Robin Roberts: There Were ‘Red Flags’ In The Smollett Case

Empire actor Jussie Smollett leaves Cook County jail after posting bond on February 21, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. Smollett has been accused with arranging a homophobic, racist attack against himself in an attempt to raise his profile because he was dissatisfied with his salary. (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty Images)

Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts said that there were “a lot of red flags” in the allegedly fake hate crime Jussie Smollett orchestrated against himself, despite not having brought them up during her interview with him earlier this month.

Roberts made the comment about holes in the “Empire” actor’s story during her interview with Chicago’s superintendent of police Eddie Johnson on Monday morning.

“We worked very closely with their lawyer, and their lawyer went in there to talk to them and whatever she said to them apparently got through to them to just tell the truth about what happened, and that’s what they decided to do,” Johnson stated.

Roberts answered, “Even though that you all were saying early on there was no reason not the believe his story, there were a lot of red flags, that a lot of people saw of people saw. You all had questions. Even though weren’t, of course, going to be public about that.”

“Right, there with questions, but there’s always questions when people are describing incidents to us. We have to maintain the integrity of the investigation and that’s what we did,” the superintendent of police followed up.

Many described her interview with Smollett as “too soft.” She also never used the word “alleged” to describe the hate crime, according to NewsBusters. Both ABC and Roberts defended the interview, saying that, at the time of the interview, police considered him to be “credible.”

Smollett alleged that two white men attacked him as he was walking home from a Chicago-area “Subway” restaurant last month. He told Chicago police that the men poured a bleach-like substance on him and tied a noose-like rope around his neck while shouting racist and homophobic slurs. Smollett also alleged that the men screamed “This is MAGA country!”

Smollett was arrested last week on a charge of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.

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