"Empire" actor suffers beating in awful hate crime that doesn't sound like a lie at all

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"Empire" star Jussie Smollett was brutally attacked by 2 men who beat him up, put his head in a noose and screamed, "This is MAGA country." Sources directly connected to Jussie tell TMZ, the actor arrived in Chicago from New York late Monday, and at around 2 AM he was hungry and went to a Subway. We're told when he walked out, someone yelled, "Aren't you that f***ot 'Empire' n*****?" The 2 men -- both white and wearing ski masks -- viciously attacked Jussie as he fought back, but they beat him badly and fractured a rib. They put a rope around his neck, poured bleach on him and as they left they yelled, "This is MAGA country."

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When I think Chicago, I definitely think pro-Trump white men.


Update:
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Jussie Smollett told authorities he was assaulted early Tuesday morning by two suspects who yelled out “racial and homophobic slurs” before the attack. Smollett told police that the suspects hit him in the face around 2 a.m. and “poured an unknown chemical substance” on him, according to the statement. “At some point during the incident, one of the offenders wrapped a rope around the victim’s neck,” the police statement says. “The offenders fled the scene.”

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I hate when someone punches me in the face so hard that my ribs crack.

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A Chicago Police spokesperson told The Daily Beast that the attackers’ genders are unknown, and that their faces and hands had been covered. TMZ reported that the attackers shouted “This is MAGA country,” but police told the Beast, “There is no report of that being said.”

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So ski masks + gloves now. How did he know that they were white. How could he not tell their gender from their voices and general appearance/demeanor? TMZ gets a lot of shite for the types of stories they cover, but they're generally accurate. I wonder if his story is changing.

Update #2:
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New update from reason.com reporter Robby Soave:

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Updated at 7:30 p.m.: Chicago PD now tell me via email that "in the initial reports there was no mention of MAGA," but "when detectives follow[ed] up with him later in the day, he recalled the offender[s] making those comments and detectives completed a supplemental report." It would appear that earlier statements by the police were erroneous. I have changed the headline of this article to reflect new information, and await a statement from Smollett himself.

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So the TMZ report WAS accurate based on what Smollett said happened. When the police report came out saying the MAGA thing never happened, I was leaning towards a reporter making shite up. Now the bullshitter label is entirely back on Smollett.