“The Chicago Way”
As a Chicagoan born and bred, I meet the news of Jussie Smollett’s racial attack back in January 2019 with disbelief -- also laughter. I smell the proverbial rat. In this addictive docu-series, the Empire actor asserts that on the coldest day in decades, minus 20 below, at 2:00 a.m., he saunters out for a sandwich and, to his dismay, two MAGA types are cooling their heels outside -- icing them really -- preparing to jump him. Dear reader, Chicago people do not go outside on nights like this. Never. We respect, we fear, the polar vortex. Also, if there had been any real MAGA people in perpetually, tragically, Democrat Chicago, they certainly would never have worn the hat in public. (See the recent mayoral election for further evidence of the continuing calamity.)
Soon official doubts begin to surface, too. Former Chicago PD superintendent Eddie T. Johnson recounts his skepticism and bemusement at the whole affair. It just doesn’t add up: the staggering cold, the lack of physical evidence (except for one tiny mark on Smollett’s cheek), and some awfully puzzling security video, like that of Jessie returning from the beating still holding his Subway bag. Finally, the anti-cop trash talking from the actor’s posse seals the deal for Johnson: the Chicago PD is not going to take it this time.
Local credible news outlets relate how the same doubts alter their coverage. And the two Nigerian brothers, Bola and Ola Osundairo, who were eventually accused, then arrested, for the “beating” soon offer exculpatory evidence of their own -- for starters, a check from Smollett to them for $3500. All that was missing was “racist beating hoax” in the memo section of the check.
The story unfolds in a admixture of lighthearted farce and criminal procedural. Several interested parties add their thoughts: the former head of CPD, the queen-like mother of the Nigerian brothers, the brothers themselves, and some hardboiled Chicago press. The attorney for the Osundairo brothers, Attorney Gloria Rodirguez, drolly relates the legal shenanigans that ensue. A self-described Chicago expert in what she calls “door law,” meaning that she represents anyone who walks through the door, she also tells us that she is a Republican – a rara avis in this locale -- and ends up representing the brothers after a chance talk with her Uber driver one day, a woman who turns out to have two sons, Bola and Ola, who might need representation.
The series proceeds like a whodunit, all the more enjoyable since the falsely accused brothers are so engaging, and innocent. Mr. Smollett and the Chicago DA of course declined to comment.
And as the last episode ends, I think, this would make a great movie! But I check that thought immediately: Hollywood would only ruin it. Now, I don’t want to dampen any of the fun with spoilers, so I will not elaborate. Just sit back and binge and enjoy the colorful characters and the vagaries of Chicago justice that play out. I have to hand it to Jussie—he never breaks character throughout the entire saga, even as he is led away by bailiffs to begin his five-month sentence in Cook County Jail. As he shouts his innocence, socialist fist held high, we think, finally, justice is served.
He was released six days later.
Yes, we might as well laugh.