Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Ellen Page fails to apologize for blaming Jussie Smollett's alleged hate crime on Mike Pence in new op-ed



 
 
 

Actress Ellen Page penned an op-ed about actor Jussie Smollett and hate crimes, but made no mention of a viral interview in which she blamed the Trump administration for a hate crime that police now believe was staged.
“The conversation around Jussie Smollett has led us all to examine hate violence and its implications and aftermath,” Page wrote in the column published Wednesday morning on the Hollywood website. “I had no reason to doubt Jussie.”


Smollett, a gay, black actor on “Empire,” alleged that he was the victim of a hate crime in late January. He claimed he was attacked by two white men who yelled racist and homophobic slurs and voiced support for President Trump.


When Smollett's story first went public, many figures in Hollywood, politics, and the media jumped to his defense.


About two weeks after the alleged attack, Page appeared on ”The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert and encouraged people to "connect the dots" between the Trump administration, particularly Vice President Mike Pence, and the alleged attack on Smollett.


“The vice president of America wishes I didn’t have the love with my wife,” Page told Colbert. “If you are in a position of power and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering, what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused and they’re going to kill themselves, and people are going to be beaten on the street.”


Video of those emotional remarks got millions of views.


In the editorial, Page did not apologize for blaming the hate crime on Pence or her linking the alleged attack to the Trump administration.

Page, who is gay, said even though Smollett’s case was most likely not a true hate crime, she hopes people will not question other hate crimes in the future.


“The media coverage does not convey the reality and totality of the cruelty and danger we face,” Page said. “This is the story that must be told.”


SOURCE
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/ellen-page-fails-to-apologize-for-blaming-jussie-smolletts-alleged-hate-crime-on-mike-pence-in-new-op-ed




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