Apparently, without any sense of irony, lawyers for indicted Empire star Jussie Smollett have claimed that the press has victimized the actor in a “gang bang.”
Last week, a grand jury slapped Smollet with a staggering 16 felony charges after he allegedly faked a hate crime attack.
Prosecutors claim Smollett paid two accomplices to douse him in bleach, tie a rope around his neck, and beat him as a publicity stunt designed to nab Smollet a pay raise on his show.
Smollett continues to maintain his innocence.
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Now, Mark Geragos, the noted showboat attorney whose clients have included Winona Ryder and Michael Jackson, says the press has gang banged Smollett in the name of profits.
“What is happening here is, frankly, a media gang bang of this guy of unprecedented proportions,” Geragos told Anderson Cooper.
“I’ve never seen a media pendulum swing more quickly and more viciously and rob somebody of their presumption of innocence like this case has. It’s startling the way people assume that he’s guilty.”
Geragos went on to criticize the Chicago police for continuing leaks to the media regarding the case.
He also slammed the grand jury for not indicting Smollett’s alleged accomplices, brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo, and described the mounting evidence against Smollett as circumstantial.
The producers of Empire have already deleted Smollett’s scenes from the remainder of the season, and rumors abound that his role will be recast. Should a jury convict him, the actor will also face lengthy jail time for his crime.
Related: Hospital workers just lost their jobs for spying on Jussie Smollet’s private medical records
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Jussie, it’s over. Put on your big boy pants admit what you did, and try and be a little bit humble….
@HarryB at q-meet.us
The actor is a victim of his lack of brains
QueerTruth
Ugh… the article’s title. Let’s not make the story any more graphic or gross.
Seattle.Duck
They’re simply quoting the attorney. And it’s these kind of headlines that grab thy readers & make them wanna read the story. I know cuz I’m a journalist myself.
mr guy
This evil motherfcker sat their in his interview sanctimoniously covered in his woke pins yet seems more than willing to sacrifice the liberty and reputation of these substantially less privileged young black men…not to mention he would’ve been even more happy for two completely innocent white men to take the rap
QueerTruth
That’s a good point. I hadn’t thought about that. What if two men were falsely accused? Ugh. Would he have continued the farce?
truthseeker
@QueerTruth
Absolutely he would’ve. When I was following the case as it first broke and they caught the two brothers, local news sources reported that the police told Jussie they have two men in custody and asked if he wanted to press charges. He said absolutely. Then the police said the two men are two Nigerian brothers who said they know you and he quickly said he doesn’t want to press charges anymore
QueerTruth
Mr Guy,
Thanks. I did not read that before. Yuck… He sold his soul. Pitiful.
Seattle.Duck
Why should it matter if he wants to press charges? If he paid them, they should all be guilty of conspiracy to commit 1st degree assault & battery. And why isn’t the grand jury investigating them for this? They could face jail time and/or be deported back to Nigeria.
Daggerman
…this whole thing/issue is so ridiculous. What on earth is this Jussie up to? It sounds terribly silly? He really needs a psychiatrist! It’s truly so amazingly maddening!!
Kangol
Crappy metaphor, Mark Geragos, and Smollett needs to own what happened, though I have to say for a moment I wondered if a sex tape starring Smollett and those Nigerian-American brothers (Jussie’s Gang Bang) was on its way.
Young Timer
Well… they are kinda good looking with the muscles and all……..
ilovedjme
Great use on words… gang bang.
fur_hunter
No…..Jussie is a victim of being born with $H!T for brains!
tcountry627
All I have to say is if you lie to the police and make false accusations about others…..you have to pay the price. He’s got 16 felony charges. Not 1 or 2…..16!!!!!! This guys a bad guy and he deserves to go away. Anyone else would already be sitting in jail.
azjeff17
He’s now a pariah on the African American and LGBTQ, and Hollywood Communities. Time to get a call center job, Jussie, where no one can see you.
sweetnovember
What more evidence he needs than a check he gave to his accomplices? I don’t know why he still claims that he is innocent while the whole world is convinced he is quilty.
DeQuan
This is the most misleading headline… It’s pretty tacky – Queerty should be better than this. The gay MTO…
Itsonlythetruth
Oh please, man up and face the fallout of your actions.
BGinBigD
The only people getting gang banged are the public and the police at the hands of Jussie Smollett and his equally reprehensible attorney.
Jussie_Racist_Clown
In other words the brothers gang banging Jussie is at a theater near you, probably next week. Can’t wait.
mgconlan
Jussie Smollett has a lot to answer for, most notably how hard he’s made it for future genuine victims of anti-Queer hate attacks to make authorities believe them. Mark Geragos’ characterization of the media attacks on him as a “gang-bang” is an unfortunate turn of phrase, to say the least. But at the same time 16 felony counts against him sounds like prosecutorial overkill, and editing Smollett out of the extant episodes of “Empire” sounds awfully McCarthyite or Orwellian to me — “Jussie Smollett is an unperson. He does not exist. He never existed.”
Jboo
“I’ve never seen a media pendulum swing more quickly and more viciously and rob somebody of their presumption of innocence like this case has. It’s startling the way people assume that he’s guilty.”
LOL!!! Seriously? Uhhh – Hello? Brett Kavanaugh, table for one. Thanks.
Jboo
Oh and for the record – there’s this misconception that circumstantial evidence is inadmissible, and that’s simply not correct. Unless it’s barred by the Federal (or state-specific) Rules of Evidence, it’s admissible.
batesmotel
Gang bang? Interesting choice of words. I don’t think there’s any doubt that he faked this. When you are seething with so much uncontrollable easily triggered hatred then it will eventually manifest into you doing something stupid.
Rock-N-RollHS
if only it were a gang bang. . . be a helluva lot more interesting that this increasingly boring sh*t
jdr11201
Poor Jussie,
Now he’s name is smeared what’s he going to do …. :/
QueerTruth
Sadly, he will more than likely go to jail and be in a solitary situation because as a celebrity he would be a target for (REAL) violence.
DCguy
Except the pendulum never swung on Brett Kavanaugh. People realized right from the beginning he was unqualified, there was never a swing.
nitejonboy
I’d watch a gang bang anyday over that horrible show EMPIRE. He should be thankful they cut his part from this season, it’s only going to get worse and it wasn’t doing his career any favors. If he’s quiet and goes away long enough he may be able to save his career, not that I’ll watch but others might. But EMPIRE sucks, sorry Taraji, I love you girl, but it’s true.
Ashke113
Well he’ll get his ganbang when he’s convicted and sent to prison. Don’t see how the media is to blame for Jussie’s stupidity, the dumbass could’ve just walked into the producers office and said “can I have a raise”. If they said no he crawls under the desk unzips does his business then asks again, if the answer is still no then threaten to release the pics of what you just did to the producer……instant payday (yeah I watch way too many crime drama shows)
mz.sam
This Garagos lawyer must be from the same law firm as Trump’s Rudy Guiliani.
Vince
A lawyer for the guilty.
Terrycloth
How long are they going to drag out his trial…i know it hasnt started yet but it seems like it should have been settled one way or the other by now..