Jussie Smollett: ‘Daily Show’ Skewers ‘Empire’ Actor With Fake Movie Trailer

The Daily Show mocked Empire star Jussie Smollett on Friday with a parody movie trailer for his [...]

The Daily Show mocked Empire star Jussie Smollett on Friday with a parody movie trailer for his biopic.

Smollett was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly faking a hate crime against himself last month. Chicago Police believe he orchestrated the attack to raise his own public profile and perhaps get a raise. The Daily Show been following the story closely, and on Friday, they prepared a trailer for a theatrical version.

The mock trailer featured comedian and Daily Show correspondent Jaboukie Young-White as Smollett. With dramatic piano music playing in the background, the actor complained that $60,000 was not enough for three days' worth of work.

"Maybe you're not as important as you think," a man in a suit said.

The movie version of Smollett responded by cutting letters out of a magazine to make a letter reading "I'm going to kill me." This did not impress the executive either, however, and soon Smollett was reflecting on his circumstance in the gym with two actors playing the Osundairo brothers, who police claim helped Smollett fake his attack.

The three performed a parody of Smollett's alleged plan, ending with Young-White lying on the ground staring up at the camera and whimpering: "I'm the gay Tupac." The final title card read Jussie's Lie.

A few fans groaned at the clip on social media, wondering whether it was "too soon" to make light of Smollett's story. However, most agreed that it was a hilarious treatment of one of the strangest celebrity scandals in years.

Meanwhile, Smollett's attorneys are still maintaining his innoncense on his behalf. On Saturday, insiders told TMZ that Smollett's $3,500 check to the Osundairo brothers was for a five week nutrition and work-out program, as noted in the memo.

"Today we witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the American legal system," Smollett's lawyers said in a statement last week. "The presumption of innocence, a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of Mr. Smollett and notably, on the eve of a Mayoral election. Mr. Smollett is a young man of impeccable character and integrity who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence and feels betrayed by a system that apparently wants to skip due process and proceed directly to sentencing."

Smollett has been dropped from the last two episodes of Empire this season as his case moves forward.

0comments