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Jussie Smollett Tag

Empire actor Jussie Smollett turned himself into the Chicago Police Department early Thursday morning after the Cook County States Attorney charged him with a class 4 felony on Wednesday for filing a false police report. CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson said "Smollett paid $3,500 to stage the attack because he was dissatisfied with his salary." Smollett will appear in court at 1:30PM CT.

The Jussie Smollett claim of a racial and homophobic attack in late January in Chicago by two white men wearing MAGA hats is falling apart. The story was suspicious from the start. While not impossible, it was improbable that two white guys were running around Chicago in the middle of the night during a sub-zero Polar Vortex wearing MAGA hats while carrying bleach and a noose and just happened to find a high-profile gay black actor to attack.

The Jussie Smollett story of a racial attack was too politically convenient to be true. And as with investments, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We have covered several dozen hoaxes, including The Great Oberlin College Racism Hoax of 2013. The Jussie Smollett story had all the indications of a hoax, of seeming too politically convenient and useful to be true.