Tuesday on The View, the hosts addressed the updates to the Jussie Smollett case that suggests there is evidence he fabricated his entire story of being assaulted by two Trump supporters. The co-hosts lamented the damage this would do for actual victims of hate crimes, and Sunny Hostin even admitted that she was embarrassed for believing Smollett and coming out in support for him, initially.
Guest co-host Ana Navarro, filling in for the absent Whoopi Goldberg, called the revelation “shocking and crazy” admitting that she had seen the actor at an activist event the week before the supposed attack, talking about LGBTQ rights. Like the rest of the media, Navarro expressed shock that Smollett’s tall tale of a story wasn’t actually true and fretted with the fellow co-hosts about people who did get beat up for being gay:
ANA NAVARRO: To hear this plot twist is something that is so appalling. I can't think of anything, that -- assuming it's a hoax, assuming it's true, if if if, I can't think of anything that’s more hurtful to real victims coming forward than somebody making up a story.
ABBY HUNTSMAN: You know how hard this make it for people that do experience real hate crimes? And he was a spokesperson for the LGBT community...How do you recover from this? How do you recover from it?
But Joy Behar didn’t want to pass judgement. “You don't know the truth of it. You don't know the truth,” she urged. Sunny Hostin agreed that we “don’t know the truth,” but then admitted Smollett was a “friend” to The View, and she was embarrassed for believing his story and publicly condemning the attack:
Prayers up to @JussieSmollett and his family and friends. Have met him and interviewed him several times. He is an incredible person with a gentle and loving spirit. What is happening to our world? https://t.co/UqXVgU5L6O
— Sunny Hostin (@sunny) January 29, 2019
“I know him. I've interviewed him several time. He's a friend to the show. I tweeted out originally my prayers for him. What is happening in our world. But now, I -- if this is true, I'm embarrassed to have believed him, to have supported him,” she gushed.
Abby Huntsman tried to console her. “You and many others, though,” she empathized.
Hostin continued, ranting that fake claims are rarely made and that she hoped Smollett simply got “counseling” (instead of jail time?):
I'm disgusted. I spent my entire career trying to protect victims and false reports are generally very low. Somewhere between 2% and 10%. So now how difficult is it going to be for the victim of a sex crime, of a hate crime, to come forward? It's always very difficult for them because they feel they won't be believed. I really hope that if this is true, that he gets counseling. Because, think about Chicago, you know how difficult it is for the police department there to investigate? They're way underfunded.
Meghan McCain agreed that the Chicago police could’ve been spending their resources investigating murders and actual crimes in the past month. She added,” I also believe he is a sociopath if this ends up being the case.” Hostin seemed to backtrack slightly, adding, “We don't know [the truth] because the investigation is ongoing.”
Abby Huntsman ended the segment by slamming politicians who were quick to judge Smollett’s story, but didn’t mention that only Democrats had done this.
