It’s been days since a Chicago jury handed down a guilty verdict to Jussie Smollett in the wake of him filing false police reports over an alleged homophobic hate attack, but the singer-actor’s legal woes are still very much a hot topic.
As he is in the throes of mounting an appeal to the decision (as we reported here), many on social media – including celebrities – continue to discuss the impact of his pending sentence for the crime. Among them is businesswoman/fashion designer Tina Knowles-Lawson.
Look inside to see how her weigh-in got people talking over the weekend.
Taking to Instagram, Knowles-Lawson questioned if the former ‘Empire’ star would get the lenient penalty afforded to American investment portfolio manager Amy Cooper. Infamously known as ‘Central Park Karen,’ Cooper gained notoriety in May 2020 after a video of her calling police to make false claims against a Black man in New York’s Central Park went viral (as we reported here).
Sharing a screen shot of a CNN opinion piece written by Issac Bailey, Tina echoed the writer’s sentiment about what Smollett’s forthcoming could say about race relations and inequity in punishments by the legal system (for very similar crimes).
Her post was captioned:
“The article goes on to say both were wrong but Jussie faces possible prison time and Amy Cooper The woman who called the police and lied about the black man that was Bird watching in Central Park was trying to attack her. Leading to the potential arrest of the man where in the history of black men In Custody could have led to his death !! Amy Cooper got off with public service . We will see the outcome of this for this Black man . Will he get the same compassion as Amy Cooper? I am not condoning what Mr Smollet was found guilty of . I am just asking will he get the same compassion and understanding of knowingly lying to police . Kyle Rittenhouse walked free after killing two people because the jury had compassion ?”
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As debate about her stance continues under her post, we turn to you to ask…