Many fellow stars initially rushed to support Smollett when he first made the accusations in January 2019 that he had been attacked by people that had shouted “This is Maga country,” a reference to Donald Trump’s trademark political slogan “Make American Great Again”.
Smollett told police that he had been assaulted on a darkened street by two masked men. According to Smollett, his assailants put a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs and expressing their support for Trump.
But a month later police arrested Smollett himself, accusing the actor of paying two brothers $3,500 to stage the assault in a ploy to get public sympathy and boost his show-business profile.