Okay, so I’ve been refraining from commenting on this until my mind was made up... but my mind is pretty much made up at this point. I am so personally and deeply offended by Jussie Smollett’s actions. I sat and watched every second of his seventeen minute interview w/ Robyn Roberts. When he choked up while saying, “I want so badly for that video to be found, so that every little gay boy and every little black boy can see that I fought the fuck back. I didn’t run away, they did.” I choked up as well. I used his ‘experience’ as a reference point to settle a debate with some coworkers of mine. I heard & felt every word that he said during that interview and I bought into his false authenticity and false emotional distress. I believed him. I still want to believe him. I want so badly for him to be telling the truth, not because I want it to have actually happened to him... but because I want people to believe that these types of situations and threats are REAL. I still don’t know what to think, and I still don’t know how to feel... but I do know that it has become almost impossible to believe his story at this point. A small part of me wishes that I was ignorant and blind enough to justify his actions by using his same ideology and alleged motive of bringing awareness to the very real threat... but I can’t. & beyond that Jussie has been an extremely active and vocal activist and THOSE ARE HIS WORDS. He was already doing good! He was already shinning light on the discrimination and the fear! In positive and productive ways! I could ALMOST understand and ALMOST defend him getting the letter & it not being taken seriously.... ALMOST. But now they’re saying he even staged that....... like...... bro...... This entire situation not only makes the gay community look bad, but also the black community, and also the community of Chicago. ALL of which I hold very close to my heart. BEYOND THAT; it defiantly worsens the tension/division that the nation is gripped by right now and it gives the far-right, MAGA, racist, homophobic, violent, extremist, (whatever noun you want to place in here) waaaaay too much ammunition & now sets a precedent that when things like this actually DO happen that they won’t be believed! And they’re already hard enough to believe and people already struggle with coming forward! It’s an absolute shit-show. A shit-show and a disgrace. This isn’t some Pop-Culture trending topic that will have me bent out of shape for a day or two and has no real repercussions. This isn’t a Jordyn sleeping with Triston type of thing to me... I am PISSED. I am OFFENDED. I am HURT. I am UPSET. I am ANGRY. Again, on a very deep and personal level. I don’t know what in the hell was going through this man’s mind & I find it to be absolutely inconceivable and I legitimately cannot fathom being so disconnected from reality that he could display the level of emotion that he did in that interview over a situation that he completely fabricated. I DEAD ASS CHOKED UP. LIKE FOUGHT BACK TEARS AT THIS INTERVIEW, MAN. I WATCHED ALL SEVENTEEN MINUTES. I SHARED IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA. I MADE IT APART OF MY DAILY CONVERSATION & USED IT AS A TOOL TO EDUCATE OTHERS AROUND ME & NOW ALL OF THE PROGRESS I MADE BY MAKING THE PEOPLE AROUND ME BELIEVE THAT THESE ARE REAL, PRESENT, CLOSE, LEGITIMATE THREATS TO US (THE GAYS) IS COMPLETELY THROWN OUT THE WINDOW & NOW WHEN A LITTLE GAY BOY OR A LITTLE BLACK BOY REALLY DOES GET HIS ASS BEAT IN A BACK ALLEY NOBODY IS GOING TO BELIEVE HIM!! Fuck Jussie Smollett. Fuck Jussie Smollett. FUCK JUSSIE SMOLLETT. I wish that I could believe him. I wish that I could justify or defend his actions. I wish that I could feel any level of sympathy for him... but I can’t. I’m absolutely pissed. & he deserves to lose absolutely everything. Bury him. Cancel him. Silence him. Throw the whole man away. The risk was clearly not worth the reward and whether it was his intention or not, (I don’t want to give him any credit at all, but I do believe that he meant more good than harm) he has set the gay community back at least a decade. I will say it again, and again, and again — Fuck Jussie Smollett, I’m pissed. Fuck Jussie Smollett, I’m pissed. Fuck Jussie Smollett, I’m pissed. Fuck Jussie Smollett, I’m pissed. FUCK JUSSIE SMOLLETT, I’M PISSED.