A Judge Is Ordering Smollett Forks Over Mobile Data For A Year For Prosecutors
Oy vey, it’s just never going to be over for former Empire actor Jussie Smollett is it? Smollett’s story is like the shot heard around the world: Everyone and their mother knows it’s more than likely Smollett staged a racist and homophobic hate crime against himself in Chicago last year – and he made it political, citing that two Caucasian men in Make America Great Again hats attacked him, thus involving Donald Trump into the mix who vowed to have the FBI investigate him. I’m sure a lot of us can relate to starting our own melodrama in our individual lives, but Smollett took it a step further and got himself mixed up into a whole bunch of mess where now the entire world is watching his every move and waiting for the end result of this catastrophe. We already know that he won’t be returning for Empire’s final season in any capacity, but we haven’t seen the last of him because he’s due back in court.
According to The Chicago Tribune, a Chicago judge is ordering Google to pass along Smollett emails, photos, location data, and private messages for an entire year as part of the ongoing investigation into his allegedly (side eye) staged attack. It’s not just what’s currently on his phone, because of course we’d hope he had deleted any incriminating evidence, but the judge wants even deleted messages and browsing history. Basically, Smollett is giving up all of his privacy. Oh, and his Manager’s phone, too. So this is a double takedown. Can you imagine someone going through your last year of data on your phone? Yikes! But, none of us have staged an attack on ourselves, right? So far, Smollett is only facing a lawsuit from the Chicago Police Department for one hundred and thirty thousand dollars for police costs for investigating the allegedly false incident.
For what it’s worth, Smollett still claims he was the victim of a homophobic and racist attack.
Writer’s Note: This is the opinion of one Instinct Magazine contributor and does not reflect the views of Instinct Magazine itself or fellow contributors.
H/T: Variety
H/T: Chicago Tribune
