Trevor Noah Questions Jussie Smollett’s Story: “The Story Just Doesn’t Make Sense”

Trevor Noah is sounding off on the controversy surrounding Empire star Jussie Smollett. On Tuesday night, The Daily Show host answered an audience question about the case, saying that while he doesn’t know the exact circumstances of the alleged attack, he believes that Smollett’s “story just doesn’t make sense.” Noah went on to explain that the controversy highlights the problem of blindly believing “stories that confirm our biases,” as many Americans and news outlets “jumped on board before they even waited to see what it was about.”

“I don’t know what the details of the Jussie Smollett story are going to end up being,” said Noah during a commercial break Q&A. “What I do know is right now, the story just doesn’t make sense in the pieces that it’s laid out as. I’m not saying that he is lying. I’m just saying that his story doesn’t seem to line up with what’s happening.”

When Smollett was first attacked on January 29, he claimed to have been attacked by two men yelling racist and homophobic slurs. Two Nigerian brothers were identified as potential suspects, but in recent days, the investigation has shifted. On Saturday, Februray 16, a source close to the Chicago PD said that “the new direction of the investigation is now based on the premise that Mr. Smollett was an active participant in the incident.” Smollett and his lawyers have denied the claim, saying, “Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”

Noah told his Daily Show audience that because the Nigerian brothers have “admitted to punching” Smollett, the story will revolve around whether Smollett paid them to attack him. “Why did they do this to you just randomly?” he asked. “Why are two Nigerian guys walking around in Chicago’s freezing weather and then shouting, ‘This is MAGA country!’ It’s a weird thing to shout as a Nigerian person.”

While he admitted he doesn’t know “how it’s gonna go,” Noah said that there’s likely one person who’s enjoying the controversy: the president. “I do know, if I was Trump, this is a home run in my world. Because so many people jumped on board before they even waited to see what it was about,” said Noah. “We live in a world where people are too enthusiastic at jumping at stories that confirm their biases instead of just pausing and going, ‘What do I make of the story?'”

“I think increasingly since Trump has come into power, people have become increasingly willing to accept any story that confirms anything about a Trump supporter, or Trump, or a white person,” said Noah. “And I always go like, ‘Do not become the thing that you disdain. Do not become the thing that you hate.’ Because then, what are you fighting for if you’ve become the thing that you’re trying to fight against?”

Watch Noah discuss the Jussie Smollett controversy in the “Between the Scenes” clip above.

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