Here come the sympathetic Jussie Smollett rehab pieces.

“I’m About to Break”: Jussie Smollett and the Pressure of Hollywood Fame – Hollywood Reporter

“The ‘Empire’ actor claimed to be the victim of a heinous crime that played perfectly into Hollywood’s worst fears about hate in America. Did the pressures of childhood fame or a struggling music career play a role,” the piece whines.

That’s not a question. It’s what lawyers call leading the witness.

But at least the fingerprints on this one are obvious. UTA is mentioned twice in the article.

The Hollywood Reporter understandably exists in a world in which being a former child star (minus the star part) is grounds for faking a hate crime. The rest of the country doesn’t. 

These clumsy efforts to build a mental health case for Smollett, which I’m sure we’ll see at his trial, if he ends up getting one, are insulting.

Pulling a scam to improve your salary isn’t a mental illness. It’s greed. And, in this case, a crime.