Jessie Smollett, who's also a singer, plays the character "Jamal" in FOX's hit show "Empire"
Photo Submitted by Lafortune Courtesy
The Jussie Smollett story should go down in history; it’s simply one for the ages.
Smollett, an actor on 20th Century Fox’s hit show “Empire” has been the media headliner for staging his own attack.
The actor claimed to have been sent racial and homophobic letters threatening his life, which also followed him filing a police report for allegedly being attacked by two men.
These reports were found falsified and he has since then been charged for illegally staging his own attack.
Now what does this mean for the Black community?
This situation that Smollett has thrown himself in is just blasphemy, as it helps ridicule injustices the African-American community at large suffers on a daily basis.
Smollett not thinking about what effects this staged attack might cause for the community and himself was not only prematurely planned, but it was an immature decision.
Bidley Joseph, a member of Florida A&M University’s chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said he was appalled by Smollett’s behavior.
“He’s helped add to the stain that Black people have been fighting to get off them for years,” Joseph said. “The amount of stuff we go through is unfair and this situation just belittles our voices.”
Reports have said that Smollett decided to stage the false activities because he was being removed from “Empire’s” cast.
Ann Coulter, a conservative known for her displeasure with President Donald J. Trump and her outrageous comments, added to her history of controversial commentary soon after Smollett’s arrest.
“All right, this particular hate crime turned out to be a hoax, but let's remember, ALL OF THEM are hoaxes,” Coulter said via Twitter.
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said during a press conference that Jussie Smollett “took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.”
This proves to be a selfish situation, which of course is a publicity stunt that went wrong for Smollett, legally speaking.
On the other side of things, he might be getting the publicity he wanted. People like to see this kind of stuff pop up on their phones and computer screens. This may even help him land more acting gigs once the smoke clears, but did it come at the expense of his support of the Black and LGBTQ communities’ support?
I definitely think it did.