The Boy Who Cried MAGA

The Boy Who Cried MAGA: How Jussie Smollett’s Fall From ‘Empire’ Set the Movement Back and Made Everyone Look Stupid

By RICHIE D MOWREY for The Sassy Gazette
(The Gossip You Didn’t Know You Needed)

Once upon a time, Jussie Smollett was a symbol. A walking TED Talk in Gucci loafers. A beacon of Black queer visibility on primetime TV. And then—bleach, a noose, and a hoax that detonated a social powder keg like a reality show finale with real-world consequences.

What followed wasn’t just a downfall. It was a movement derailed, a culture shaken, and a police department with a god complex foaming at the mouth for retribution. Jussie Smollett gave them the perfect storm—and they turned it into a televised morality play.

From Jamal to Just… Why?

Jussie wasn’t just a character on Empire. He was the moment. A proudly gay Black man playing a proudly gay Black man on a hit show. It was rare, revolutionary—and lucrative. Until he decided to go full Quentin Tarantino: Hate Crime Edition.

The story? A late-night Subway run turned assault. Red hats, racial slurs, bleach, and a noose. All in one of the most camera-surveilled cities in the country. It wasn’t just unbelievable—it was screenwritten.

And when the story cracked faster than his alibi? Jussie became a cautionary tale and a punchline wrapped in a mugshot.

When the Movement Became the Meme

Jussie didn’t just fumble the bag—he burned it and live-streamed the ashes. Activists who’d fought tooth and nail for justice were left holding his smoking PR disaster. Real victims of hate crimes were forced to defend their own trauma just to avoid being compared to a man with a rope and a plot hole.

He gave the right their favorite toy: a reason to doubt every Black, gay, or trans person who came forward. He gave the left a reason to look away. And he gave the cops a win they didn’t deserve.

Justice, CPD-Style

Let’s be clear: Jussie deserved consequences. But what he got was a petty power trip masquerading as due process.

The CPD—fresh off decades of framing, beating, and disappearing Black men—suddenly found their moral compass. Press conferences. Leaked texts. And a sentencing that screamed, “We’ve been waiting for someone to humiliate.”

He was charged. Then released. Then charged again. All while the real-life Jason Van Dykes of the world waltz out of prison with less jail time and a retirement plan.

From Spotlight to Scapegoat

Jussie became what the system loves most: a distraction. He was easy. Loud. Gay. Black. And wrong. Perfect for a headline. Perfect for deflection.

While the CPD turned his downfall into an ego parade, their own sins were repackaged, rerouted, and rebranded under a banner of “justice.” What Jussie did was reckless. What they did was opportunistic theater.

Final Thought: Everybody Lost

Jussie Smollett lost his career, his credibility, and his cause. But we lost more.

We lost a moment of progress. We lost trust. We lost the ability to rally without being dragged into a circus we never asked for.

And while the media turns to the next scandal, the real work—protecting Black queer lives, dismantling systemic injustice, and holding corrupt institutions accountable—still waits in the wings.

Because in this story, everyone was guilty of something. And nobody walked away clean.