US actor Jussie Smollett has been found guilty of staging a racist, homophobic attack on himself in Chicago in January 2019.
Smollett, who is Black and gay, claimed two masked men “doused him with bleach, put a rope around his neck and said, ‘This is MAGA country!’”
The actor initially received huge media coverage and sympathy for the fake attack, which prosecutors said he staged to gain public attention and bolster his career.
The jury heard evidence that Smollett hired two Nigerian actors to fake an assault so that he could lie to police and stage a story of being accosted on a street by two masked strangers wearing MAGA hats.
A Cook County Circuit Court jury, which deliberated for nine hours, found Smollett guilty of five of the six felony disorderly conduct counts he faced.
One of the Nigerian actors, Abimbola Osundairo, who Smollett met on on the Chicago set of the hit TV show Empire, said Smollett hired him and his brother, directing them to use racist and homophobic slurs, put a noose around his neck, and beat up on him in a place where the “assault” would be caught on a surveillance camera.
They said Smollett paid them $3,500 (£2,600) to stage the attack.
Smollett, after telling the brothers to wear MAGA hats, then said he was attacked by Trump supporters. The response to the verdict spread quickly across social media.
The riff from comedian Dave Chappelle on the “attack” was widely reposted.
Time to bring back this gem #JesseSmollett pic.twitter.com/FR7Bt0SMiS
— Michael Anderson (@HarviiLee) December 10, 2021
Lots of people were sharing a parody “rehearsal video” of the staged attack.
https://twitter.com/rikki7s/status/1466446207002324996?s=20
Apparently, there was a real rehearsal video, however.
https://twitter.com/ReinaUsmc/status/1466205699524997121?s=20
This meme was also widely shared.
The media was slammed for jumping on the Smollett story without checking the facts. This week, reporter Jesse Kelly told Tucker Carlson that “The second the media sees something they can paint as a hate crime, they’re going to swan dive in like Whoopi Goldberg in a pool of marshmallow cream.”
Jesse Kelly @JesseKellyDC on the Jussie Smollett hate hoax: "The second the media sees something they can paint as a hate crime, they're going to swan dive in like Whoopi Goldberg in a pool of marshmallow cream." pic.twitter.com/H1loVDoHNh
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) December 3, 2021
US Vice President, Kamala Harris, was also called out for her eager support for Smollett.
Crow looks good on you Kamala. #jessesmollett pic.twitter.com/fh5HbsEHbS
— Lynn 🌹🌷🥀 (@crossroads52) December 9, 2021
Smollett’s twitter bio includes the statement: ” I am simply here to help save the world. Nothing is more important than love.”