Jussie Smollett, known for his work on the television show Empire, is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. After making a police complaint alleging that he was attacked by two men, it has since been revealed that these attackers - who were imprisoned for 48 hours before the narrative began to dramatically change - were allegedly paid by Smollett, who trained and paid them for the staged "assault." But of course it gets weirder - the attackers, who are brothers, have both been featured extras on Empire, and one of them was also at one time the actor's personal trainer.
And so the brothers, who cooperated fully with the police investigation, are free and now the police want to talk to Smollett - who has suddenly gone into seclusion, after first conducting a few interviews describing the rage and pain he felt over the attack. So as he hides from police, he is being written out of Empire - for the short term or for good, I imagine, is still yet to be decided, but it's very difficult to understand what he was thinking, or what he believed he stood to gain, from lying to police which could actually land him in prison. Meanwhile as the story develops, it's now been revealed that Smollett was convicted of providing false information to the police - along with a DUI charge - back in 2007.
The other empire on my mind tonight is GOOP, Gwyneth Paltrow's nutty lifestyle website, which is allegedly worth $250 million. Paltrow will have more time to focus on it going forward, as it's confirmed that Avengers: Endgame will mark her final appearance in a Marvel movie. I wish her all the best, as long as she doesn't go back to selling giant jade eggs that she advocated placing someplace very uncomfortable. Selling a lifestyle is all well and good, as long as it's safe - if you ever catch Paltrow talking about "Yoni Eggs," however, I'd advise you run, don't walk, away from GOOP and towards whoever regulates that sort of thing.
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