00:00And now for this week's installment of people who were cleared of their alleged crimes.
00:05So it turns out that everybody's innocent this week. Donnie didn't collude with Russia,
00:10Jussie didn't collude with those brothers, but sadly Aunt Becky definitely colluded
00:14with that college. It's always the ones you least suspect.
00:17On Tuesday's edition of the late night shows, the host took on the news that Jussie
00:21Smollett was cleared of all criminal charges and had his record expunged after being
00:25indicted on 16 felony counts by a Cook County grand jury in March. The Empire actor had
00:30been accused of staging his own attack on Jan. 29, which he said was a hate crime
00:35perpetrated by two unidentified Trump supporters.
00:38Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has called the decision to clear Smollett's name a
00:41whitewash of justice. On ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host addressed this fact, saying
00:46The mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, and the police superintendent are furious that they
00:51dropped the charges. The mayor says this is a whitewash of justice, but
00:55that's how it's going nowadays. Everyone we think committed crimes didn't.
00:58R. Kelly and Felicity Huffman, you're free to go.
01:01Over on The Late Show and CBS, Stephen Colbert joked,
01:03isn't it a hopeful sign in America that all rich, famous people get off easily?
01:08He then quoted an alternative version of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech.
01:12I have a dream that one day the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will
01:17hire the very best publicists who leverage their social media profile, escape charges,
01:22then make a big comeback on The Masked Singer.
01:25Yeah, I'm not sure people would have marched on Washington for that one, to be honest.
01:28Citing the fact that Smollett has publicly declared that the criminal charges against him
01:32being dropped means that he is totally innocent, Colbert then explained that was not the case.
01:36The host told viewers that the prosecutor of the case had said that afternoon,
01:40the fact that Smollett feels that we have exonerated him, we have not.
01:43I can't make it any clearer than that.
01:45But Smollett's spokesman was defiant.
01:47It was a complete and total exoneration.
01:51Later on CBS, The Late Late Show's James Corden also drew connections between Trump and Smollett, saying,
01:56Smollett isn't being charged with a crime, but he hasn't been officially exonerated.
02:02So, if nothing else, he is now qualified to be the President of the United States.
02:08Wondering what the future holds for Smollett in light of this whole bizarre scandal, Corden joked...
02:12It is very impressive that one person might be too much drama for the show Empire.
02:18Who you think you're talking to?
02:23The actor's future on Empire remains unclear and he was written out of the final two episodes
02:27of the current season of the Fox drama.
02:29Over on Comedy Central, Daily Show host Trevor Noah summarized the scandal for comedic effect.
02:33A month ago, the Empire actor was attacked by two Trump supporters who turned out to be
02:39Nigerian weightlifters who turned out to be American brothers.
02:43And like Colbert, Noah pointed out that the Cook County State's Attorney's Office had clarified
02:48it did not exonerate Smollett, prompting a confused Noah to joke.
02:52OK, wait.
02:54So Jussie was set free, but he's not innocent.
02:57But he's also not guilty.
02:59What?
03:00Finally, Noah came to the conclusion that there is really only one solution for this.
03:06One man for the job.
03:07One man who can put an end to all this madness.
03:09One man who can untangle our confused minds and make clear the path to justice.
03:13Muller, we've got a new case for you! And this time just tell us what happened!
03:18To read more on this story, head to THR.com. For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Lyndsey Rodrigues.
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