Articles for May, 2019

Prosecutors Decided to Drop Smollett Charges Weeks before Announcing It

Prosecutors Decided to Drop Smollett Charges Weeks before Announcing ItProsecutors in the Cook County State's Attorney's Office decided against prosecuting Empire actor Jussie Smollett just one week after he turned himself into police, roughly a month before making the decision public, according to newly unsealed court documents.In late February, Assistant State's Attorney Risa Lanier instructed Chicago Police Department detectives to halt their investigation into the hoax hate crime Smollett allegedly staged and suggested that the celebrity actor could resolve his case by paying “Chicago $10K in restitution and doing community service.”That communication occurred one month before Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx announced she was dropping all 16 charges related to the staged hate crime absent an admission of guilt, due to the non-violent nature of Smollett's alleged offense and his record of community service.Smollett initially claimed that he was attacked by two white men early one January morning while he was walking back from getting a sandwich at a Subway franchise. According to Smollett's police statement, the attackers shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him and tied a noose around his neck.Following a two-week investigation, Chicago Police superintendent Eddie Johnson announced that Smollett had paid two brothers he previously worked with $3,500 to stage the attack, taking “advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.”Johnson and then-outgoing Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel were outraged by Foxx's decision to drop all charges and accused her of giving Smollett favorable treatment because of his status as a celebrity.“Where is the accountability in the system?” Emanuel asked at a press conference. “You cannot have, because of a person’s position, one set of rules apply to them and another set of rules apply to everybody else.”The newly released police documents also revealed that Smollett had previously purchased marijuana, ecstasy, and cocaine from the brothers.


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Robert Pattinson Is Officially Batman
Robert Pattinson is officially taking up residence in Wayne Manor. The actor will star in Matt Reeves's 2021 film The Batman, after Ben Affleck bowed out.
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One of NECA’s SDCC Exclusives Will Be This Incredible “Superman vs. Alien” Action Figure Set! – Bloody Disgusting
One of NECA's SDCC Exclusives Will Be This Incredible "Superman vs. Alien" Action Figure Set!  Bloody DisgustingNECA never disappoints at SDCC, and they've just announced today that one of their exclusives at this year's event will be an epic...
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Drew’s Reviews: Godzilla: King of the Monsters – WRGB
Drew's Reviews: Godzilla: King of the Monsters  WRGBIt really doesn't seem like it should be this hard to make a satisfying, explosive, extremely entertaining monster vs. monster movie. Call me crazy, but the craft of ...
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King Princess Can Make Grown Men Cry On Downbeat Anthem ‘Cheap Queen’
King Princess returns with the downbeat, confessional 'Cheap Queen' that places a magnifying glass under her own skin.
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How Naomi Watts Prepared to Play Gretchen Carlson in The Loudest Voice
Naomi Watts took on quite the challenge playing Gretchen Carlson in Showtime's The Loudest Voice. Watts is on the cover of the new emmy magazine, and in a new interview, she talks...
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Waukesha West graduate turned WWE star Austin Aries returns to his roots Saturday night – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Waukesha West graduate turned WWE star Austin Aries returns to his roots Saturday night  Milwaukee Journal SentinelAustin Aries has made plenty of enemies in his nearly 20 years in professional wrestling. But on Saturday night he'll be among ...
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Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’ radically changed the superhero-movie landscape 30 years ago – Chicago Tribune
Tim Burton's 'Batman' radically changed the superhero-movie landscape 30 years ago  Chicago TribuneMichael E. Uslan was a wide-eyed, 28-year-old comics fan when he improbably scooped up the film rights to a character Hollywood had kicked to t...
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Halsey Is Enjoying Her Vacation With Yungblud, Even With A Broken Toe
Halsey shared vacation snaps from her trip with boyfriend Yungblud, and the two appear to be enjoying themselves, despite the singer's broken toe.
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Everything is awesome about ‘The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part’ – The Reporter
Everything is awesome about 'The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part'  The ReporterThe Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” (2019, Warner, PG, $28) is the sequel to 2014's most inventive cartoon hit.
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