Well, the verdict is out and boy was it a doozy!

By now, the entire world knows that actor and singer Jussie Smollett has been found not guilty of all 16 criminal chargers for  allegedly staging a hate crime attack in Chicago back in January.

People all over the world are following this story. My media contacts in Mumbai and the UK wanted to know the latest on the outcome and many of the international news shows are carrying the story.

Surprised? Like many in the media world and on social media, I too was taken back at the Cook County’s prosecutor’s office controversial decision to not only drop all charges, but to also seal Smollett’s records and wipe his record clean as if nothing ever happened.

Considering all the evidence which the  Chicago Police Department has presented during their investigation, Smollett was expected to be charged with allegedly faking his own hate crime.

Even security footage  showing two Nigerian brothers (who later confirmed they knew Smollett) purchasing the exact items that Smollett said he saw on the night of the attack, finally surfaced and seem to seal the case.  Even when questioned by the police, the brothers confessed that they were in fact paid $3500 to carry out the  “attack” on the actor.

The outcome of the case has not sit well with both the Chicago Police Chief Superintendent Eddie Johnson and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Both have expressed their outrage on the not guilty verdict and that Smollett has showed zero remorse for his actions. Johnson still believes that the attack was a hoax and Emanuel said that the verdict was a “whitewash of justice.”

Emanuel also said he wants Smollett to pay back the city of Chicago $130K for all the resources that were used in the investigation. Smollet’s legal team has been sent an official letter regarding the reimbursement.

The actor’s legal team headed by the highly regarded Tina Glandian, believes that how the actor was treated after the alleged attack was much worse than what happened to him on the cold night of January 29.

“What that attack was pales in comparison to the attack on him by the mayor, by the CPD, by the press, by the public,” Glandian told NBC TODAY.

But, despite having a strong legal team and support from Smolett’s  family and friends, the general consensus from the outcome has been not a very positive one.

President Donald Trump tweeted after the verdict that the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice would review the case, calling it “outrageous” and “an embarrassment to our Nation!”

Comedian Chris Rock at the recent NAACP awards where Smollett was up for an award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Drama Serious (he lost and did not attend the event),  mocked the actor for the alleged attack.

“What the hell was he thinking? You’re ‘Jessie’ from now on. You don’t get the ‘u’ no more. That ‘u’ was respect. You ain’t getting no respect from me!” said the comedian.

Numerous other media outlets have also expressed their opinions at the verdict especially since so much evidence against the actor from a through investigation was presented by the Chicago Police Department and investigators.

“It’s clear that someone who knew someone called in some favors and that’s how Jussie got off. You don’t need to be lawyer or an legal expert to know how it all came down,” said one NY reporter who wanted to remain anonymous as she is still covering the case.

That was the similar sentiment which echoed across the main stream media and on social media days after Smollett was found not guilty.

“Smollett forfeited his 10K bond and did a  few hours of community service at the Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Why would Smollett ,who claims to be innocent, go ahead and do community service right before his court date? Why would he forfeit ten grand if he was innocent all along? It’s obvious that this was all very well planned and calculated from the beginning,” said one Chicago producer covering the case.

Regardless of the outcome, there is one thing that everyone in the media appears to agree with and that is Smollett’s career as an actor and singer are in jeopardy, at least for now.

The show “Empire” has been suffering low ratings due to Smollett’s assimilation with the show and his music has not been selling at the speed he and his team had hoped.

Although he has youth in his favor (he is only 37), Smollett will still have to work towards regaining respect again in Hollywood and that may take a long time to do.

Legal experts I have spoken to say that Smollett should lay low for a while until this blows over (and like anything else, it certainly will) and do something constructive to rebuild his reputation.

One TV agent I spoke to said that finding work in Hollywood these days even with a traffic ticket, can effect your career on some level. “Thanks to social media, actors are under more scrutiny and judged for their actions, so you have to be very careful especially if you want to make it big in Hollywood,” said the NY agent.

Smollett had a great thing going on “Empire” which  clearly gave him name and recognition as an established actor. It also made him wealthy as reports say that the actor made roughly close to $130K per episode.

What provoked Jussie Smollett to jeopardize his career, his reputation, his loyal fans and his future work in Hollywood is a question that many, including Smollett, will be asking again and again.

The journey continues… and for Smollett it’s certainly going to be a bumpy one.

 

 

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