LGBTQ news and entertainment
In this week’s podcast:
• Utah’s governor apologizes for legislature’s failure to ban so-called ‘conversion therapy’
• Empire star Jussie Smollett gets more bad news
• A Mississippi high school is pretending it isn’t trying to ban same-sex dates to prom
• Folks are surprised to learn that the iconic Mr. Rogers may have been bisexual
• And new music from country artist Cameron Hawthorn reminds of the romance of ‘Dancing in the Living Room’
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
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| Jussie Smollett (mug shot via Chicago Police Dept) |
In a stunning turn of events, Empire star Jussie Smollett has been indicted on 16 felony counts by a grand jury in Chicago.
Smollett was charged last month with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report on January 29.
Smollett had claimed he was attacked during a late-night food run by two masked men. The 36-year-old actor alleged the men beat him, put a noose around his neck, and poured an unidentified liquid on his head – all while yelling homophobic and racist slurs.
Police later tracked down the two men using surveillance footage, who say Smollett paid them to stage the attack.
Chicago’s local ABC News affiliate says the grand jury returned two separate sets of charges.
One related to Smollett’s initial statement to the police about the alleged hate crime. The second set of charges are in regard to his followup interview with the police later that same day.
ABC7 reports, “The new set of charges each carry a possible sentence of probation to four years.”
During a press conference last month, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said that the actor initially faked a homophobic, racist letter to himself.
But when the actor didn’t get the response he desired, Johnson said Smollett paid the two brothers $3,500 to stage the attack because he was “dissatisfied with his salary.”
Stay tuned – developing story…
In this podcast:
• A gay dating app hookup goes bad, really bad
• A federal judge rules in favor of same-sex parents who sought American citizenship for their son
• The Trump administration wants to decriminalize being gay around the world – really?…
• Jussie Smollett of Empire arrested and charged for filing false police report
• You really should be watching Netflix’s reboot of One Day at a Time
• New music from out alternative artist Dylan Matracia takes things “Slow”
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report
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| Jussie Smollett |
Variety reports that Jussie Smollett, arrested and charged with filing a false police report yesterday in Chicago, will not appear in the final episodes of Season 5 of Fox’s Empire.
“The events of the past few weeks have been incredibly emotional for all of us” said series executives Lee Daniels, Danny Strong, Brett Mahoney, Brian Grazer, Sanaa Hamri, Francie Calfo and Dennis Hammer in a statement released Friday.
“Jussie has been an important member of our ‘Empire’ family for the past five years and we care about him deeply.
“While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out.
“We are also aware of the effects of this process on the cast and crew members who work on our show and to avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of ‘Jamal’ from the final two episodes of the season.”
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| Jussie Smollett (mug shot via CPD) |
Early this morning, Empire star Jussie Smollett turned himself in to Chicago Police where he was charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a police report.
If found guilty, the class 4 felony carries a potential sentence of one to three years in prison and up to $25,000 in fines.
At a press conference this morning, Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson was direct in denouncing Smollett’s actions.
“Empire actor Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career,” Johnson told reporters. “Why would anyone, especially an African American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations?”
“I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention, because that’s who really deserves the amount of attention that we’re giving to this particular incident.”
Johnson added, “Smollett took advantage of the pain of racism to further his career…This publicity stunt was a scar the City of Chicago didn’t deserve.”
“First Smollett attempted to gain attention by sending a false letter that relied on racial homophobic and political language,” said the police chief. “When that didn’t work, Smollett paid $3,500 to stage this attack… The stunt was orchestrated by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his salary so he concocted a story about being attacked.”
Here’s just part of the press conference this morning.
I actually have a lot of respect for how Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson is speaking personally about the Jussie Smollett situation. pic.twitter.com/0ty8Ak1aCH— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) February 21, 2019
“My concern is that hate crimes will now publicly be met with a level of skepticism that previously didn’t happen.”Bingo. pic.twitter.com/yGZYnGZGsL
— Zack Ford (@ZackFord) February 21, 2019
And, of course, here’s the haters right on cue:
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| Jussie Smollett |
UPDATE: Empire star Jussie Smollett has been indicted for filing a false police report in connection to the alleged assault last month.
Cook County State’s Attorney’s office confirmed felony charges following a day hearings in front of a Grand Jury where evidence was presented by Chicago police.
Smollett faces a Class 4 felony and possibly 1 to 3 three years if found guilty.
Empire star Jussie Smollett has officially become a suspect for filing a false police report (Class 4 felony).
Detectives will be presenting evidence to a grand jury.
The Chicago Police Department tweeted out the news this afternoon:
Case Update: Jussie Smollett is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by #ChicagoPolice for filing a false police report (Class 4 felony). Detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County Grand Jury. pic.twitter.com/FhDcbBKsuU— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 20, 2019
The case began last month when Smollett claimed he’d been attacked by two men in MAGA hats who beat him, poured bleach on his head and put a noose around his neck.
Since the original reports, aspects of his story seem to be crumbling.
According to several outlets, Smollett was allegedly not happy that a threatening racist letter didn’t get a bigger reaction from his network. That was, reportedly, the impetus for a faked attack.
Which brings us to today.
If Smollett did make this story up, he harms every future victim who will perhaps not be believed.
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| Jussie Smollett |
According to Chicago’s CBS2, police now believe Empire actor Jussie Smollett staged the now-infamous homophobic attack in Chicago last month because a threatening racist letter apparently didn’t get a “bigger” reaction from the show’s producers.
Via CBS2:
Sources told CBS 2 News that Smollett paid the two men $3,500 to stage the attack in Streeterville. The brothers, seen on surveillance video near the scene of the alleged attack, told investigators Smollett directed them to buy the rope used in the incident, and paid for the purchase at Crafty Beaver Hardware Store in Ravenswood days before the incident.
The brothers, who were questioned by police last week before being released, were paid $3,500 before leaving for Nigeria and were promised an additional $500 upon their return.
They left for Nigeria later in the day on Jan. 29, after the attack.
Sources said one of the brothers held the rope and poured bleach while the other wore a plain red hat and yelled slurs at Smollett.
The sources say the red hat was bought at an Uptown beauty supply store and that the attack was supposed to happen before Jan. 29. The brothers told detectives the three men rehearsed the attack days prior to it happening.
All three men rehearsed their plan just days before everything played out.
MULTIPLE SOURCESSmollett upset at the reaction (or lack thereof) from others after receiving ‘threatening’ letter in mail prior to “attack”
Then concocted “attack.”
Feds investigating note
Brothers break their silence.Talking with me exclusively. https://t.co/0TtYH1awDE
— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 18, 2019
While we are not in a position to confirm, deny or comment on the validity of what’s been unofficially released, there are some developments in this investigation and detectives have some follow-ups to complete which include speaking to the individual who reported the incident. pic.twitter.com/b9GgXbSUt9— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 17, 2019
In this week’s podcast:
• Chicago police reportedly believe Empire star Jussie Smollett may have staged his alleged homophobic attack
• A federal judge ordered the Pentagon to stop discharging US military service members who are HIV+
• Tony Award-winner Ben Platt (Dear Evan Hansen) released his new music video and came out at the same time
• Sam Smith stands up against body shaming
• The 2019 NAACP Image Awards snubbed the ground-ground-breaking TV series from FX Pose
All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report.
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| Jussie Smollett |
Update via CNN:
Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN that Chicago Police believe Jussie Smollett paid two men to orchestrate the assault.
The brothers, who were arrested Wednesday, were released without charges Friday after Chicago police cited the discovery of “new evidence.” The sources told CNN that the two men are now cooperating fully with law enforcement.
Chicago news anchor/reporter Rafer Weigel tweets:
#Breaking: 2 #CPD sources tell @fox32news the brothers arrested & released in #JussieSmollett case told detectives they were paid by the #Empire actor to orchestrate the attack. Detectives also have a receipt for the rope found on #Smollett neck showing the brothers bought it.— Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) February 17, 2019
Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted an update to the ongoing investigation into the alleged assault on Empire star Jussie Smollett today.
Guglielmi tweeted that the two individuals being questioned by police in the case were released without being charged. He also noted that “detectives have additional investigative work to complete.”
Case Update: Due to new evidence as a result of today’s interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete. pic.twitter.com/Hswn1Qjgcy— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 16, 2019
Earlier this week, media outlets were reporting the CPD was looking into the possibility that Smollett faked the alleged attack.
But Guglielmi quickly responded to those reports calling them ‘unconfirmed’ and that the sources being used by those outlets were ‘uninformed and inaccurate.’
Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate. pic.twitter.com/iSO5YFv452— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 15, 2019
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| Jussie Smollett |
The Chicago Police Department has announced the arrests of two men in connection to the alleged homophobic attack on Empire star Jussie Smollett.
According to CNN, the men are the same that were previously identified in surveillance video as “persons of interest.”
Tom Ahern, Chicago Police communications deputy director, told the press that the men are being viewed as “potential suspects,” but have not been charged at this time.
The men were taken into custody for questioning Wednesday night at O’Hare Airport as they returned from a trip to Nigeria.
One of the men previously pleaded guilty to aggravated battery in 2012, and was sentenced to 2 years of probation, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Earlier today, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said detectives “had probable cause that they may have been involved in an alleged crime.” Guglielmi didn’t specify what the alleged crime might have been.
“Interrogations will resume today with the two individuals and their attorney,” Guglielmi said in his statement. “While we haven’t found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is also no evidence to say that this is a hoax.”
Smollett told the authorities that on January 29, he was attacked by two men who assaulted him, put a noose around his neck and poured an undetermined liquid on him. According to Smollett, the men used homophobic and racial slurs during the attack as well as yelling, “This is MAGA country!”
On Thursday, the CPD shared they had identified the two men, reportedly brothers from Nigeria, using surveillance cameras, public transportation records and corroborating info provided by Smollett.
Chicago news station CBS2 reports police raided the home of the two men finding bleach, shoes, electronics and more.
According to their lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, the men know Smollett as at least one of them has reportedly worked as an extra on Empire.
“They do know Jussie,” she told CBS2. “They have worked with him on Empire. My preliminary investigations show that on set it’s very tight. They’re all very cordial with each other, so they’re baffled why they are people of interest.”
There were conflicting press reports Thursday night as some outlets claimed the Chicago Police Department was looking into whether Smollett staged the attack himself and falsely reported the crime.
Among the theories was that Smollett might have faked the assault to raise his profile as his character on Empire was to be written off the series.
But Guglielmi announced via Twitter that media reports alleging the attack was a “hoax” were “unconfirmed by case detectives.”
The police spokesman added that media sources regarding the attack are “uninformed and inaccurate.”
Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate. pic.twitter.com/iSO5YFv452— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 15, 2019
Additionally, 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment released the following statement regarding the reports:
“The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off of EMPIRE is patently ridiculous. He remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand behind him.”
BREAKING: Fox has released a statement firmly standing behind the actor:“The idea that Jussie Smollet has been, or would be, written off of Empire is patently ridiculous. He remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand behind him.”
— Zach Stafford (@ZachStafford) February 15, 2019