unless someone is saying that Smollett wrote the letter and mailed it several days ago, knowing he was going to get beaten up by a drug dealer or a trick or something yesterday.

I suppose if you're trying to say that he sent the letter and then hired somebody to break his ribs and beat him up, that's certainly a theory, but it's a way over the top "I've watched too much bad television" theory. There's nothing to indicate that that happened.

The fact that he was scene out there walking makes me believe this happened

Was he on drugs? Is this a drug deal gone bad?

Empire creator Lee Daniels came out in strong support of Jussie with a video statement.

If things were apthat bad on the set, would Daniels do that?

Where are people getting the broken ribs thing from? I haven't seen that in any official reporting.

Can I have his sandwich?

A corset worn too tightly will break ribs.

Is it really hard to believe he got mugged and the dumbasses recognized him and started saying stupid shit like MAGA?

TMZ reported a broken rib, not ribs, and that was my fault. I was not fully remembering what they reported. But their article on it does say that he had a fractured rib.

Well yes, I know TMZ said it, but as far as know no vetted source has said it.

You can break a rib by coughing too hard.

TMZ is a joke and probably purposefully made this seem 10 times worse than what actually happened.

Is that the theory now? That he sent the letter to Fox, and 8 days later purposely coughed too hard to break a rib and falsely frame innocent MAGA heads? Sure, seems legit.

Smollett should be given the opportunity to make his case to the public to try to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that he's not lying.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I assume Zac Efron will be playing Jussie in the FX Mini-Series?....Produced by Ryan Murphy?

Don't forget his weird tweet two days prior about "fraudulent people"

To me those updates from CBS and Chicago PD are pretty damning. They have been looking all day and can find no evidence this assault happened.

It's a gay board, r114. If you don't like what "the gays" have to say, perhaps another board would be a better fit for you.

"Also, he does have broken ribs and a swollen face with a cut, so we know he was injured somehow."

That can happen when that hook the sling is suspended from lets loose. Next time, make sure it is screwed at least 1" into the ceiling joist.

I'll hold my judgment until I read Cynthia Erivo's tweet.

Cheapest bid to delegitimize someone you disagree with ... ever, r118.

Like you’ve never referred to another gay guy as a gay.

Maybe they'll call in a psychic to help with their inquiries.

[quote]That's what's so frustrating about this topic on DL -- we don't know much, and those of us saying that we need to wait and see and get more information are being ignored in favor of people like you who write entire essays without realizing that you don't know enough to even write a paragraph.

Agreed.

We know he was attacked or else the hospital would have called him out on that.

We know he was out there because there's video of him outside at that time.

We know he did go to Subway since one of the two videos of him is in a subway.

We just don't know the circumstances around it and we just don't have video or images of the incident.

I imagine if he ever speaks up we'll find out more.

[quote]Cheapest bid to delegitimize someone you disagree with ... ever

Framing what you disagree with as being said by "the gay" is an actual example of trying to delegitimize someone based on their identity.

You were unable to disagree with what I said without mentioning that I am gay, which is of course beside the point. When I called you on it, you did the sadly typical thing of accusing me of what you had actually done.

These threads are bringing out the absolute worst people on DL.

[quote]The letter would almost have to be legitimate.

If it's not the FBI will know soon. It would be extremely bizarre for Jussie to mail or have someone mail fake hate letters to the Fox station. The only reasonable explanation I can think of would be blackmail.

Between Empire and his other projects, Jussie is busy all the time. When he posts on social media he is always traveling, getting ready for a gig, or working on something. I seriously doubt he has time for any other shenanigans.

IMO Its either a coordinated effort by some MAGA looney tunes who have targeted him, or Jussie has got himself seriously caught up with the wrong people and they are blackmailing him.

Or they’re completely unrelated.

I'm guessing he was near his place of residence because anyone at 2am would take an uber to go get food. It's weird they have footage of him walking, but no footage of the attack. Does that mean they see him getting home w/o an attack, or that they dont have all the footage reviewed?

David Begnaud of CBS is a credible source for info, and he is an openly gay man as well. I trust his sources and reporting.

R124, I agree. He could have said “The guy who...” but intentionally said “The gay who....”

R123 Actually, we don't know that he was attacked just because he "self transported" to the hospital. The hospital can't give out any details as to why he was admitted (HIPAA).

r129 The FBI and local law inforcement can get that information as part of an investigation, since they haven't called bullshit yet i'm assuming he was injured.

well, is there any video footage of him with a noose?

Without knowing what footage they have, we don't really know where he was seen. It sounds like there's a big gap between seeing him walking and at the Subway, and then later at Frank's place. But even that's speculation, because we just don't have enough info yet.

R118: Bless you. What you said goes for every RACIST HOMOPHOBIC CONSERVATIVE TROLL on this thread and the previous who are trying to de-legitimize this and use a stupid race-baiting "crime" Twitter feed which is NOT REPUTABLE JOURNALISM to try to back up their stupidity. GET OFF THIS BOARD, YOU MISERABLE FUCKS, YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE!

What has TMZ gotten wrong so far that we know of?

r133 = MARY!

[quote]You were unable to disagree with what I said without mentioning that I am gay,

Go to bed, you’re drunk.

R134: The MAGA stuff and I believe the hospital/he/the police have not disclosed total injuries. Everything else the police have confirmed.

Injured does not equal "attacked"

I would've titled the thread 'Jusstice for Jussie'

It'd be great if jessie tomorrow could make a statement about what happened and clear things up about what exactly happened if he doesn't that might be a bad sign.

R129 said,

[quote]Actually, we don't know that he was attacked just because he "self transported" to the hospital. The hospital can't give out any details as to why he was admitted (HIPAA).

but then,

[quote]The FBI and local law inforcement can get that information as part of an investigation, since they haven't called bullshit yet i'm assuming he was injured.

Thanks R130. That has happened before with other incidents like these. The police immediately know the person wasn't injured (Corey Feldman) from the hospital and it quickly goes away.

The reporter linked earlier on Twitter on Twitter laid out the timeline pretty well.

He went outside sometime around 2:00 AM.

There's footage of him on the street and inside of a Subway.

Something happened/he said he was attacked.

He went home.

The police were called to his residence and spoke with him.

He went to the hospital after since they probably told him to.

R140's entire comment: OH, DEAR!!

If this turns out to be false, this will be the second false racist allegation made by a member of the cast. Remember when Taraji P. Henson claimed her son had been racially profiled by police and pulled over? She then walked back the claim after the LA Times got video of the traffic stop and discovered nothing of the sort happened and her son was treated in a professional manner.

Her apology after the LA Times outed her lie

This is probably why Taraji Henson has been silent on Twitter...she doesn't want the media to remember her false allegation.

It’s weird. On one hand, I feel bad that this happened to him.

On the other hand, I now hope it happened because I hate to think Jussie lied. I like the guy, and if this isn’t true, it’s a mess.

R97 But I do know.

Not only does Jussie's version of events seem untrue, its seems like what someone would make up to get attention/sympathy. It seems like something someone who was on stimulants would make up. Plus the similarity between his account and the accounts of Moron Downey, Jr., that fat little cuntface with the backwards "B" carved into her head by Obama haters, Twanna Banana, and that gay YouTube kid are just too great. Plus his paranoid/strange posts on social media in the last few days seem exactly like posts leading up to an episode like this.

If I were on a jury, would I vote to convict him of lying on these facts alone? No. But, we're on a gay message board, so I'm just expressing what I strongly believe to be true.

I am completely open to hearing some concrete evidence that he was attacked- but that evidence is not forthcoming because it doesn't exist.

Again, I feel sorry for the kid, and I hope he gets help.

Only of Datalounge would there be a movement to disprove that a gay, black man was attached. You people are pure trash. Im cancelling my subscription.

What liquid does not freeze at zero degrees? Because that would be the big clue about what the assailants used to douse him.

They then hit him in the face, poured a substance — suspected to be bleach — on him and put a rope around his neck, police said.

When officers showed up at the apartment, the rope was still around Smollett’s neck, said Guglielmi, who described the rope as a “thin, light rope.” Guglielmi said the rope didn’t necessarily resemble a noose.

[quote]But I do know.

No, you missed the point R147. Your "beliefs" are not "facts."

r147, it is quite possible that he was attacked, but the true story leading up to incident (which could be related to drugs or a hook-up gone wrong) have yet to be revealed in full detail.

That doesn't automatically make him a nutcase who needs help, like all those other people you have mentioned over and over on these threads like a broken record today.

[quote] Only o{n} Datalounge would there be a movement to disprove that a gay, black man was attached.

A lot of people here love Jussie (me, for instance.) But you have to face the possibility that it's not true. We need to wait for more evidence and conclusions from police.

Gay site Advocate.com did a slideshow in 2016 of 21 LGBT people accused of faking a hate crime. I'm absolutely sure that there are more REAL hate crimes against LGBT people than fake ones, but fake ones are a thing.

No, r130, they can't just nget hospital records. A court order would be needed.

R148 you should write a sternly worded letter, too!

Uh, r149, you do realize that most liquid doesn't instantly freeze at 0°.

R153 - I totally forgot about the Whole Foods Fag cake guy! I was skeptical of that one too at the time (he didn’t realize until he was home and filmed it?) and just like now the cries were deafening.

I just have a good BS meter I suppose.

It would have been -12 to -20 degrees at 2am that night (not disagreeing with either of you, just saying it was colder than 0 degrees F and that's not even counting wind chill in the windy city).

Maybe trumps shutdown sent him over the edge.

Iyanla has spoken! Will she sit down with the attackers and set them on the righteous path?

Somebody aleady posted that it was 12° degress, r158. The very cold weather hadn't set in yet.

The reports have said he had a role around his neck, but that it didn't resemble a noose. I still think that whoever allegedly attacked him was trying to do more than just attack him; they wanted to kidnap him, or worse.

But the optics of a rope around a black man's neck does scream lynching and racism.

It is rather disturbing how quickly rumor and conjecture can turn into !FACTS! as we are seeing in this event. Thanks to everyone here who posts reminders that many purported "facts" have not yet been confirmed as such.

Regardless of what did and did not happen, I’m astonished that a popular actor who gained notoriety and received threats after making controversial political statements (including an anti-Trump song called “Fucked Up World”) - feels safe walking alone in a big city after 2 AM, when just having a vagina makes it too dangerous for a woman to even consider doing same.

R164 you didn't consider trans! They are being murdered every minute!!!!!!

Well - R165 - I can’t speak for trans, but my cis lady friends observe self-assigned curfews or use the buddy system when going out in the wee hours of the night. I guess if my male privilege is ever suddenly revoked by some random hooligans who clock me as gay, I would probably be in shock and denial after the attack.

This statement from HRC seems off:

'Last year alone, at least 26 transgender people, mostly transgender women of color, were brutally murdered. This is an unacceptable crisis, and HRC continues to press for improved reporting, passage of state laws that protect LGBTQ individuals from hate crimes, and expanded education and training initiatives.'

Is 29 people an epidemic? Aren't there millions of trans in the US?

[quote]I assume Zac Efron will be playing Jussie in the FX Mini-Series?....Produced by Ryan Murphy?

Don’t be ridiculous.

What I find odd is how his spokesperson hasn't put out a statement to clarify what happened. I think I've seen that in most cases like this involving a celebrity especially as there's been a few contradictory statements.

R167 - Wow - you totally missed my point: that male celebrities (or notorious figures), who in the past were able to go and do as they pleased, have to become more guarded in public, like women in our society. It’s weird that JS did not figure that out by now. As for the trans statistics - they belong in another thread.

R169 Good point - Why isn’t his publicist putting out some kind of statement? Apparently he still plans on performing in LA this weekend. I would expect to hear something from his camp tomorrow given the attention this has garnered from various news outlets, Hollywood celebrities and social media.

Count me as someone who has doubts. I'm black and gay, but the whole story sounds like something from Tyler Perry, or an episode of Queen Sugar on OWN. Maybe he's had some type of mental break?

People's b.s. detectors are seriously out of whack if they couldn't identify this story as such from start to finish. That includes you, respected news purveyor ABC news.

Thanks, R172. I doubted it from the start, and it PAINS me to be called racist or homophobic, even though I'm gay. There have been opposite situations where alt right people have falsely claimed to have been attacked by blacks or ANTIFA and I was just as fast to call them out. Has nothing to do with race or sexual preference. Fake stories are universal. The truth MATTERS.

It could be fake. But he didn’t lie about being in subway and he was there alone so not showing a hookup gone wrong. He got a rope from somewhere so he had some kind of encounter. He had some kind of injury so something happened.

The story does sound unbelievable but some of that is from media reports. Jussie has yet to make a statement so we really don’t know what he said happened

[quote]He got a rope from somewhere so he had some kind of encounter.

He could’ve brought it himself. The rope doesn’t equal an encounter.

R176 Yes, he could have brought I think self, but you have nothing to base that on. Nothing.

[quote]you have nothing to base that on. Nothing.

Calm down. Note the word ‘could’ not ‘did’. R175 said his having a rope meant an encounter; it doesn’t.

TMZ is run by lawyers. They don’t invent stuff.

r179 Oh, my sides!

Ah, the DL amateur sleuths. So convinced of your idiocy.

The rope didn't resemble a noose? What did it resemble? An ascot?

Jussie just Executive Produced a show in 2018 called America Divided. This fits right in with that theme.

It was 2 in the morning so no I doubt he could have bought a rope. Rope stores are usually closed by then

R164 I once read an interesting comment from a man in his 80s. He said that for the first time in his life, and owing to his age, he was actively scared to walk the city streets at night alone. He said this fear was so alien to him. His wife replied "welcome to my world."

[quote]It was 2 in the morning so no I doubt he could have bought a rope. Rope stores are usually closed by then

Brought, not bought.

The rope could have been some macramé from Frank's place. Without the police body cam video we don't know yet what his decorating style is like and whether or not this makes sense.

Maybe he was on drugs and don't remember all the details.

It wasn't below zero -- looks like it would have been about 10F during the attack.

And we don't know anything about the liquid but something tells me it was either booze or soda that the assholes had on them. TMZ and/or Grape Juice seem to have made up the bleach thing.

I wonder if that was the first piece of hate mail he received? I mean, it he got those kind of letters on a regular basis, it was foolish to go out alone in the middle of the night.

We'll see if he continues to make scheduled appearances, but I'd bet tomorrow he's going to wake up and realize, no, he can't do anything for several days.

He may just want to lie low because, when it comes to events like this, so many people immediately assume the person is lying for attention or publicity.

There are several 24-hour rope stores in Streeterville.

There's a whole rope district just a couple blocks east of the hammock district.

This is all a publicity stunt for Jussie’s new movie. He remade Hitchcock’s Rope (shot for shot, Van Sant style) and the soundtrack is all R&B covers of songs from Nirvana’s Bleach album.

.....

I wish every thread about a person began with "justice for". It would make DL seem so noble.

Exclusive footage of him fighting off his attackers in the rope factory

With the whole students and the tribal man nonsense, and now this being done by alleged Trump supporters... TRUMP is gonna win again! thanks

There once was a man called Jussie, who wasn't particularly fussy, when it came to tall tales about marauding males, he fucked himself right up the mussy.

If Neil Patrick Harris faked a hate crime—what would the reaction be here on Datalounge? 100% hate. For Jussie “Fuck no” Smollett, there’s sympathy.

NPH is not the type of person who would fake a hate crime

I thought I heard on the CBS morning show that Lee Daniels deleted his post about what happened to Jussie.

Lee Daniels' post is still up

He's upset Adam Rippon!

Adam Rippon @Adaripp

What happened to Jussie has me feeling so upset. I dont want to believe that we still live in a world where attacks like this can happen. Jussie, I don’t know you, but I love you. The men that attached him are disgusting. They are monsters.

There's even a theme song to this on going drama!

Anthony Guglielmi Anthony Guglielmi @AJGuglielmi · 16h

UPDATE: We continue to seek any available evidence/video to identify possible offenders in this case. Anyone who may hv been in area of 300 E North Water St btwn 1-3a should send info to cpdtip.com. Thus far we have not found anything to be able put out a description.

What's this about transgender women being killed en masse?

Can someone please direct me to information about transgender women deaths UNrelated to the profession of prostitution or during a domestic relationship gone wrong. TIA.

So those deaths don't count, R206?

What a strange little man you are.

Shut up u racist trasphobe bigot, r206 ! Our Trans siisters are being decimated by these MAGA-sporting white devils...oh wait

Sum ting wong.

Man, the trans obsessives are crazy. Christ, can we stay on topic?

The cops should check Jussie's trash for cut up magazines.

[quote]I still think that whoever allegedly attacked him was trying to do more than just attack him; they wanted to kidnap him, or worse.

If the video showed he looked fine and heathy at the subway but had injuries by the time the police saw him, then something had to have happened. If they have video of him walking back to his hotel looking fine then they immediately would have called it a hoax.

I’m surprised the hotel doesn’t have video surveillance

R213 The best I can tell, with the timeline police provided, he did not go back to his hotel. He went to his friend Frank's house. And roughly 40 minutes later Frank called the police.

Of course there are racially and homophobically motivated attacks every day all over the world, but don’t these details seem a little too... on the nose? TMZ has already been caught fabricating details like the men screaming “this is MAGA country.” Two men in ski masks carrying bleach and a rope and they just happen upon a famous black gay actor who they name check and then attack? I don’t know, it doesn’t pass the smell test. My hackles immediately went up when I read the details. It seems like... a lot.

If it did happen, I’m genuinely horrified and it cements Chicago’s reputation as a complete shithole, but then again, it’s Chicago, not Missouri or Alabama. It just feels weird, and I won’t be surprised if the story or details change as the pressure intensifies in the coming days. This will be very very bad for Jussie if it turns out he lied. The whole country is paying attention. We don’t need this kind of bullshit attention, and I say this as a gay man who has dealt with homophobic attacks. What gay man hasn’t?

Frank got a little rough while they were fucking.

I think it's a little weird that he hasn't made a statement at all. He hasn't made a statement to his fans saying thank you for the support or the prayers or thoughts. He hasn't given update on his condition. It's been complete radio silence from him

[quote]He's upset Adam Rippon!

This is like honey to virtue signalers. It’s all over my social media.

One actress posted an image of an article about it in her IG story, the article saying he was “allegedly attacked.” She manually crossed out allegedly and underlined the words “hate crime” three times.

In our social media age, things quickly stop being about their subject matter — they become about what you can say about yourself by responding to them.

It would be understandable if the attack and trauma were real R217. Who knows how people respond to such things and social media and fans and PR are the least of an attacked person’a concerns.

He’s trying to figure out how to spin this.

I think it’s fake. I think he won’t say anything. He’ll just let it slide. This will be forgotten this time next week and his handlers know that.

He probably doesn’t like being the victim. As a masculine, dominant top, I would hate it if something like this happened to me. I’d want it kept quiet, too. And I’d rather the police just told me who did it so I could find the bastards and settle the score myself.

Jussie’s a dudebro?

[quote]TMZ has already been caught fabricating details like the men screaming “this is MAGA country.” Two men in ski masks carrying bleach and a rope and they just happen upon a famous black gay actor who they name check and then attack? I don’t know, it doesn’t pass the smell test. My hackles immediately went up when I read the details. It seems like... a lot.

Actually, it seems that TMZ did get all the details correct.

JM didn't immediately tell the cops about "MAGA country". He told someone who told TMZ. The cops then read about it and did a "supplemental" interview where he confirmed it. The bleach was from the cops who said the substance had a bleach like smell but confirmation was needed.

[quote]If the video showed he looked fine and heathy at the subway but had injuries by the time the police saw him,

Darfur Orphan finally made it to Chicago and he was not going to let that Italian BMT with extra olive oil get away.

yeah he could be embarrassed. I'm just waiting for the urban black gays to read him for not being strapped while walking alone at 2am, in Chicago of all places. Jussie talks like he has those hands, but I guess he cant fight

[Quote] He probably doesn’t like being the victim. As a masculine, dominant top, I would hate it if something like this happened to me. I’d want it kept quiet, too. And I’d rather the police just told me who did it so I could find the bastards and settle the score myself.

Too late, he let himself get sent to the hospital after a fight, with only two guys. I'd say he's the opposite of a masc dudebro

"So those deaths don't count, [R206]?"

Of course they "count", and no one said they didn't. But in the vast majority of cases, prostitution and racism are what led to their deaths, not being trans. (Unless you'd like to point us to the statistics on the HUGE number of white trans males who are murdered for working in STEM fields.)

[quote] NPH is not the type of person who would fake a hate crime

Of course he wouldn't. He's too busy perpetrating real ones by bankrolling his husband's career.

[quote] Two men in ski masks

So they wore MAGA hats over their ski masks?

There has never been MAGA hats in this story.

[quote] There has never been MAGA hats in this story.

Yeah, but it's had everything but the bloodhounds, snappin' at her rear!

Yes R229. White gay men are hated here way more than black PEOPLE regardless of sexuality. So, if NPH faked his own hate crime like Jussie did (and he did), he would be crucified by 99% of the posters here. So enough with Datalounge being “racist”. It’s the complete opposite as threads about Muslims throwing acid into the faces of gay men, for example get deleted instantly. Datalounge is very pro-minority...and pretty strongly anti-gay. There are a few racists but the anti-white gay far out number them.

Jussie should have staged this in Covington, KY. It would have been far more believable.

There was nothing staged! He was ATTACKED! GAY BASHED!

i'm sorry but I need to see the rope. I mean, if it was targeted, the perp would use a better quality rope rather than "string" and he didn't do a good job beating up Jessie. fucking useless attackers. They must be just kids.

[R235]

Can you take a minute off from the OTT screaming to translate this post for us?

сексуальный русский мужчина это один сексуальный мужчина, согласен товарищ?

This is one of your posts in another thread.

Why is it in Russian?

[quote]There was nothing staged! He was ATTACKED! GAY BASHED!

Then his attacker had to know him because people don't randomly wander the streets of Chicago in cold weather at 2:00 am hurling gay slurs at black men. Especially in Chicago which has a history of illegal gun use.

Hussie didn’t think this through.

Misc. stuff from Google news and ABC news.

* The attackers yelled "MAGA country" as they beat him.

* Lots of celebrities (Cher, Regina King, Viola Davis) and lawmakers (Joe Biden) have show Jussie support through social media accounts.

* Police say an "unknown chemical" was poured on him.

* Jussie inadvertently shared his flight schedule to Chicago on his social media account prior to the attack, so it's possible that someone really motivated to hurt him had that information.

Oh wow, that was not very smart. so fucking stupid. esp when you receive hate mail. Well, he's an actor, not rocket scientist.

Toxic masculinity attacked jussie

Viola Davis said on Instagram-

[quote] 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!

But what are his injuries? He only had a scrwtch in his cheek..

You’d think violent MAGA thugs w ropes and bleach who have been stalking him and prepared for an attack wo evidence would have roughed him up more???

Has any of the other cast members said anything yet?

R244, I think I read a broken rib.

I know who attacked him. It is the imaginary Gillette men with their damn toxic masculinity.

Broken rib was a TMZ lie. He had been to get some BBQ and it was a broken rib from his meal.

From BBC.com

Jussie's co-star, Grace Byers, is among those expressing their horror at the attack.

"This despicable act only shamefully reveals how deeply the diseases of hatred, inequality, racism and discrimination continue to course through our country's veins," she said.

Naomi Campbell, who starred in the first two seasons of the musical show about a hip-hop mogul whose sons and ex-wife fight over his business, said that one of the most beautiful things to happen to her when working on Empire was meeting Jussie Smollett.

Alongside a picture of the two of them, she called on the Mayor of Chicago to catch the "despicable people" who have committed this "act of hate".

Other celebs-

Singer and actress Janelle Monae also shared a photo of herself with Jussie.

"It is still a risk daily to be a BLACK, OUT and PROUD human being," she wrote.

[quote]Jussie inadvertently shared his flight schedule to Chicago on his social media account prior to the attack

Oh, that's not good. People are crazy nowadays.

The poll on this post overwhelmingly saying the DL believes Jussie relieves some of the tension I was feeling about even visiting this place anymore, given the trolls that've filled these threads with their hate-mongering and racist bullshit. They're just screaming louder, like they always do since they know they're losing

Christ, questioning whether this happened does not make someone a troll. I don't know if this happened, but to quote M, I have such doubts. And I completely believed it when I first heard about it before we learned more.

[quote]people don't randomly wander the streets of Chicago in cold weather at 2:00 am hurling gay slurs at black men.

They do if they're a bunch of drunken assholes out trying to scrounge up food after a night of drinking cheap beer. Nearly every time I've gotten shit from randos who were borderline violent was at night when the bars closed at 2AM. I know not all bars close at 2AM in Chicago, but a lot do.

R251 MARY

R252, as I said before, if you look at what the people shouting "he's lying" the loudest are saying on other threads, you'll see that many are trolls. That's what people are reacting to.

Ed Buck is somehow involved.

[QUOTE]The poll on this post overwhelmingly saying the DL believes Jussie

What poll is that? It’s barely above 50%!

Wow and they can’t find the perps—they can’t find anything. Just wow.

R255 they've been drowned out by posters like you MARYing up the place with endless condemnation, scolding, DL-shaming, and other schoolmarm-esque bullying tactics. We get it, you're offended and want them to shut up. Enough already.

No video of any crime. Despite cameras everywhere.

You do the math.

[quote]No video of any crime. Despite cameras everywhere. You do the math.

Jussie is a ghost and doesn't show up on film?

Actually, R260 & R261, the authorities recovered a number of videos and images from surrounding cameras.

They only show Jussie walking around by himself. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

There is video of him in Subway, there is video of him walking around. There is apparently no video of any possible perps. As they said they can't even release a description of possible subjects of interest yet.

That is a red flag, how could it not be.

Troll = someone who doesn't fall in lockstep with my worldview

EXACTLY R264

Since we don't know what video the police actually have, we can only speculate. People who want to think this is some devious hoax to frame innocent MAGAts will say "there's no video so it never happened" when the truth is we have no idea what can be inferred by the lack of video at all.

No, having doubts about this is not racial trolling, but you tried it.

Police officially doubt Jussie’s attack story.

Has Jussie said anything yet?

R266 I'm not a MAGA person in the least. As soon as I saw Jussie's account I thought "didn't happen." The lack of video, and never every development since then furthers that view.

Jussie's actions don't make sense.

He gets a threatening letter sent to him a week ago which they consider serious enough to alert the press and give to the FBI

Jussie turns down additional security provided by the studio

He vaguebooks something weird about "frauds" on Twitter

He Instagrams his flight schedule the day of the flight

He then Instagrams himself on the plane with updates to tell everyone he's late

He then goes out at 2am in ten degree temperatures, alone, unprotected, to Subway

After he is allegedly attacked - which no video exists of - he goes to his friend's house instead of a hospital and calls the police a half hour later

He then checks himself into a hospital and Facetimes his drama queen faux father, who screenshots it and sends it to the press

He leaves the hospital and goes home, talking to his friends etc.

Words leak out about the attackers shouting "MAGA country" which he didn't tell police when they came shortly after the alleged event

The police contact him to ask about that, and he changes his story to add that detail

He hasn't said anything about this so far to the press or released a statement even though he's normally very active on Instagram and Twitter

R268 BOOMTOWN fuck you pearl clutching cunts. And especially the guy who, when he realized most people didn't believe Jussie's story, started voting over and over again to skew the results.

He made it up. I knew he made it up. It was obvious from second one.

Heh. The "insider" on Media TakeOut is some fence-sitting "maybe it happened, maybe it didn't" character. It's not really believable, and it's DEFINITELY not "police [bold] officially [/bold] doubt" the story.

Pitiful trolling around here this morning.

"Aren't you that f**got Empire n**ger?"

Yeah, that fucking happened. :EYEROLL:

The ladies of the view didn't even bring this up. Hostin is a former federal prosecutor, and I bet she asked to not talk about the story because she smelled something fishy about it.

The problem is, R273 that people are going to see R268's troll post.

Not even read the actual post and decide that R268 was correct.

As you said none of that comes from the police and even then it said this:

[quote]MTO News spoke with a person close to Jussie with INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE into the investigation - who tells us that police are not convinced that Jussie is telling them everything. The insider told MTO News, "Jussie is holding back information."

Which is also what some more reasonable people are saying here: he may have been attacked, but he's not being entirely forward about what happened.

R276 and r273 conveniently left out this part of the article:

“The insider added, "I can't say that Jussie wasn't attacked. But it didn't [happen] like he said it did, and the police don't believe him either."

Alright, it’s looking increasingly like the story is bullshit. Jussie might have some mental health and/or substance abuse issues. He needs to come clean.

Janet Jackson had the safest and smartest comment on her social media account. She posted a picture of her and Jussie, and simply said, "Sending my love."

This never happened.

My ex-BF (who is black) called me this morning, to ask some advice about a new CPU I gave him, but immediately brought up the Jussie story. I don't really follow Jussie: I know who he is, but I don't watch that series. My BF DOESN'T believe he's being honest. In cases like this, I pay attention to what black Americans think. I consider myself lucky to have access to that point of view.

R277, How is that "conveniently" left out? The lines in R276 and the line you quoted both say the same thing? Stop being willfully obtuse.

Investigation is “at a standstill” according to update just aired on MSNBC.

I refuse to believe TMZ was right. I REFUSE.

R282 where in r276 post do they mention the part that states “police don’t believe him either”? You and r276 are trying to make it seem like Jussie just left out a few minor details from his report. But police do not believe him, period.

R279 that's good because clearly he's troubled. I don't really hold this against him. He's clearly having some trouble with fame.

Truth or fiction, right or wrong...I find the situation sad.

I know that the Chicago PD has been issuing updates via Twitter, but would it be unprofessional for them to tweet the "Sure, Jan" GIF?

Oh come on people. Even tho he posted his flight info on IG, how would anyone know he would go to some Subway at 2:00AM and lie in wait for him? It beggars all belief. Jessie’s political stunt or mania or drug induced psychosis is pulling law enforcement away from legitimate crimes in Chicago. He needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for this charade. Or knowing Hollywood, he’ll probably star as himself in the movie version of this story directed by Bradley Cooper.

This situation is sad. SAD. If Jussie was white fuck him, but he’s black and I’m gay and AFRAID of blacks. This situation is sad.

^ Obvious troll

So I see a lot of “poor Jussie” “he’s obviously having a mental breakdown” “he shouldn’t lose his job over this”

Where you people this empathetic when that dumb white bitch lied about being attached by a black man in South Carolina?

When this comes out that Jussie made this up because of his hatred for white people, I hope he’s charged for faking a police report. BUT I have a feeling this investigation, which is now “stalled” will turn into a cold case to protect this asshole.

Where = Were ^^^

Yes, R292. Pathetic. This world is crazy and upside down.

Chicago is the definitely not MAGA country. Only 12.7% of the city voted for Trump, less than either New York City or Los Angeles. I’ve never seen a red MAGA hat worn here and I can’t imagine anyone who’d try it not getting their ass beat.

[quote]Jessie’s political stunt

Oh, HIS political stunt? You claimed earlier in the thread to have inside info about Smollett acting erratically on set, then disappeared. Maybe you should be more concerned with YOUR stunts, troll.

HAHA R292!

where did he say he was attacked?? some blind spot?

maybe he fell down and made up a story?

was he on drugs? what did the tests say?

the hate mail could be separate issue.

These guys didn't wear MAGA hats.

Are you really saying that the attackers being wrong about the voting demographics of Chicago means they don't exist? No one who says "this is MAGA country" is being literal, R296. Come on now.

When Jussie's story turns out to be false, he'll claim he was trying to show how gay black celebrities vulnerable to racist attacks. The fact that he made everything up will ignored by everybody who bought into this.

I meant to say R295 at R301, sorry.

Now the FBI is involved. This better be true story, not made up BS. is he mental? FBI could be solving real crimes instead of handling this mental case.

Staged. Sent the note to Fox and had Frank scratch the face. Easy Peasy.

r292... LMAO you do realize his father is White. Jewish. lmao! But okay sis go off!

He should be fired. Or let his contract run out. What a stupid cunt if it's not true.

Does the FBI have time for this? Aren't they still looking into the hackers who time-traveled to insert homophobic comments into Joy Reid's blog.

[R302]

You didn't post at {R301], so I'm confused why you're linking my post to [R295].

R305 stop. You know he’s gone on record how he would never date a white, which is find But then he refused for his empire character to date a white.

[r301] Not saying the attackers don’t exist or anything about the incident (and I didn’t mean to imply they were wearing hats themselves), just that Chicago is generally a very anti Trump place. It’s about as far from MAGA country as exists despite being in the very MAGA Midwest. So it’s just another interesting detail that people aren’t talking about. Along with people implying how this is just another example of how dangerous Chicago is when the incident took place in one of the poshest areas of the city.

R305 Jewish does not equal white, but okay sis go off!

Pretty sure his original latino love interest on the show was technically white..

r311 clearly you saw the period after white. But go off sis!

Chicago police say detectives have reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance footage but haven’t found any yet that shows the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

Stop saying sis! It and y'all are earmarks of trolls.

HEY!! Stop saying anyone who says "y'all" is a troll.

I say y'all all the time, and I'm not a troll! I'm just southern trash!

Fuck, it's threads like this that make me recognize what a fetid septic tank the Datalounge is.

It almost makes me ashamed to bank you pathetic idiots' buck-fifties.

r315 sis chill sis!

R317 MARY

Well, he's an actor, he lies for a living...

What a stupid cunt, did he think he would be able to get away with it?

He fell down right?

r317 your mascara is running!

Vice Presidents weighed in, senators...and he’s probably lying and nothing will happen to him?

What a piece of shit.

I can see this being meth related if it turns out to be false. I had an ex friend who would do crazy shit late at night/early morning while high as shit. One of the times was when he cruised a straight guy and got jumped/beat up. He also just loved driving around the city "looking for stuff" ...

[quote]Frank got a little rough while they were fucking.

R216 Then why not go to the E.R. and explain away the broken rib with the old “I fell off the swing” excuse? (Which, in this case, may be partially true.)

[quote]Frauds are everywhere y’all. Protect the mind, heart and spirit of you and your people at all costs. Just remember... Salt, cocaine and anthrax can all appear to be sugar...(the “refined” kind of course) just be careful out here fam. Happy Sunday. Love you. Real talk. Love on.

Irony.

All the politicians who jumped on this are going to feel really bad when the truth comes out.

What is it about the empire set that’s making them make up stuff. Did Taraji ever explain herself

Wait a sec - how come Frank didn’t accompany his partner for a sandwich at that ungodly time, when muggers are on the loose? That is NOT being a good friend. (I can’t imagine letting my BF do that, unless we had a horrible fight and he stormed out.)

Don't bring in the FBI, they're very busy. They're still working on my hacked-website claim.

At 2am in Chicago? With that windy, ice cold weather? If my boyfriend wanted to go out for a sandwich, his ass would be traveling alone no matter how much he begged me to come.

I guess when you’re dying for a 12-inch, nothing will stop you.

The very anti-gay, pro-Trump Breibart website's comment section has reached a consensus: he's lying, and if he did have injuries, it's from a Grindr hook-up gone wrong.

Discuss among yourselves how this compares with the DL consensus.

The attackers who suddenly and coincidentally recognized him just happened to have a rope and some bleach on their persons. If ever "Sure Jan" fit the circumstance this is it.

He was dying for something, alright, and it wasn’t a hoagie. The fact that he said he was going out there that late in that weather for a fucking sandwich should’ve told us something was afoot.

[QUOTE]The fact that he said he was going out there that late in that weather for a fucking sandwich should’ve told us something was amiss*.

What any right wing wacko site says has no bearing on my opinion. And my opinion is that he's been making this up since the get go.

And I DO feel sorry for him. I think he's confused, and fame has fucked him up. He likely felt inadequate, or that he wasn't doing enough in his position to help. This was a very misguided attempt to do that, and in a way, a cry for help.

I live in Chicago land area and I sense a lot of skepticism on the part of the police. They just don't want to come out and call him a liar yet because he's a celebrity. They want to dot i's and cross t's first. But few people get away with making up stories like this especially in the age of cameras.

I'm sorry to say the story doesn't really have a ring of truth. It's too elaborate & has too many components. Beating up someone because they're black/gay is entirely possible but that Maga stuff, the liquid, the rope plus the weather ( even 11 degrees is too cold to be out on a Tuesday morning) makes it unlikely. I'm hoping I'm wrong about this but I think this story calls for some healthy skepticism.

What timing the attackers had! Walking around at that time of night. Carrying rope and chemicals. In ski masks. Just happen upon a gay celebrity. What luck for them! And they knew exactly who he was! MAGA homophobes who enjoy watching "Empire" The mind boggles at the coincidences.

I think R216 may have nailed it.

But he had a cracked rib and a cut on his face. Something happened.

What if he had a hook up with someone who wanted to beat up a queer? And he so he changes the venue from hook-up to side-walk to make it more "respectable." Then he starts getting into the "tangled web we weave" when he starts lying about the other circumstances of the attack.

Or not.

Callum McSwiggin is on Jussie's side.

[quote]Callum McSwiggin is on Jussie's side.

Stop making up names.

Now the conservative sites have picked up this story. This is gonna be a huge mess for liberals unless we get a more credible story about what happened.

Anyone who knows Chicago knows this is not how it goes there. Rich POC are de facto whites. At this time of night this area is a clean pristine safe space. I am lmao about Chicago's "racist voting demographics" somehow validating this story. Rich folk don't attack other rich folk, and only other rich folk who were staying in that rich folk area would be out that late at night.

So is Smollett from Chicago? I know fuck all about the kid but please tell me he was just visiting.

Empire films in Chiacgo, he has been working there for some years now.

I know r268 didn't just post MediaTakeout as a credible source....

Yes, there are Subways just LITTERING the landscape of "rich folk" neighborhoods in Chicago.

Also, I will never get over people saying that racism doesn't exist in Chicago and no one would ever mug a guy while shouting dipshitty "MAGA" things.

Jussie be lyin.

The number of hate crimes decreased from 2016 to 2017, but Chicago still has dozens of hate crimes per year. It's not some utopia where "this never happens because no one votes for Trump here."

I'm very confused about the going out for a sandwich thing (just for starters). I thought I read he was staying at a hotel. The kind of hotel he'd be staying at would have 24 hour room service that would make you whatever type of sandwich you wanted at any hour. Why on earth would he go out in freezing weather to a crappy Subway? Makes absolutely no sense.

It's well-surveilled area. That there are zero leads from video and a very quirky story makes me uneasy. What if it is some kind of made-up event? I am preparing for the possibility.

R344 he’s 36 years old. He’s not a kid.

[quote]What if it is some kind of made-up event? I am preparing for the possibility.

It’s a near-certainty at this point.

[quote]But few people get away with making up stories like this especially in the age of cameras.

Which is why it makes no sense that Smollett would risk literally everything -- career, reputation, friends, future -- to lie about something like this.

He has no history of behavior like this, not even rumors, and the only speculation is the usual racist/homophobic shit about rough trade or drug deals.

So if this was a fake event, when will it be announced? How much longer until the house of cards falls and there is an announcement?

[quote]He was dying for something, alright, and it wasn’t a hoagie.

He was in the Subway, there's video footage of it. It would be odd for an out gay man to go into a Subway as an alibi "just in case" someone saw him hooking up with a guy.

The latest news I heard is that can't find any video of what might have happened, any video of the suspects or any video of a suspects car. I truly hope this is not a made-up story.

[quote]Which is why it makes no sense that Smollett would risk literally everything -- career, reputation, friends, future -- to lie about something like this.

Yeah even if he got jumped by a dealer or by some trade, I seriously doubt he'd risk it all by lying and saying it was a hate crime. I just can't see it. And I doubt he would be concerned about someone seeing him meetup with a guy.

Jussie is the most stupid name ever!

What's mildly humorous is that Piers Morgan very possibly lied about a hospital stay a few days ago when he put on a gown over his clothes and claimed a vegan sausage roll almost killed him, and none of you warriors for truth and justice who are calling for Smollett to be jailed even noticed that.

Who is calling for Jussie to be jailed R360. You do realize there are trolls that come here and post?

R360 We like Piers

I bet if Shawn Mendes got his ass beat out in these streets you guys would believe it!

R360 Did Piers report the sausage roll attack as a “hate crime?”

The OP for one, R361, who wrote that "Jussie made this up because of his hatred for white people, I hope he’s charged for faking a police report." And another poster who said "He needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for this charade." Find the R-numbers yourself.

And of course trolls post here, which was pretty much entirely my point.

Chicago police say detectives have reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance footage but haven’t found any yet that shows the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

If it involves a noose

There's a hoax on the loose

r362 speak for yourself.

r350 he's been living in Chicago while Empire is filming. I'd be surprised if he was in a hotel the entire time.

I don't follow PIers Morgan so that explains my lack of outrage over his lies about vegan sausage rolls. The Jussie Smollett incident, on the other hand, has been commented on by anyone and everyone.

This has all the makings of a disastrous hoax in which I expect we will see twitter commentary from Trump.

Who is this Frank person? If he was hurt, he should have called Florida Evans. She would have seen him safely home.

Moral of the story: Learn to make sandwich

Frank is either his agent or manager, I forgot what they said on the news this morning, r371.

Fox Temporarily Suspends Production on Empire

Because of the weather, R374.

If he's mentally unwell (which I think he is) he wouldn't be thinking about all he stands to lose. Drugs, mental illness or both. This is obviously a lie. Even Joe Biden tweeted about it...people need to use critical thinking skills and stop reacting before the facts are in. It's just like the MAGA freaks who blamed BLM for the five cops recently shot in Houston. Nope, it was a white trash couple being served a warrant. People have forgotten how to think...

His friend is the one who called the cops, though. Jussie didn't want to, Frank is the one who did it. If Jussie was having some kind of mental breakdown or drug-induced incident, why would Frank (who is his manager, right?) call the police?

Frank may have seen an opportunity to get some publicity out of it.

I just hope that Jussie is not a hussie

Why is everyone saying he's a nutcase? It's not like he's ever exhibited Kanye-like behavior...

Any excuse to vilify a black man, r380

Lying or not, this won’t affect his career—which is astonishing.

Again, if they finally come to the conclusion this is a false story, when will it be announced? How long do they usually go over and over these stories etc?

Who gave TMZ the story that included details like the attackers being white and yelling MAGA?

Jussie didn't give those two details to the cops the first time he talked to them.

When the cops got the details of the TMZ article they went back to Jussie, and he amended his story to match TMZ's version.

Follow the money. It’s possible Trump, Schultz or Sanders paid Jussie to do this to sink Kamala’s campaign.

[quote] Fox Temporarily Suspends Production on Empire

At least something good has come from all of this.

“Fox Temporarily Suspends Production on Empire”

[quote]Because of the weather, [R374].

Perfect weather to walk to a sandwich shop at 2 AM, though!

For those of you who said it was fake from the very first min, do you guys follow him on social media? Is he crazy on there?

I don't follow him...I tend to believe victims, give them benefit of doubt.

He won't be fired. He will go to REHAB!

r380 The same reason some people on this thread are making up wild backstories for every little detail to explain how it's somehow "normal", e.g., someone having rope and bleach in 10 degree temperatures on the street in areas without any cameras at 2am in a nice part of Chicago. There aren't enough details, and the ones that we know of don't make sense together. The "he's having a mental breakdown" and "he's on drugs" comments are the same thing, just from a different perspective (the perspective that the story may not be entirely true).

OK. so how did he get those injuries? He hit on a straight guy and got beat up?

So he cooked up this excuse...for the production team at work?

[quote]Investigators “for the most part” can confirm the route Smollett took early Tuesday when he says he was attacked by two masked men along a street in the Streeterville neighborhood, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. However, there are gaps and none of the footage police have reviewed shows an attack, he said.

So they have him going on the route he said he was and they have him in the Subway from other stories.

They're still missing footage of what happened at certain points between that time.

So they'd need footage of that incident for the few minutes that it happened or footage of the men with their masks on which they probably took off.

Or footage of the two men approaching the area or leaving the area, r391, or cars leaving the area around the time of the attack, etc. So far they have nothing.

Keep looking, it's definitely there...

I believe him because he's gorgeous!

There are so many cameras in that area. where is the video of him AFTER the beatings? did he walk normally or limping or looking distressed with rope around his neck? it's that simple and he went to private apt. they have video cameras there too. Did he appear there with rope around the neck?

I wonder if they put their masks on before they spotted him or they were wearing them the entire time R392?

R395, They said they still have a lot of footage to review but they have by no means reviewed all of it.

They just know that he went outside where he said he was and went to Subway like he said he did. The rest, they still don't know.

Also his manager asked the cops to turn off their body cameras before they entered the house.

R380 Read his Twitter. He's a nut:

"Frauds are everywhere y’all. Protect the mind, heart and spirit of you and your people at all costs. Just remember... Salt, cocaine and anthrax can all appear to be sugar...(the “refined” kind of course) just be careful out here fam. Happy Sunday. Love you. Real talk. Love on."

The cops are probably examining the surveillance footage to see if there is any evidence that he already had a broken rib or facial lacerations, to eliminate the possibility that the injuries were from an earlier “domestic situation,” and that he walked to Subway to cover it up or provide an alibi for the perp.

R397, As other articles have stated, asking them to do that when they enter your home is normal for celebs.

R398, That's typical faux deep tweeting from creative types. Find something better.

I didn't believe he went to subway...but there was actually footage LOL. I thought this was a hook up gone bad or drug deal etc.

[quote]from an earlier “domestic situation,”

Do you mean domestic situation with Frank?

This Frank?

r400 it's normal for celebs who aren't at their home, and who just suffered a brutal racial attack? Really? That's their first concern?

R365 so you don’t think there should be consequences for faking a hate crime?

[quote] OK. so how did he get those injuries?

That little scrape on his cheek? I've done worse damage to myself running a hangnail across my face.

[quote] OK. so how did he get those injuries?

The sidewalks / roads are actually very slippery this week. The simplest explanation is he went out for a snack and fell.

It's weird that so many people think it's obvious that a guy starring on network TV show would be walking around at 2 a.m. with bleach and a rope, but that it's impossible to believe MAGA bros would ever do such a thing.

No one's said it's impossible, just highly improbable on both sides.

well, surely there will be videos of him falling? all the camera footage of the route he described...

he's gotta be on drugs.

And this Frank, is he in on it?

[quote]It's weird that so many people think it's obvious that a guy starring on network TV show would be walking around at 2 a.m. with bleach and a rope

Where has the bleach been confirmed?

[quote]it's normal for celebs who aren't at their home, and who just suffered a brutal racial attack? Really? That's their first concern?

R404, For an actor? Their first concern is their image. Maybe he didn't want footage of himself talking about it out there? Maybe he didn't want people to see his face? Maybe Frank didn't want people to see that weed pen on his counter. Maybe he didn't want all of this to go as public as it did?

[quote]This has all the makings of a disastrous hoax in which I expect we will see twitter commentary from Trump.

Trump will definitely call out Kamala Harris for perpetuating “fake news” about this story.

R381 Damn, you’re STILL insistent on calling everyone doubting this obviously fake story a racist - are you sure you wanna die on this hill?

Why don't you all wait until all the facts come out before making judgement...oh that's right, you don't care about truth

So the "you're a racist" "you're a homophobe" sect are now trying to turn this into "Jussie's having a mental breakdown" "Jussie's on drugs" "Poor Jussie"

[quote]Follow the money. It’s possible Trump, Schultz or Sanders paid Jussie to do this to sink Kamala’s campaign.

That a little far-fetched, even for this obviously fake story.

r412 I can think of a hundred "maybes" as well, but that doesn't make them any more true. You seem to be pushing an agenda.

God I hate the name Jussie so much. I picture a fat white southern woman at a pie eating contest. Lets call him JS... k :) So WHEN WILL THE FINAL REPORT be announced? how long do these things take before we get the real scoop?

R418, And that doesn't make what "YOUR" reaction to the the situation that YOU WERE NOT IN more true either.

I think we know what agenda you're pushing.

The bleach hasn't been confirmed, but that's not the point I'm making. There are multiple people on both the threats saying that a MAGA bro would never walk around Chicago looking for somebody to beat up while having rope and bleach in their possession.

The exact same people are saying that Smollett did this to himself. That means they think he was walking around Chicago at 2 a.m. with bleach and a rope to fake this. Yet, a mugger or a racist or a stalker wouldn't have?

That doesn't make any sense, and that's my point. People are grasping for something that they think is the gotcha that's going to prove that Smollett is pulling a hoax to frame innocent MAGA bros, and in the process they are making illogical claims.

[quote]I bet if Shawn Mendes got his ass beat out in these streets you guys would believe it!

That’s not a hate crime because Shawn Mendes is a proud heterosexual.

[quote]He was in the Subway, there's video footage of it.

I need to know what he ate. The cops obviously have his receipt.

The longer Jussie goes without making a public statement the more obvious it becomes this is a hoax.

r420 actually you're just repeating what I said, except with more caps lock. Me personally, I think there's a lot of weird details in the story that need explanation. I'm not saying it didn't happen or that Jussie is a lying liar, just that the information we have been presented thus far leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and it's ridiculous to be calling everyone racist and white etc. when many of us are just saying that the more we learn about this story the more implausible the whole thing seems.

His story is about as valid as hippies chanting acid is groovy whilst killing the MacDonald wife and kids.

Erykah Badu wants facts

Lol at the drama queen who says Erykah Badu asking for the facts "hurt her soul".

Some black twitter accounts are russian bots , right?

Let ME be Frank!

I still think it's very strange that he doesn't have a publicist who has put out a statement thanking his fans for their concern and their well wishes. The silence today from all of his fellow cast members is also strange

r429 not the verified ones.

Erykah Badu is “wise beyond her years”?

[quote]Erykah Badu wants facts

You know a story is fucked up beyond repair when Erykah Badu appears to be the voice of reason.

R433 she wears a big ass head wrap duh!

R426, Or when Ross Perot accused Bush 41 of dispatching a group of lesbians to disrupt his daughter's wedding reception.

Ummmm, the term is "wise behind her ears"

[quote]So the "you're a racist" "you're a homophobe" sect are now trying to turn this into "Jussie's having a mental breakdown" "Jussie's on drugs" "Poor Jussie"

Yes. More division yet obessed with whites.

[quote]The longer Jussie goes without making a public statement the more obvious it becomes this is a hoax.

Jussie is probably on a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold, without access to Twitter.

^ That actually makes more sense

R398 that tweet makes him sound paranoid, dumb and racist

I think r439 nailed it.

can we wait until all the facts come out before we rush to judgment?

LOL r443.

R442 but his publicist isn’t so either they quit or they are doing him a diservice.

LOL welcome to Datalounge, r443 -- you're not gonna like it here!

You must be new here r443

I love some of the dramatic comments under that Erikya article:

Topic Influencer • an hour ago

Erykah is now gone from all of my everything. And that one hurt. I loved me some Ms. Badu do you hear me? But you cannot advocate the BULLSHIT and criminal offenses of a child rapist and then ask for others to hold judgment on a liar who is race baiting AND hollering hate crime. Erykah I loved you. But bish PLEASE.

R443 should be the first/last post on the shortest gossip site thread ever.

Jussie does not "hate white people." Jussie was raised to believe he was special. His getting fame at such a young age confirmed that for him.

However, being gay in the black community ain't easy, and likely gave him a complex. As the years of the show have gone on, he's felt less and less special. Substances get involved, look at his loopy tweet about anthrax and cocaine just a few days ago.

He does this, and the Empire/gay/black/anti-Trump spotlight is suddenly shining on him. He's special again, and a martyr who has suffered nobely for the cause.

He needs a good shrink. Nothing more, nothing less. I have sympathy. I think he can be helped.

Erykah actually already explained herself, SHE WASNT EVEN TALKING ABOUT JUSSIE...

Gasp! You mean that anthrax, cocaine, and sugar Tweet was actually him saying that he got some product that he thought was cocaine, but it was actually sugar, and the man said it was anthrax and tried to get more money out of him for an antidote before Jussie realized it was refined sugar? And his "frauds are all around" comment was actually him calling out the fradulent coke dealer??!?

R450 Growing up in the suburbs with a white dad probably didn’t help either... poor guy is probably getting it from all sides. I don’t blame him for asserting his blackness, and avoiding white partners.

I wonder if writers and editors for LGBT news sites have two versions of the story ready to go. One where assailants are captured and it was a hate crime, and two where it was misinformation and possibly a hoax. Either way I'm sure that toxic masculinity and Homophobia and racism will be blamed

Kevin Hart sends thoughts and prayers::

DL always defend those no blacks/no asians guys so not sure why Jussie wanting to only get with black guys is a mark against him here.

R456 Cause we want some of his BBC

JUSSIE IS A VICTIM REGARDLESS.

[quote]I wonder if writers and editors for LGBT news sites have two versions of the story ready to go.

If it turns out to be a hoax... it will be explained away as a “miscommunication” or some other nonsense. He will never be called out as a liar or a racebaiter.

[quote][R450] Growing up in the suburbs with a white dad probably didn’t help either... poor guy is probably getting it from all sides. I don’t blame him for asserting his blackness, and avoiding white partners.

I often wonder why Jussie never has publicly dated. I have a feeling he does date white men, but he doesn't want to get roasted in the court of public opinion. Not that this has anything to do with him being attacked.

Reminder: he has been gifted with a BBJC.

[Quote]If it turns out to be a hoax...He will never be called out as a liar

You are a crazy person who must love ranting about the "liberal media!"

Jesus christ. His cock is not that large. It's a decent size, but THIS is a BBC, not whatever play pretty Jussie has going on down there:

This is a comment from John Aravoosis who's gay by the way, on twitter re this. He's one of the few I see voicing caution:

"I remember a few years back when I was eviscerated for refusing to accept an anti-gay hate crime, against a lesbian in Nebraska, as legit until the cops did their probe. We found out a week later that she lied, it was a hoax. There’s a reason the media doesn’t jump the gun."

r462 it's kinda true, and then it will all be about, See the perils of mental illness. Do not shame him etc etc.

I do not understand anyone coming down on Kevin Hart for expressing sympathy. (I think Jussie lied, but that's neither here nor there)

I swear the world is upside down. I don't understand anything anymore.

R466 because the midget hates fags like Jussie

Why do I doubt his story? I will paraphrase:

"What a story. Everything but thet bloodhounds snappin' at his rear end..."

R453, just what the hell is "asserting his blackness"? Go suck on your sippy cup and get the fuck over yourself.

R460, as a Latino who has grown up in predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods, the poc who pride themselves SJWs always end up with white boyfriends. The poc was who don’t care about dating white people usually don’t pride themselves to be SJWs.

Yeah, see Jesse Williams. He dumped his black wife for a white woman. Also Fanon (!!!)

r470 exactly. Jussie does fit the SJW profile perfectly. IMHO Jussie might fuck other black and latino men occasionally, but he is not dating them seriously. I'm black and think he's super cute, but I just know he is a piece of work. He is confrontational and Im sure he has fought his share of brothers.

Its probably so much easier for him to just find some white bottoms who will just agree with everything he says, since they are just there for the dick. That's why he gets along with his "father" Lee Daniels so well, they are the same person!

What if he was beaten up by his lover, who was actually... a WOMAN?!@!@

R472 he’s a bottom

Thank you R474. I don’t know why so many here are talking about him as though he’s a top. He screams bottom.

HOW LONG DOES IT USUALLY TAKE FOR THEM TO BE PRETTY CLEAR ON WHAT HAPPENED OR DIDNT HAPPEN? Tired of basically the same opinions being thrown over and over. We get it. None of you are saying anything new, or clever, the shit is laid out.... NOW - How long until the official word?

If this is false he will not work again. Brian Glaser and Ron Howard have voiced their outrage over this. I really hope the police have some video and are just not letting the public know until they catch the people.

Drama queen=huge nelly bottom

Never trust someone that says "trust me."

He vaguebooks a lot, which also screams bottom

[Quote] He is confrontational and Im sure he has fought his share of brothers.

Seriously? He allegedly just got his ass kicked by a couple of maga rednecks.

Lipstick Alley thinks he's lying. He is and he is toast.

Rafer Weigel ‏ Verified account

@RaferWeigel 2h2 hours ago More To be clear. I am not accusing #JessieSmollett of lying. I’m saying #ChicagoPD and Chicago FBI have been working round the clock & have found nothing to support it. And given the extremity of his claims and where they allegedly took place it has them skeptical.

[quote]#JessieSmollett

Rafer Weigel Retweeted Ruben D. Sanchez Jr

If @JussieSmollett did make it up he’s in a lot of trouble. The @FBIChicago is involved. #CPD put a lot of resources into this which he would be liable for. I pray he didn’t make it up for his sake. Rafer Weigel added,

I also don’t buy Empire shut down production due to weather

His booty is pretty flat for him to be a bottom

He seems like he'd be a lazy bottom

R487 there are plenty of bottoms with undisearable asses who just lay there.

Another theory: could the transgender below be the culprit? Last week she kicked an elderly woman in the face, in public.

If he is bottoming it must be for white dudes only, brothers need some more meat in the back

Hang in there, Jussie. I predict that you and I are going to do the New Year's Eve Countdown Show for the Lifetime Channel.

[quote]His booty is pretty flat for him to be a bottom

Which makes me think he's not totally Jewish. True Israelis have plump asses.

R486 Production for “Proven Innocent” was shut down ALSO due to “severe arctic weather.” I can’t believe the lengths Jussie’s handlers are going to in order to cover up this scandal. Shutting down other shows even!

It's really fucking cold there r486. It's not just Empire, Proven Innocent halted production. Other ones like Chicago PD altered production so they are only doing indoor scenes.

Rafer Weigel is a respected journalist for the area. For him to publicly say the cops are skeptical this happened says a lot.

My feeling is that there is something decidedly fishy about all this.

Why don’t these shows film in Hollywood where the weather isn’t an issue?

They must be some really low-rent productions.

Not too cold for 2AM booty calls or drug buys, though.

R498 it’s cheaper to film in flyoverland.

When did Chicago get this “severe artic weather” that shut down TV production? If Jussie braved these freezing gales of wind and snow for a 12 inch ranch melt, Subway should hire him as a spokesperson.

We never shut down production when I was in Suits.

Fox offered him round the clock bodyguards/security but he refused...after hate mail was received.

OK just realized that I'd heard the Target footage showed Jussie walking by himself. If it's a 24 hour Target he could have gotten the rope like product there. Target has tons of cameras.

R486 Pittsburgh is pretty much shutdown and we don't have it half as bad.

[quote]Fox offered him round the clock bodyguards/security but he refused...after hate mail was received.

Oh, honey, when you are offered bodyguards, you take them. It's basically free sex.

[quote]If it's a 24 hour Target he could have gotten the rope like product there.

I’m sure the police/FBI have checked out if any ropes were sold there that night.

R503 he turned it down because he sent it to himself.

well, was he stupid enough to buy rope with his credit card?

Something doesn't add up here. If this didn't actually happen, he has to be crazy. But if he was crazy, how have we not heard about this by now?

The FBI will be testing the envelope/letter for fingerprints & tracking its point of origin. I agree with R508 here.

Just want to add that the letter might be real even if it turns out that the attack was not. The one is not necessarily related to the other. Actors have crazy fans (and haters) and get disturbing shit sent to them all the time.

12 detectives and the FBI are working on this and haven’t found video showing 2 assailants.

[quote]But if he was crazy, how have we not heard about this by now?

Psychotic break, manic episode, there are plenty of mental health conditions that aren’t necessarily chronic or which the person usually has a handle on until- boom. Something stresses them to the point where shit happens.

R498 Empire couldn't be filmed in LA as it's supposed to be in New York. At least Chicago is somewhat similar, especially weather-wise. LA isn't.

Does it really matter if it is all 100% true or not?

The bottom line is people in MAGA caps are evil at heart and only want a white racist country.

I don't understand why they don't film in NYC. lots of shows film here.

He could be on drugs...

He's going to rehab 100%

R514 he seemed like a crazy person (and an asshole)in his previous thread here on DL.

R514 This reminds me of the woman caught on a hotel surveillance camera acting erratically, like someone was following her. She was bi-polar and hallucinating, supposedly - and she ended up drowning in the hotel’s water tank. Very weird case.

I think this is what happened:

-Jussie was on drugs on had a psychotic break. He injured himself and in his delusion became convinced he was being targeted. He went to “Franks” who was concerned with his current state, Jussie made a dumb comment about being attacked by MAGA thugs and “Frank” added fuel to the fire and insisted on blowing up the story and takes him to hospital after calling cops. At the hospital, he FaceTimes Lee Daniels who even further blows it up. The following day, Jussie came to his senses but since his friends blew the incident up to promote themselves as SJWs, Jussie was forced to go along with it. If his “friends” handy blown up the situation for their own purposes, Jussie would’ve probably been apologetic once he came to and this would have never been blown out of proportion. Too late now and now Trump will use this as an opportunity to cast doubt on real queer poc who aren’t opportunistic douchebags but actual victims. Liberals will still continue acting like Hollywood is above America.

Eliza Lam r520. Sadly what happened to her ended up being pretty straightforward, regardless of internet conspiracies. Manic episode, climbed into a water tower on the roof of her motel, drowned. That’s it.

Oh and Jussie will then crawl into the arms of a white man for comfort.

r519, he does act like an asshole sometimes, but nothing that would indicate this level of craziness if he is indeed lying.

And like I said before, I seriously doubt he'd lie over getting assaulted by trade, if that's what happened. I mean its not like he's closeted, that is not something to create a huge lie over. Zeke Thomas admitted he was date raped by a man in Chicago.

Conservatives like R521 will continue to write BS and think it is Shakespeare.

wow, a poster brought up that lady who plays cookie also fibbed about her so son being mistreated by cops but body cam showed they were total pros...so the cast is all nuts. Plus that guy with the small dick with violent episodes...the show should be cancelled.

R526, that’s because rich people of color who go out of their ways to prove how woke and enlightened they are on social media usually have some major mental problems. And despite how much they protest white people, they always end up dating white people.

My prediction is that we hear it is a hoax late Friday afternoon so that it can get buried by the media

I went into a Subway once

police are about to release photos of two suspects the found on cctv

Link R530.

Chief Communications Officer for Chicago PD

R532 OK! If there are legit persons of interest, my bad. Mea culpa. And I hope Jussie is ok.

Still even if they find these 2 guys,, I bet the story still isnt as Jussy says.

he was still wearing the noose when police arrived 45 min later at the apt...hmmm

If he was sexually assaulted, then it makes sense that he was hesitant to seek help.

TMZ, aka: the scourge of the earth, pays all kinds of people for private info, including hospital staff, and cops.

I would be really freaked out if I were a celebrity in a medical crisis situation. Harvey Levin is a vile, vile man, and has no problem fucking people over, or protecting others, for the right amount of $$$$$$.

Where did you get that r535?

[quote]CASE UPDATE: Hours ago #ChicagoPolice detectives located a surveillance camera that shows potential persons of interest wanted for questioning in reference to the assault & battery of Empire actor. A community alert w/ photos is being constructed and will be disseminated shortly.

This is promising, I really don't want Jussie to have made this up but I was losing hope.

Any arrests yet? I mean besides Juicy's?

How is it promising after them looking through hours of videos they find one that actually shows people....

Oooh!

These attackers of real are super intelligent I think. They know how to avoid any cameras, have a deep understand of liberal shows only liberals watch, and they were able to predict that this mofo would want a sandwich at 2am in the morning.

Wait, it’s actually true?

You motherfuckers ought to be ashamed of yourselves for ever doubting Jussie!

We don't know what they found r540, you are creating your own narrative.

From link at r532. This could be bogus, made up, true. Who knows.

[quote]Wait, it’s actually true?

Too early to say that either.

This is a hoax, you idiots.

He hooked up with someone he wasn’t supposed to and got beaten up. End of story.

That post is such make believe from someone bored r543. If Jussie was hanging out in some club that would have been known by now, tons of witnesses. Cops have already said they did actually see him walking around and going to subway.

Can someone please get Part 3 at the ready so we can include the link to it in this thread? Waited too late in Part 1 and it closed before we could post it. This is going to start moving even faster now with this latest news. I would do it, but about to head into a fucking meeting.

Who goes to a meeting at 6:30pm?

R547’s story = bullshit

r541 i don't think its true. those people they finally found on video are probably randoms that have no connection to this incident.

There’s only one gay bar anywhere near his place and it’s a shitty dive bar. Doubt he’d go there and it doesn’t have a VIP room.

R548 I'm in California, asshole.

I dont fully believe the original story, and I definitely dont believe the the post shared at r543

Part 3 here. Made new thread early to avoid what happened in tread 1. so just keep linking sporadically till this tread ends

r550 who said it was a bar near his place? Boystown!

These threads are helping me with vocabulary. I didn't know what saddidy meant before this.

I will make a Part 3 when it’s nevessary. We still have like 45 posts to go. It’s not that serious right now.

Nevessary*

r556 someone already did hunny!

What the fuck. Necessary*

updates!

Me too, r555. I thought sadiddy was a typo and then I googled it.

It technically was a typo since it's spelled saddidy.

police not calling anyone suspects yet

Even a suspect is not called a suspect nowadays R562.

lol r543 I knew it was a only matter of time before some hating ass queens started with the mess

Troll signs:

"Sis"

"Y'all"

"(Word)-ass"

[quote]The images of the two potential persons of interest show them walking in the general area of where Smollett is. It does NOT show an assault. Also the quality of the images is not great. Should be released in next few hours.

Usually when innocent suspects are fingered in a hoax, the hoaxer finally breaks and admits all. If JS sticks to his story after these guys are identified, it’s probably true (or at least he believes it’s true.)

Picture it- Christmas night 2016. I'm thinking my direct deposit won't be going though till the next night. I randomly check and was delighted to find it came early.

I call my dealer and ask if I can get five blues. That's five 30mg of oxycontin pills. She says "come over"

By this time, it's 2:00am on December 26. A cold night in LA. I took an Uber over. Not the best part of LA, but not really the worst part either. I text my dealer "I'm here" she tells me to talk a walk around the block and she'll be ready in 10 minutes.

I'm walking in the cold, and suddenly a guy is walking next to me. Like a moron, I actually had my cash out (around $200) but quickly shoved it in my pocket. The guy smiles and goes "Give me your phone" and I said "No" I hear something behind us, and there is another guy in a hoodie with his hand in the front pocket suggesting bad news.

I decide to run for it. The first guy trips me. I'm 6'5 so I fall HARD and my phone goes flying. They run ahead of me and grab my phone and run away. I get up to run and I fall AGAIN flat on my fucking face.

My nose looks like hamburger meat, I have a big open cut on my chin (needed 4 stitches) and worst of all, I look at my hand and my pinkie is bent backwards, where I tried to stop the fall. I looked way messed up, and blood was pouring from my chin on to my shirt. I wish I could post the picture here.

I goddamned well went to the dealers apartment and got my pills. I was gonna need 'em now.

Then I went to call an uber but realized my phone was gone. I staggered over to an apartment complex with a door man, but he took one looks at bloody me and refused to let me in. He was good enough to call an ambulance. I told the ambulance drivers I fell while taking a walk. They didn't believe me.

I wind up at Cedar Sinai emergency room. A doctor popped my pinkie back into place. My pinkie is still kinda fucked to this day. I was asked to make a police report but declined.

Whenever I told the story to anyone, of course I left out the drugs part and just said I was randomly mugged. I had to make shit up about what I was doing out at 2am in the morning on Christmas night.

R564 and it's total bullshit. how about everybody calm the fuck down and stop spreading unconfirmed accusations and theories?

Part 3 here:

Is Rob Elgas gay? Looking over his Twitter feed he could be a DLer.

I will make the true Part 3 as the thread nears its closing. That other thread is an abomination.

They have persons of interest.

Jussie's sister Jurnee looks like Jussie in drag. Perhaps that's why he went to his manager's house after the attack - could Jussie actually be Jurnee? Is Jussie trans?!!

R571 I’m surprised the poll doesn’t ask if it’s “fake noose?” or “real noose?”

R573 Jussie, Jurnee, what kind of fucking names are those FFS

They are names rich in African history.

Part 3 here:

[quote].@CBSNews reports 12 Chicago police detectives are assigned to the #JussieSmollet case - correspondent Dean Reynolds just reported on the @CBSEveningNews that police have found surveillance video that shows Smollett with a rope around his neck, & potential persons of interest.

They have found footage that shows him with a rope around his neck

So there was a camera in the Subway restroom?

healthy skepticism is good... but his story is checking out

Footage of him with a rope doesn't really confirm or deny things either way, I mean obviously a rope was put on his neck at some point, but it is an interesting new detail.

After screening hundreds of hours of footage, Chicago PD are focusing on 2 persons of interest captured in what authorities called "an encounter" with actor Jussie Smollett. Detectives on the case are trying to ID the individuals picked up by the cameras & want to question them.

Wait, where is your link about it being an encounter with Smollett r582? That is new information.

I’m guessing if the authorities found footage of the “encounter”, the cops already got confirmation from Jussie that those indeed are the men.

I'm skeptical all the other reporting says they are people seen in the area/time point. Saying they had an direct encounter with Smollett is something very different, but that's not what everyone else is reporting right now.

Part 3 here:

His sister is actually quite pretty. And her husband is HOT AF!!!

Over on LSA, there is talk JS was at a gay club and hooked up with someone. That someone had a boyfriend who attacked him. I didn't see any links to an article. Its a different take on how he got hurt, that doesn't involve racism or homophobia.

I can also make up a story of how Jussie was hurt, don't take every random bullshit you see online seriously r588.

It's really odd that his sister isn't commenting. She's super active on social media.

Why would he have to cover that up? Just be honest. That is if it is true. He'd really set back gay progress in the black community if he made this shit up just to cover tracks over some dick ...

[R589]

You need this to be racism or homophobia? Nothing else satisfies you?

R582 - link please?

His brother Jake isn't commenting either

Are you insane r592? You are creating a make believe narrative that doesn't fit with any facts because you read a random message board post. You are as bad as those Qanon freaks. What is wrong with people.

part 3 here:

Can someone post part 3?

[R595]

I'm not creating anything.

Do you think the majority of those posting at LSA want this to be anything that doesn't make him a victim?

There is talk he hooked up with someone who had a boyfriend.

Also, there is now tape that shows two people of interest.

How do YOU know that tape isn't the two guys he may have encountered at a club?

part 3

Gurl, I am not going to continue engaging with you why I am not basing what I think happened off some message board posts on LSA.

Anyway, lets close out this thread.

R598 Interesting. The LSA brigade DO usually make themselves known here in cases like this, yet have been strangely silent this time around.

R498, They may also get tax credits like in Louisiana and Georgia. I think the show is supposed to look like it's in New York btw.

I did see on another site that there are two people of interest.