Saturday Night Live didn’t hold back when it came to addressing Jussie Smollett’s arrest for allegedly orchestrating his own attack.
The Empire star was charged with filing a false police report for the attack that was originally believed to be a possible racist and homophobic assault.
Chris Redd assume the role of Smollett in a parody of legal show Shark Tank, which saw him state his case in front of four “sharks”, including Kate McKinnon’s Rudy Guiliani.
“You won’t believe this, but I was just attacked outside the studio by Donald Trump himself,” Redd said, in character as Smollett, offering Empire spoilers in exchange for somebody taking his case.
However, upon discovering there are cameras outside the building, he immediately retracts his accusation.
This weekend’s SNL host John Mulaney, in character as lawyer Alan Dershowitz, said: “Jussie, you have everything I love in a client. You are famous and probably guilty. End of list.”
Later in the same episode, Weekend Update‘s Colin Jost read out a fake news report about someone who had been arrested faking his own abduction and robbery to avoid paying $50,000 he owed in a Super Bowl pool. Jost added: “Worse, the man just lost his job on Empire.”
According to Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, Smollett allegedly orchestrated the attack as he was unhappy with his salary on the Fox drama series.
Earlier in the episode, the series skewered Michael Cohen’s testimony with a skit featuring Ben Stiller.
