CNN: New evidence suggests Jussie Smollett orchestrated attack (Check Threadmarks / Staff Posts) (UPDATE: Now a suspect)
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Right but that's not a motive to do something this extreme. There are a million actors who are trying to gain fame/popularity who aren't involved in anything like this.
It looks like Smollett really did a lot of harm to victims of hate crimes. The worst people are going to run with this for years.
It also looks like this is a great example of why we should also be objective in our thoughts and take a deep breath when events happen. I am not saying deny victims or be suspicious - but rather don't give our minds a hair trigger to react in order to keep up with the rapid, short attention span of modern media. I am also waiting on my 25 dollars for suspecting that something was slightly off as more information arose.
It also looks like this is a great example of why we should also be objective in our thoughts and take a deep breath when events happen. I am not saying deny victims or be suspicious - but rather don't give our minds a hair trigger to react in order to keep up with the rapid, short attention span of modern media. I am also waiting on my 25 dollars for suspecting that something was slightly off as more information arose.
You can always go bigger than "star" of Empire. He also had a music career he was trying to kick start. Yes, there are a million ways people gain popularity. A few of them are often shitty. Why do you think people fake terminal illnesses. Lie about things like military service. Look at that fake gofundme homeless story from a few months ago? People can be shitty, and look for shortcuts or claims to fame any way possible.
You had all that time and this is what you guys came up with? Well.....
That's not a logical motive for potentially faking a racial/homophobic attack. This is just fucking bizarre.
of course it's not logical. Faking a fucking attack on yourself is not logical. But it 100% can be a realistic motive. People do stupid/crazy shit for selfish reasons all the time. Why do authors plagiarize, even sometimes famous ones, or ones with careers? Why did Brian Williams, an established and successful journalist, lie about being under fire while covering the Iraq War? The idea that Jussie Smollet, a B/C list actor/singer, thought being the victim of an assault would garner him sympathy, attention and, by proxy, more fame, isn't that far fetched.
I'd argue to maybe take a breath about this too before going all in on only "information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the Empire case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation".
Its almost sad to see how JR pines for the love and respect of a father that has never loved or respected him. Then I remember what a complete shithead Jr is and just laugh my ass off. It's so great he will never know what it's like to have the love and support of a father.
Yeah I don't really understand how it helps in relation to the show.
I mean it has brought him more fame. Unquestionably. Everyone knows his name now.
it's not just that. CNN is citing sources within the investigation claiming police now think he orchestrated everything. Granted they could be wrong, or misinformed, but it carries weight if CNN is willing to report it.
It has also probably killed his career. That isn't the kind of attention he had in mind. But look at the kind of attention he was rightfully receiving in the aftermath of the attack. THAT is probably what he thought would happen.
It doesnt have to be logical to be a motive. Guy is dumb. Really not much to it.
Yeah, I'm not connecting "I need to get for famous" to "I'm gunna fake a hate crime". That shit just doesn't happen, as far as I'm aware. It's hardly a motive with the information we have thus far, but of course we have to wait and learn more.
Why do people fake illnesses? Fake military service? Hell there was an actor not too long ago who was exposed for lying about being in 9/11. It's not that hard to believe. The thirst for fame/clout/attention at any level can sometimes make people do crazy and stupid things.
I knew something was fishy from the start. Reason why I held off on posting until the story had more facts to it. (also did not wanna cop that ban)
Shit sucks and it is what it is
Shit sucks and it is what it is
And gay black men who fake hate crimes? I mean.. it's just an absurdly foolish idea in the context of literally everything else you can do to get famous. I don't think there's a precedent for it. So yeah I'm gunna wait for the final report/investigation results cuz this shit still makes no sense in terms of motive for me. It's just way too stupid so I hope this isn't it.
I really dont understand whats not to get. Hes playing all the hot topics for the past year to get his name out. Maga, homophobia, racism, etc.
of course it's absurd, of course it makes no sense, of course it sounds foolish. it should. It would probably only make sense if you were a sociopath or egomaniac. But it's not a stretch at ALL to think people like that exist.
I'm not saying it's impossible but it still doesn't make sense in terms of a motive. Like I said, I'm gunna wait for the final report because this shit still makes no fucking sense.
Prosecution will be the least of his problems if it comes out that it was faked. Job, friends, fans etc.... Gonna be a tough road.
Exactly. These are all hot button key terms that can be used to incite emotional response from the masses.
True, but I honestly can't think of any motive that would make sense to me in terms of "Oh I can see why they faked that hate crime".
There's a reason false accusations for rape and assault are extremely rare.
This situation is so weird that it's difficult for me to form an opinion without seeing the final report.
It doesn't make sense to me either, but I do believe there are people who exist who would literally do ANYTHING for fame, or to advance their careers. Like look at the last couple of weeks when people thought he was a victim. Look how much more his name was in the headlines. Thats the motive right there. If he never gets busted, this raises his profile tremendously. And in his line of work that is all that matters.
One of the biggest charges will be if he was also behind sending the white powder letter.
Did it succeed in making him that much more famous than he was as just an Empire actor? Not that it has to have succeeded to be a legitimate motive, I'm just curious.
Personally I just thought of him as a nameless empire celebrity that was one of many headlines on whatever day he was attacked, and that's all it'd ever be if not for these new developments.
Personally I just thought of him as a nameless empire celebrity that was one of many headlines on whatever day he was attacked, and that's all it'd ever be if not for these new developments.
Absolutely. This story made national headlines. People who had never watched Empire (raises hands) now knew who he was. It's not hard to think of a scenario where, say its time to negotiate a new salary for the show, that he is able to leverage his image as a high profile victim/survivor into fan sympathy to get a pay raise, or to get roles in TV/movies he previously would have not gotten a look for.
I mean this guy just sacrificed his entire career in an extreme and stupid way, if what the current reporting is suggesting ends up being accurate in the end. It's hard for me to imagine someone in such a position thinking "I'm going to bury my career for 15 minutes of fame, since I'm not quite as famous as I'd like to be". It's bizarre. The risk/reward is terrible.
Someone stupid enough to do this is probably stupid enough to believe they won't get caught. He probably thought there was no risk, otherwise why do it at all? Im sure when the dust settles he'll come up with some bullshit reason for why he did this, "I was on ambien!" or some other crap, but "fame" is in my mind actually the most obvious reason for doing something like this.
It might not be as simple as him faking a crime.
I firmly believe he was attacked - as a black man, that's not something he has to lie about - I just don't think it was Trump supporters.
What's more likely is that he was at Subway, someone recognized him, they flirted a bit, someone made a pass at him, he declined, THEN he got beat. Him saying that it was MAGA attackers allows him to both save face and garner sympathy, while raising his profile for his upcoming album launch.
This could be wrong, but I feel it's more plausible than the story he initially described.
Unless this is all some conspiracy theory concocted by the media to make Jussie seem like he's crazy for daring to imply that white people in white neighborhoods commit hate crimes against residents they don't like, namely people of color.
But since the police were on his side initially, I doubt that's how this shakes out.
I never trust the police, but Jussie's story just doesn't add up. The only way it makes sense is if the concierge of his building was ALSO in on the plot and alerted the guys who attacked him as soon as he left the building.
No one was waiting for this man at Subway at 2 am, in the coldest arctic vortex this world has seen in the past 100 years.
I mean does he have any history at all of exhibiting this type of thought process? Roseanne is a fucking moron and proved it long before her infamous apes comment that effectively sunk her career. Which is why the motive doesn't line up for me.. as far as I'm aware, this extreme behavior doesn't seem to reflect anything he's thought of/done before.
Like I said, I'm not saying he didn't do it just that it doesn't seem to follow any train of thought or previous behaviors.
Who knows. None of us really know him. Extreme behavior isn't always telegraphed, and even if it were, nobody would know because he's a celebrity. We don't know him. We know what he and his agent and publicist want us to know. They aren't just going to come out and be incredibly transparent about what they would do for fame.
Your problem seems to be that you are trying to apply your own rational thought in an act that is irrational. You cannot follow his train of thought, or put yourself in his shoes. I mean, let me ask you, what would be a logical reason to orchestrate a fake racial/homphobic assault?
I mean we're kind of going in a circle now but all I'm saying is that I don't believe the current information describes a believable motive, in context with what we know of him and what recent reporting suggests. I'm gunna wait for more.
Based on what we know what is an example of a believable motive then? Wha would be a reason an actor/singer would fake a racially motivated assault that is more logical than fame?
My guess is that, Jussie, as a black, gay man, he rightfully felt isolated and hated the state of this country. Where there are no shortage of bigots that hurt and antagonize the communities he was proudly apart of.
Pure speculation, of course:
I'm going to assume that first and foremost, this whole idea came to him from a very narcissistic state of mind. He probably told himself something to justify it like, "This whole thing will be a lie, but these (less than ethical) means will be for a greater good." I think in his mind, the public could see, plainly and obviously, that racism is still here and that this kind of horrific shit really does happen and more often and gross than we're really aware of. But he was not in a right state of mind and decided to orchestrate a truly stupid and fabricated hate crime that would even make fucking Manafort cringe at how dumb the idea was.
The possible motive is that he wanted to be a hero for the black community, the gay community, and be seen as a role model as someone who doesn't let a terrible hate crime bring him down, (no matter how horrific and traumatising it was) rather it would only strengthened his resolve to better this nation's grotesque past, and its present problems that grew from it and inspire many others who have experienced such painful, bigoted abuse. And, of course, his career would have taken off too, at least in his troubled mind, if this stunt would have actually worked.
I guess that's one possibility among many others. Hopefully he'll stop digging himself into a deeper hole and get help.
You can't be serious. When actors get beat up (see: Zac Efron getting his shit pushed in trying to buy drugs at Skid Row a few years ago) they have their publicist cook up a dumb story to cover it up or have reports about it scrubbed from the internet. Nobody turns an assault that could've been kept quiet into a national news story unless it's something they wanted to do from the start.
I don't know, maybe something that doesn't 99% effectively sink his fucking career on the spot? Something that isn't easily refuted with video evidence? A black gay man not faking a hate crime against him, especially one that doesn't have a realistic risk/reward outcome?
Maybe a motive that, again, makes a lick of sense? Nothing about him faking this event leads to a positive outcome. Which is why I'm waiting for more information.
Whatever reason he could have had for faking this attack, it was going to sink his career. There isn't a reason short of "people had my grandma hostage and made me do it" that hiring people to beat him up and fake a MAGA attack wasn't going to completely destroy his career. And any reason for faking this attack isn't going to make a lick of sense. If you are searching for a reason that makes sense, I imagine you are never going to get that.
Which is why I'm saying there's not a believable motive, with the information we have at hand.
I guess that is where we differ. I find clout/fame chasing to absolutely be a believable motive for something like this.
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