Good Morning America Anchor Robin Roberts spoke about her interview with Jessie Smollett that took place last month
Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts has spoken out about last months interview between her and Empire star Jussie Smollett claiming she was in a 'no-win situation', no matter what questions she asked him.
The interview which aired on February 14 saw Smollett give further details about an attack that he suffered while out early one morning on the streets of Chicago.
But just a few days after the interview with Roberts, Smollett's story unraveled as it emerged he likely made the whole things up and was charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report claiming he was the victim of a hate-crime attack in the city.
Roberts, 58, told an audience in Brooklyn on Monday that she tried to be as neutral as possible in her questioning of Smollett, but knew that it was a tricky line to follow.
'I'm a black gay woman, he's a black gay man,' she said as she spoke about the pressure she felt to represent the LGBT community.
The Good Morning America host said that her identity as a gay woman of color would play into the public's perception of how she handled the Empire actor who is also gay
Jussie Smollett showed up two-and-half-hours late for his ABC interview with Robin Roberts last week which raised suspicion on set. He then wept throughout their conversation and angrily denied making up that he had been attacked
'He's saying that there's a hate crime, so if I'm too hard, then my LGBT community is going to say, 'You don't believe a brother,' if I'm too light on him, it's like, 'Oh, because you are in the community, you're giving him a pass.''
'It was a no-win situation for me,' she explained.
'I pride myself in being fair, I know how much work went into being balanced about what had happened and to challenge him on certain things,' she said.
'I'll be completely honest, I was like I don't know if I want to do the interview or not,' the GMA host said during a Q&A session, as reported by Page Six.
'I said, 'I don't want to sit down with him if he's going to 'lawyer up', and then I was told, "He wants to speak with you," [because] he was outraged by people making assumptions about whether it had happened or not.'
Roberts spoke out about feeling like she was in a 'no-win situation' when it came to interviewing the actor and musician who was arrested on felony charges on February 21 for falsifying a police report
Roberts told the crowd that she was hesitant to do the interview because she thought Smollett would 'lawyer up' but that she decided to go with it because he wanted to speak with her
Roberts was also told that during the interview she would be allowed to challenge him on 'red flags' and various discrepancies in his story.
'They said, 'He wants to say things that he has not said' and I'm like, 'As a journalist, as a newsperson, this is newsworthy, he's going to go on record for the first time, yes I'll do the interview,'' she explained.
But things didn't get off to a great start with Smollett arriving two-and-a-half hours late for the interview.
'I sit down with him, and I don't know what he's going to say,' she said at the event, as reported by the New York Post.
'Following up about how he couldn't believe people didn't believe him, well I go, 'You're out 2 o'clock in the morning, you're getting a sandwich, and you won't give up your phone.''
Two days later it emerged that two Nigerian brothers alleged they had been paid by the Smollett to stage the attack.
'People are looking at the interview through the eyes of 'How did you not know?'' Roberts said. 'I did the interview 48 hours before then. Had I had that information or [knew] what the brothers were alleging, heck yeah, I would have asked him about that.'
She noted that since Smollett was considered by police as a victim and not a suspect at the time of the interview, but questions surrounding his cooperation with their probe were growing as sources within the Chicago Police Department leaked more and more information about the case.
'It was one of the most challenging interviews I've ever had to do,' she said.
After the interview was wrapped up, a number of ABC staffers said they were skeptical of Smollett's story.
Roberts said the developments in the case were a 'setback for race relations, homophobia, MAGA supporters – the fingers were pointed at them.'
It appears their hunch may have been correct. A week after the brothers came forward to shed details on how the attack was orchestrated, Smollett turned himself in to police.
Some staffers within the network say he 'took advantage' of Roberts and used her as he wept and protested his innocence. Others say she did her job perfectly and was in total control.
'I cannot think of another case where there's this anger on so many sides, and you can understand why there would be,' she added, later saying the interview was 'difficult' to watch back.
Staffers at ABC say she did nothing wrong and could not have helped the 'bad optics' which now surround their interview because, at the time, police were still officially calling Smollett a victim and not a suspect.
Their interview was the first time Smollett had answered questions about the case publicly
'It was an interview everyone wanted. There's not really a spirit of regret about the Jussie interview.
Jussie Smollett is shown in his mugshot on Thursday morning
'And no one feels that Robin got duped.
'Taken advantage of, yes, but not duped.'
'She did her job as a journalist and conducted an incredibly newsworthy interview,' one production source said.
Within a few hours of Smollett's interview being aired, Chicago Police Department announced it had identified the two men in the surveillance video that had been circulated for weeks beforehand.
The two men are Abel and Ola Osundairo who were picked up by officers as they returned to Chicago on February 13 from Nigeria.
During the interview, Smollett reacted to suspicion over his cooperation with the police investigation by insisting he was telling the truth.
'You do such a disservice when you lie about this kind of stuff,' he said.
Elsewhere he described himself 'fighting the f*** back' when he was jumped, screaming as he realized there was a noose around his neck and then calling the police with his 60-year-old friend Frank Gatson.
He blamed the fact that he was being doubted on the political climate and said: 'The camera, facing north, how is that my issue? It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot more.'
He also raised his voice when asked by Roberts about the fact people were suspicious he had gone out in subzero temperatures at 2am to get a salad from Subway.
'Subway is open for 24 hours. People kill me when they say stuff like that because Subway is open 24 hours for a reason so that when you're hungry at night and you ain't got no food, you go to Subway!' he said.
Choking back tears, he explained when asked why it took so long for him to contact the authorities: 'There is a level of pride there.
'We live in a society where as a gay man you are considered somehow to be weak and I am not weak. I am not weak and we as a people are not weak.'
Smollett's lawyers insist he is innocent and say he has been treated unfairly by the police and the prosecutor's office. His next court appearance is on March 14.
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/03/05/robin-roberts-labels-jussie-smollett-interview-a-no-win-situation/
Main photo article
Good Morning America Anchor Robin Roberts spoke about her interview with Jessie Smollett that took place last month
Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts has spoken out about last months interview between her and Empire star Jussie Smollett claiming she was in a ‘no-win...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/03/05/03/10583664-6771527-image-a-60_1551755990279.jpg
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