Plot twist — President Trump believes the dropped charges against “Empire” star Jussie Smollett, who Chicago police continue to insist faked a hate crime against himself, amount to a “complete and total exoneration.”
OK, maybe not. Instead, “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert slapped the soundbite from Trump — who he joked was “Smollett’s spokesperson” — at the end of a Tuesday night segment recapping his thoughts on the bizarre turn of events for the actor.
Earlier in the day, all charges were dropped against Smollett by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. The “Empire” star was indicted on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct earlier this month. He was accused of lying to police regarding a Jan. 29 incident, in which he said he was randomly attacked by two men shouting racial and homophobic slurs in his Chicago neighborhood.
Anyway, back to Colbert. He quipped the scandal was a “hopeful sign for America that regardless of your race or sexual orientation, all rich, famous people get off easily.”
Then, doing his best Martin Luther King Jr. impression, joked: “I have a dream that one day the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will hire the very best publicists to leverage their social media profile, escape charges and then make a big comeback on ‘The Masked Singer.’”
You can watch Colbert give his full recap of the saga below — complete with a reaction from Chicago’s irritated police chief and Colbert’s impersonation of Al Capone — below: