CNN’s Lemon: Smollett’s Story ‘Doesn’t Add Up,’ A Lot of People Had Questions From the Start

On Wednesday’s “CNN Tonight,” host Don Lemon stated that actor Jussie Smollett’s story “doesn’t add up,” many “people of color and gay people, had questions about this from the very beginning,” and reminded that we shouldn’t forget people are innocent until proven guilty.

Lemon said that he talked to Smollett in the hospital before stating, “a lot of people, including people in the community, people of color and gay people, had questions about this from the very beginning, the veracity of this story. A lot of people were reasonably skeptical about Jussie’s story. Some of the details just didn’t seem to make sense.”

He later added, “Who’s going to be out in the frigid cold streets of Chicago in the middle of the night looking for an ‘Empire’ star? You’ve got to be bundled up in that kind of cold. How would they even know it’s you? And let’s be honest, there are probably not a whole lot of MAGA fans watching ‘Empire.’ And that letter, it looks like something out of a bad movie. Why not just hand over your phone to police? Yes, there will be things on your phone that you want to keep private, but if there are also things that prove your story, isn’t it worth the handover? … The details just didn’t seem to add up.”

Lemon further stated, “We shouldn’t forget innocent until proven guilty, of course. Innocent until proven guilty. But like I said, a lot of this just doesn’t add up, and if Jussie’s story isn’t true, he squandered the goodwill of a whole lot of people.”

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