“Empire” star Jussie Smollett has been heavily criticized over the last few days for allegedly staging a hate crime against himself.
Charles Barkley is the latest celebrity to rip Smollett, who was charged this week in Chicago with disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report.
On Thursday’s “Inside the NBA,” Barkley threw shade at Smollett, saying: “Jussie — you wasted all that damn time and money.”
The NBA Hall of Famer then offered some advice on how Smollett could’ve made his scheme more foolproof.
“You know what you should’ve did? Just went out into Liam Neeson’s neighborhood. Could’ve solved all your damn problems,” Barkley said while laughing.
Earlier this month, Neeson said he thought about killing a black person after he found out someone close to him was raped. He also said that he wandered the streets with a weapon hoping a black person would “come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.”
Barkley also made fun of Smollett for leaving a paper trail by writing a backdated check for $3,500 to the two brothers, Abimbola “Abel” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, who helped the actor stage the altercation.
RELATED: Who are the Osundairo brothers, key witnesses in the Smollett case?
“America, let me just tell you something, do not commit crimes with checks,” Barkley said. “If you’re gonna break the law, do not write a check. Get cash, man.”
Shaq put an end to Barkley’s jokes, but you could still hear Barkley squealing as they entered commercial break.
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