Robin Roberts Says She Saw "Red Flags" Ahead of Jussie Smollett Interview | THR News - video Dailymotion

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Robin Roberts on Monday revealed that she saw "red flags" in Jussie Smollett’s story and was subsequently hesitant about interviewing the 'Empire' star on ABC's 'Good Morning America.'

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00:00Robyn Roberts has revealed that she saw red flags in Jussie Smollett's version of

00:03events surrounding the hate crime he allegedly suffered and for which he has since

00:07been charged with falsifying a police report. Roberts says that she was hesitant

00:10about interviewing the actor on ABC's Good Morning America for what would be his

00:14first televised sit-down since the alleged attack. The conversation aired on

00:18February 14 and Smollett was charged with a Class 4 felony a week later.

00:21On Monday during the cut's first day-long How I Get It Done event, Roberts shared

00:25her thoughts on the high-profile interview and whether she believed Smollett during

00:29the process.

00:30All I wanted was to get to the truth, Roberts said. All I wanted was to give the truth.

00:34While discussing details of the interview, which was shot two days prior to its airing,

00:38Roberts explained that when the GMA booking department had initially reached out to her

00:42about sitting down with Smollett, Roberts was reluctant.

00:52At the time of the interview, speculation was rising that Smollett's version of events may

00:57not have been entirely truthful, but it wasn't until hours after the interview aired that a

01:01report broke that brothers Ola and Abel Osandairo, who are now witnesses in the

01:04Chicago Police Department's case, were allegedly paid by Smollett to stage the attack.

01:09Roberts noted that comments made by Smollett during a Los Angeles concert in the days following

01:13his alleged attack made her further question whether she should go through with the sit-down.

01:17She was adamant that interviewing Smollett made no sense if he was just going to

01:21lawyer up or refused to be candid.

01:23Roberts clarified to THR that her decision to talk with Smollett was contingent upon him

01:27sharing details that hadn't previously been reported, which would make the interview

01:31newsworthy.

01:32If there wasn't going to be anything new, I didn't really want to do it, she said.

01:35According to Roberts, Smollett's team said that the actor was okay with being challenged

01:39on what Robert saw as red flags, but that he'd also say things he hadn't already said elsewhere.

01:44Said the GMA anchor,

01:45Roberts explained that her GMA team went through the police report and conducted

01:55further research to prepare for the interview and admitted during the panel that she wasn't

01:59sure how it was going to go or how Smollett was going to react, but that she consciously

02:03worked to be as neutral as possible. She also was aware of her own identity as a gay

02:07black woman and how reporting on Smollett, a gay black man, might have been perceived.

02:11He's saying that it was a hate crime, Roberts said. So if I'm too hard on him, then people

02:15in my LGBTQ community are going, oh, you don't believe him. If I'm too light on him,

02:20then it's like, oh, because you're in the community, you're giving him a pass.

02:24So it was a no-win situation for me.

02:27After Smollett's arrest, Roberts sat down with Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson

02:31on Feb. 25 to discuss further developments in the department's ongoing investigation.

02:35Smollett maintains that he is innocent and is due back in court March 22.

02:39Having been subjected to criticism about her Smollett interview, including many saying

02:43that she was too soft on him, the anchor explains that she would have gone deeper

02:47with her questioning of the actor if she'd had more of the details that eventually came

02:51to light before the segment aired.

02:52She added,

02:59To read more on this story, head to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.

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Robin Roberts Says She Saw "Red Flags" Ahead of Jussie Smollett Interview | THR News

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