Bill Maher takes on Jussie Smollett case, says victims shouldn't always be believed but should be 'taken seriously’
Bill Maher came down on Empire actor Jussie Smollett on Friday’s episode of Real Time, saying that many people will use this hoax as an excuse to not believe legitimate stories of racial and homophobic assaults. During the opening monologue of Friday’s episode, Maher said, “Of course Fox News loves this story because it proves their stupid theory that racism is a hoax.”
Later during the panel discussion, Maher went deeper into the topic. “Fox News will dine out on this,” Maher said, declaring that Smollett “wanted to be a victim without going through all the steps.”
Donna Brazile, former Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee and co-author of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics, stepped in immediately, pointing out that Smollett’s main intention in coordinating the hoax was upping his $100,000-per-episode salary on the hit FOX series.
“He wanted a pay raise and he wanted to bring attention to himself,” said Brazile. “I’m angry with him. I’m upset with him. He owes not only the city of Chicago an apology, but there are real, live victims out there today, and I refuse to shut up because he played a terrible game, and it’s painful.”
Maher continued his argument by saying that while it’s important to listen to all alleged victims, that doesn’t mean the same thing as believing every word they say.
“I feel like we’ve gone from this place where I hear people say, ‘Victims should be believed.’ Victims should be taken seriously. Victims should not always be believed,” Maher said. “Take you seriously – that’s a big difference, but we seem to have skipped that step because we always do.”
It’s clear Maher has strong feelings about the Smollett case, revealing that he didn’t take Smollett’s story as legitimate for quite some time, adding that he “saw Jussie’s interview with Robin Roberts… and he’s not a good actor.”
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