“Fox & Friends” spent a second day on the Jussie Smollett story with host Steve Doocy saying the “Empire” star’s only chance at saving his career was pushing the “I-am-a-vicim narrative.”
“According to TMZ this morning, Jussie knows that unless he goes out there and tells his story he will never work again,” Doocy said. “What he’s going to do is he’s going to go out, and he’s going to do interviews, he’s going to be outside of his comfort zone, but he will continue to push the I-am-a-victim narrative.”
Doocy appeared to be quoting the TMZ article he mentioned almost verbatim.
“Our sources say Jussie’s open to anything that will give him an opportunity to tell his story and convey he’s not the bad guy. Yes … he will stick to the victim narrative,” the website wrote in a piece published earlier Thursday morning.
Doocy went on to note how the Chicago police department has released their evidence against Smollett as part of a Freedom of Information Act request, even though the case had been sealed by a judge.
“They said it was sealed by mistake,” co-host Brian Kilmeade said.
“A lot of mistakes here,” the show’s third co-host, Ainsley Earhardt, added.
Earlier this week, all charges were dropped against Smollett, who had been facing 16 felony counts over what police said was fabricating a hate crime against him in order to raise his national profile and bargain for a higher salary on “Empire.” Though Smollett and his legal team said he had been vindicated, others — including Chicago’s Democratic mayor Rahm Emanuel — derided prosecutors over the decision and called it a “whitewash of justice.”
“Mr. Smollett is still saying that he is innocent, still running down the Chicago Police department. How dare him. How dare him,” Emanuel said. “[This] sends a clear message that if you’re in a position of influence and power you’ll get treated one way, other people will get treated another way. There is no accountability, then, in the system. It is wrong. Full stop.”