Don’t call it a comeback. Call it another shameless and truth-challenged stab at relevancy.
Hate-crime hoaxer extraordinaire Jussie Smollett wants to return to show biz.
And with the unmitigated gall of O.J. Simpson claiming he’s still looking for the real killer, the disgraced “Empire” actor wants everyone to know who the real bad guys are.
“The villains are the two people who assaulted me, the Chicago Police Department and, if I may be so brave, the mayor [Rahm Emanuel],” Smollet told Variety in a fluff piece meant to smooth the road for his imminent reboot.
Yes, the perpetual victim is sticking to his infamous story about a 2019 “beatdown” — and channeling the great modern philosopher Shaggy, who once said, “It wasn’t me.”
Smollett has a new R&B album to promote and will be competing on Fox’s reality show, “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” Plus, he was interviewed for the documentary “The Truth about Jussie Smollett?” premiering August 22 on Netflix.
But it matters not which projects he has in the pipeline or in his past. The greatest performance of the actor’s life will always be playing the role of an innocent and wronged man.
According to Smollett, he was assaulted for his skin color and sexuality — and tossed to the wolves by a corrupt mayor and law enforcement attempting to shift attention from their botched handling of a police-involved fatal shooting in 2014.
It’s simply too rich for words. But shame has never been his strong suit.
“We’re living in a world where the higher-ups, their main mission, in order to do all of the underhanded things that they’re doing, is to distract us with the shiny object,” Smollett told Variety.
I would say he’s living in a bubble of delusion if he thinks anyone is buying the baloney he’s peddling.
Smollett’s concocted MAGA fantasy was truly something. He claimed to have left his Chicago apartment at 2 a.m. — during a polar vortex — to grab a delicacy from Jared Fogle’s preferred sandwich shop.
Suddenly, Smollett alleged, a masked man screamed, “Empire!” followed by a gay slur, another “Empire” and then an anti-black slur.
The attacker screamed “This is MAGA country” and punched him in the face. Then a second man joined, and the pair worked him like a tag team on “Monday Night Raw.” Only after they left did Smollett realize they had placed a noose around his neck and doused him in bleach.
The tale was so insane, he should be banned from ever touching a script with his own pen.
Still, sympathy poured in from boldface believers. After all, it was 2019, a time when the truth mattered less than the perception of victimhood.
On Twitter, then-Sen. Kamala Harris called it “an attempted modern day lynching.” Robin Roberts landed an exclusive interview with Smollett on “Good Morning America,” where he cried and shook his fists at the doubters. If only his attackers were “Muslim or Mexican or someone black,” he would have more support, dammit.
He declared himself the “gay Tupac.”
Most sensible people smelled a rat.
Then a pair of Nigerian-American siblings, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo — who had been extras on “Empire” — were busted. During questioning, the brothers Osundairo said Smollett had planned and paid for the beatdown. They even claimed there had been a dress rehearsal.
Smollett was arrested for filing a false police report. Charges were initially dropped in exchange for community service and bond forfeiture. The city of Chicago sued him for reimbursement of the money wasted investigating his hoax — and he had the stones to sue right back, claiming he was the victim of “mass public ridicule and harm.”
He was indicted again, found guilty, and his conviction was upheld on appeal. In 2024, the verdict was tossed on a technicality.
He was not exonerated.
Back in May, he soft-launched his return on instagram, writing, “This false narrative has left a stain on my character that will not soon disappear.”
Subtract the word “false” and this is the most honest statement the man has ever made.
He’s a spotlight-craving fabulist who exploited racial tensions to increase his fame and, apparently, his “Empire” paycheck— with no regard for the tax-payer resources he wasted. Or the public trust he broke.
In a 2019 bit about the hoax, comedian Dave Chappelle repeatedly called him “Juicy Smollye” the “famous French actor,” while “The Daily Show” put out a hilarious Lifetime movie-style spoof. In 2023, Fox News released a documentary where the Osundairo brothers recreated the choreographed fight at the scene of the crime, leaving no doubt that they were far more entertaining than Smollett.
But America is a forgiving place. Just ask Al Sharpton, who weathered the fallout from a disgusting race and rape hoax in the 1980s — and is now treated as a respectable commentator on MSNBC.
What a great country. Not that Smollett will ever admit that fact. Or the real truth about what happened that freezing night in 2019.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source celebrity.land ’
