Juice Smolett Opens Up About His Prison Experience In 2019 GMA Interview And Online “Offline” Reaction

Juice Smolett says that after an alleged hate crime against him in 2019 and amidst a police investigation, his family shielded him from public response.

Extensive interview with SiriusXM’s Sway Calloway sweet World Related to the popularization of the writer-director’s new BET+ movie, B Boy BluesOn June 9, Smolett spoke about how his family stood up for him, the shame he felt after the incident, and how he regretted his decision to give an interview. Good morning America’Robin Roberts in February 2019.

After two men beat him up on a Chicago street in January 2019, Smolett was accused of being anti-gay, staging a racist attack and deceiving the police. He was convicted in December 2021 of five counts of misconduct. He was sentenced to 150 days in prison, but just a week later the Court of Appeal agreed with Smolett’s lawyers that he should be released pending an appeal.

“When I say I was out of touch with the world, I was out of touch with the world,” Smolett said a year after the alleged attack and after the trial. “My family took my phone. I didn’t have a phone. They did not allow me to access social media.”

The actor said his family protected him “very well from him” at the height of the controversy. But it was finally used by Google about a year later and that was “The worst idea.“

“I really saw what it was and it was really painful because I was like, ‘Oh, he said that about me.’ Oh my God. Oh, did he say that? Რa? ‘”

Smolett admitted he hadn’t even seen her in February 2019 GMA The interviewer “died” before his trial and while I was watching him. “I love and respect Robin Roberts,” he said. “But I didn’t want to do this interview. This interview was not for me. That was my character.”

“I had to keep an eye out because they were trying to use the interview as proof of a lie,” he continued. “Every word I said in that interview was true, but there was a certain level of performative nature that came through because I didn’t want to be there and I was so angry and offended that I had to continue. National Television and tell me what happened to me. And it was very political. ”

The GMA He said the interview forced him to deal with his internalized homophobia, adding that he was called “ashamed” and “embarrassed” by what happened to him as an openly gay black man. “I wanted to say everything that people should have heard from the people who went through this, but I also didn’t want to associate myself with the people who were targeted.

“I felt like I panicked when someone kicked me in the back, or just felt like people were looking at me like that. “So I tried really hard, like in a pose, he hit me and then he kicked me in the back,” she added.

Smolett said how he introduced himself during the interview, making him “look ridiculous”. Instead, he wanted to post video messages on social media that he recorded on the phone, which his team said he would not broadcast, asking why it was “so easy to believe” that he had launched an attack on himself.

Smolett said people who claimed he wasn’t telling the truth were “irrelevant” because they would believe whatever they wanted. Those who said, “Well, even if he said, XYZ,” were the ones who suffered the most.

“My whole career, but most importantly, my whole life, with my family, has been about social justice,” he said. “It’s like finding out that someone is the exact opposite of what they’re saying. If I did that, I would be angry. რომ Doing something like this would mean that for over 400 years I have suffered from the pain of black Americans in this country. “That means I clenched my fists in fear of the LGBTQ community around the world.”

Smolett denied being such a person, saying he “didn’t need any kind of promotion”. [my] Professional career. I was on top and on top.

“With all that he was creating, he would have no reason to do such a stupid and disgusting nonsense,” he continued.

Smolett has repeatedly pleaded not guilty, even claiming so out loud after his conviction last March.

As for his time in prison, Smolett denied the allegation, saying his lawyer repeated that he fasted for six and a half days because of fasting. Instead, he fasted for “clarity about how my life should be.” He also said he slept in the bed, although he was not restrained, and some inmates were “very nice” and respectful.

Although Smolett says the experience gave him personal clarity and he felt complete, he argues that the prison system should be dismantled. “You have to be a different person to really search and try to find a rescue in this,” he said. “This place is not for ransom. “This place is not for you to leave any better than when you enter.”