Jussie Smollett has been arrested by the Chicago Police department earlier this morning for disorderly conduct and filing a false police report. Chicago PD investigated Smollett's alleged attack over the course of the last couple weeks and found out that Smollett staged his own attack based on the fact that he was dissatisfied over his salary. Upon further investigation Chicago PD uncovered the details that Smollett paid off two Nigerian men $3,500 dollars to carry out the attack in the early morning of January 29th when it was way below freezing temperatures. Smollett's story to police and the public was initially that he left his hotel to hit up Subway at 2am in the morning because he was hungry. During his journey he was attacked by two white men wearing MAGA hats yelling homophobic and racial slurs. They supposedly put a noose around his neck and threw bleach on him. At first the media and celebrities alike came out in full force supporting Smollett and showing sympathy before the case was even investigated and that real facts were known. Since then politicians such as Nancy Pelosi and others have deleted their initial tweets backing Smollett.
The Chicago Police came out with a press conference this morning where the Superintendent of Police, Eddie Johnson stated that they believe Smollett created this publicity stunt to promote his own career and draw attention to himself. Reports say that there were 20 detectives assigned to Smollett's case. What Smollett did, did not sit well with not only the black community and the Chicago Police department, but the city of Chicago as a whole.
Do you think Jussie will serve jail time? Or do you think he will just pay a hefty fine and be done with it? We'll be discussing today on 'VB in the Middle'!
-Producer Lightning