Historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. can trace the roots of his upcoming PBS documentary about the Reconstruction to his days in school, when he’d hear about the end of slavery during the Civil War, then virtually nothing about race relations until the civil rights movement in the middle of the 20th century.

“It led me to think: If Lincoln freed the slaves, why did we need a civil rights movement?” the Harvard University historian said at a news conference Saturday. 

The answer arrives April 9 with the Gates-produced, four-hour Reconstruction: America After the Civil War, which he hopes enlightens people about what he believes is one of the least understood periods of the nation’s history.

Freeing blacks in the South had a brief and dramatic impact on society. Within two years, about 80 percent of freed blacks in the former Confederacy were registered to vote — a greater participation level by percentage than blacks have today, Gates said.  

That scared whites in the South, and in the North, too, and led to a rollback in rights that lasted longer than the initial freedoms, he said. In 1898, more than 100,000 blacks voted in Louisiana. But because the state then restricted voting rights, 1,342 blacks voted six years later. 

 

Control of the message

Racist depictions of blacks took hold in the public imagination in large part because whites controlled the messaging, he said. The 1915 film Birth of a Nation, which glorified slavery and demonized freed blacks, has been seen by 240 million people, Gates said.

A fellow historian, Kimberle Crenshaw of the University of California-Los Angeles and Columbia University, said the U.S. Supreme Court was restrictive as well, changing the image of anti-discrimination laws into measures that gave blacks special treatment.

“The North won the Civil War, but the South won the narrative war,” Gates said, “and what we are trying to do is change that narrative.”
…

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It may be hard to believe as a large swath of the U.S. thaws out from a bitter polar vortex, but spring is coming early, according to handlers for some of the country’s most famous prognosticating groundhogs.

Just before 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow in Pennsylvania at sunrise and didn’t see his shadow. Nearly the same series of events unfolded about 300 miles (483 kilometers) to the east, where Staten Island Chuck’s handlers also revealed the same prediction.

The festivities have their origin in a German legend that says if a furry rodent casts a shadow on Feb. 2, winter continues. If not, spring comes early.

In reality, Phil’s prediction is decided ahead of time by the group on Gobbler’s Knob, a tiny hill just outside Punxsutawney. That’s about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio stopped attending Staten Island’s Groundhog Day ceremony in 2015, a year after he accidentally dropped the furry critter that died a week later.

And he wasn’t the only New York City mayor who struggled with the holiday. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was bitten at a Groundhog Day ceremony in 2009.

 
…

your ads here!

It may be hard to believe as a large swath of the U.S. thaws out from a bitter polar vortex, but spring is coming early, according to handlers for some of the country’s most famous prognosticating groundhogs.

Just before 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow in Pennsylvania at sunrise and didn’t see his shadow. Nearly the same series of events unfolded about 300 miles (483 kilometers) to the east, where Staten Island Chuck’s handlers also revealed the same prediction.

The festivities have their origin in a German legend that says if a furry rodent casts a shadow on Feb. 2, winter continues. If not, spring comes early.

In reality, Phil’s prediction is decided ahead of time by the group on Gobbler’s Knob, a tiny hill just outside Punxsutawney. That’s about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northeast of Pittsburgh.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio stopped attending Staten Island’s Groundhog Day ceremony in 2015, a year after he accidentally dropped the furry critter that died a week later.

And he wasn’t the only New York City mayor who struggled with the holiday. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg was bitten at a Groundhog Day ceremony in 2009.

 
…

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One of the book world’s greatest mysteries is finally ending: J.D. Salinger’s son says previously unpublished work by his late father will be coming out. 

 

In comments that appeared Friday in The Guardian, Matt Salinger confirmed long-standing reports that the author of The Catcher in the Rye continued to write decades after he stopped publishing books. He said that he and Salinger’s widow, Colleen, were “going as fast as we freaking can” to prepare the material for release. 

 

“He wanted me to pull it together, and because of the scope of the job, he knew it would take a long time,” Salinger said of his father, who died in 2010 and had not published work since the mid-1960s.  

  

“This was somebody who was writing for 50 years without publishing, so that’s a lot of material. So there’s not a reluctance or a protectiveness — when it’s ready, we’re going to share it,” he said.  

Might take years

  

Salinger, who helps oversee his father’s literary estate, says any new work might be years away and did not cite any specific titles or plots. He did indicate that the Glass family made famous in such fiction as Franny and Zooey would be seen again. 

 

“I feel the pressure to get this done, more than he did,” he said, adding that the unseen work “will definitely disappoint people that he wouldn’t care about, but for real readers, I think it will be tremendously well-received by those people and they will be affected in the way every reader hopes to be affected when they open a book. Not changed, necessarily, but something rubs off that can lead to change.” 

 

Longtime Salinger publisher Little, Brown and Co. had no comment Friday.  

  

J.D. Salinger published just four books in his lifetime: Nine Stories, The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey and a volume with the two novellas Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. The last work to come out in his lifetime was the story Hapworth 16, 1924, which appeared in The New Yorker in 1965. 

 

Salinger rarely spoke to the media and not only stopped releasing new work but rejected any reissues or e-book editions of his published material. This year marks the centennial of his birth and signs of a new openness emerged in 2018 when his estate permitted new covers and a boxed edition of his old fiction to come out for the 100th anniversary. A Salinger exhibit is planned later this year at the New York Public Library, and other promotional events are in the works. 

 

Over the past half-century, rumors and speculation intensified about whether any new books existed and whether they were of publishable quality. A former lover, Joyce Maynard, and Salinger’s daughter, Margaret, have both contended that the author continued to write books, allegedly stored in a vault in the author’s home in Cornish, N.H. 

5 works predicted

 

A 2013 documentary and book by Shane Salerno and David Shields cited two “independent and separate sources” in predicting five new works. One of the Salinger books would center on Catcher protagonist Holden Caulfield and his family. Others would draw on Salinger’s World War II years and his immersion in Eastern religion.

Matt Salinger has dismissed the contents of the Salerno-Shields project, but never definitively said that no new work would appear. 

 

Salerno wrote in an email Friday to The Associated Press that “it was always his [J.D. Salinger’s] intention — and specific direction — to have his work published after his death.” 

 

“I’m thrilled that Salinger fans around the world will finally get to see this important work from one of America’s finest writers,” Salerno added. “As the stories roll out over the years, I think you will find that all of our reporting was correct.” 
…

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One of the book world’s greatest mysteries is finally ending: J.D. Salinger’s son says previously unpublished work by his late father will be coming out. 

 

In comments that appeared Friday in The Guardian, Matt Salinger confirmed long-standing reports that the author of The Catcher in the Rye continued to write decades after he stopped publishing books. He said that he and Salinger’s widow, Colleen, were “going as fast as we freaking can” to prepare the material for release. 

 

“He wanted me to pull it together, and because of the scope of the job, he knew it would take a long time,” Salinger said of his father, who died in 2010 and had not published work since the mid-1960s.  

  

“This was somebody who was writing for 50 years without publishing, so that’s a lot of material. So there’s not a reluctance or a protectiveness — when it’s ready, we’re going to share it,” he said.  

Might take years

  

Salinger, who helps oversee his father’s literary estate, says any new work might be years away and did not cite any specific titles or plots. He did indicate that the Glass family made famous in such fiction as Franny and Zooey would be seen again. 

 

“I feel the pressure to get this done, more than he did,” he said, adding that the unseen work “will definitely disappoint people that he wouldn’t care about, but for real readers, I think it will be tremendously well-received by those people and they will be affected in the way every reader hopes to be affected when they open a book. Not changed, necessarily, but something rubs off that can lead to change.” 

 

Longtime Salinger publisher Little, Brown and Co. had no comment Friday.  

  

J.D. Salinger published just four books in his lifetime: Nine Stories, The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey and a volume with the two novellas Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters and Seymour: An Introduction. The last work to come out in his lifetime was the story Hapworth 16, 1924, which appeared in The New Yorker in 1965. 

 

Salinger rarely spoke to the media and not only stopped releasing new work but rejected any reissues or e-book editions of his published material. This year marks the centennial of his birth and signs of a new openness emerged in 2018 when his estate permitted new covers and a boxed edition of his old fiction to come out for the 100th anniversary. A Salinger exhibit is planned later this year at the New York Public Library, and other promotional events are in the works. 

 

Over the past half-century, rumors and speculation intensified about whether any new books existed and whether they were of publishable quality. A former lover, Joyce Maynard, and Salinger’s daughter, Margaret, have both contended that the author continued to write books, allegedly stored in a vault in the author’s home in Cornish, N.H. 

5 works predicted

 

A 2013 documentary and book by Shane Salerno and David Shields cited two “independent and separate sources” in predicting five new works. One of the Salinger books would center on Catcher protagonist Holden Caulfield and his family. Others would draw on Salinger’s World War II years and his immersion in Eastern religion.

Matt Salinger has dismissed the contents of the Salerno-Shields project, but never definitively said that no new work would appear. 

 

Salerno wrote in an email Friday to The Associated Press that “it was always his [J.D. Salinger’s] intention — and specific direction — to have his work published after his death.” 

 

“I’m thrilled that Salinger fans around the world will finally get to see this important work from one of America’s finest writers,” Salerno added. “As the stories roll out over the years, I think you will find that all of our reporting was correct.” 
…

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It’s always in the back of Brolin Mawejje’s mind, whether he’s soaring over the snow or fine-tuning his rail technique: What more can he do to become an Olympic contender in snowboarding?

The 26-year-old hopes to enter the record books as the first African competing in his sport at the highest echelon on behalf of his native Uganda. He was close to qualifying for the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea when a medical condition threw him off course.

“It’s a life circumstance,” he said matter of factly.

The setback arose last February at the Winter University Games in Kazakhstan, where he fell ill during practice. Medical tests revealed arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat that can be fatal.

Mawejje packed up his gear and headed back to Utah. After consulting with his coaches and doctors, Mawejje shifted his focus to the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

“My goal has not changed or wavered. My goal is to still represent my home nation of Uganda at the world games,” Mawejje said during an interview last year at Westminster College in Pennsylvania.

WATCH: Brolin Mawejje Talks About Snowboarding

Video courtesy of Brolin Mawejje’s Instagram account.

Mountains provide a spectacular backdrop for the liberal arts college, where Mawejje is completing a master’s degree in public health, emphasizing epidemiology.

Mawejje has been back on the slopes since shortly after his diagnosis; the Mayo Clinic lists regular exercise among protective factors for his condition. He trains in Park City, Utah, and Jackson, Wyo., near the home of the American family that took him in. He also runs, lifts weights and bounces on a trampoline to improve his balance for the jumps, flips and twists of freestyle snowboarding.

“I have not won any major trophies this year,” Mawejje acknowledged in an email. But he’ll have a home advantage for his next competition: The FIS World Championships open this weekend in Park City. Athletes earn points at events sanctioned by the FIS, short for International Ski Federation, which countries consider when they pick athletes to represent them at the Olympics.

Unusual path

Mawejje took an unlikely trail to snowboarding. He never saw snow until he was 12, when he moved from his family home outside Uganda’s capital, Kampala, to a suburb of Boston, Mass. His mother had relocated there when he was a toddler.

“I came to the U.S. for more opportunities and better education,” he said.

At 14, an after-school program introduced him to skiing and snowboarding.

“I wanted to have friends, so I joined in,” Mawejje said.

Through close pal Philip Hessler, he got a second family, moving with them to Jackson Hole, Wyo., in 2009. Both boys later enrolled at Westminster College.

Hessler traced Mawejje’s development as a snowboarder and young man growing up in a foreign land in the 2014 documentary Far From Home, shot while both were students. Hessler went on to co-found the video production agency WZRD Media and works as a filmmaker.

Hessler regards Mawejje “as my brother and one of my best friends,” he told VOA, lauding Mawejje’s perseverance and ability “to thrive in new circumstances. … He is able to straddle being a part of many worlds.”

That includes Uganda. Mawejje says his mother gave him the opportunity and “understanding that I need to go back home and give back to my people and to my community.” He’s concentrating now on the Olympics, but aims to later attend medical school to become a doctor.

“To have a career that impacts a lot of people … is greater than sports,” he said.

Kaye Stackpole, a Westminster official who’s among Mawejje’s mentors, expands on his point.

“He has personally experienced great medical care and average-to-low medical care,” she said. “He wants to elevate education and medical care, especially in his country of Uganda. … I think that every step he takes is toward his goal of helping others.”

Charity work

Meanwhile, Mawejje works with charities such as the Kampala-based advocacy group Joy for Children on “initiatives that empower the youth and future of Uganda,” he said.

The athlete travels to Uganda and to snowboarding events around the world as a goodwill ambassador for Visa financial services. On Instagram, he tags that company and other corporate sponsors. He also has worked since he was in high school, as a lab analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital and as an instructor at snowboarding camps, among other jobs.

While in Kampala recently, Mawejje participated in a charity event and met with Uganda’s Olympic Committee president to “discuss the path to the Olympics with their support,” he said.

The committee has provided verbal encouragement but, to date, no “tangible support,” Mawejje said. Economic growth slowed in the East African country in the last few years, the World Bank has reported, noting that roughly a fifth of its 40 million residents live in poverty.

Mawejje hopes to get support from Uganda, the African continent and the diaspora. He says his Olympic quest is not just for himself.

“I am just the face going through the journey. … A lot of people in Africa go, ‘Why help him?’ … You are not helping me, you are helping the idea of all of us. It’s really the Olympic goal.”

He cites the three Nigerian women who last February made up the first African bobsled team at the Olympics. Though they placed last, “I am proud just to hear of the ladies of Nigeria,” Mawejje said. “And I just want East Africa to have the same representation.”
…

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It’s always in the back of Brolin Mawejje’s mind, whether he’s soaring over the snow or fine-tuning his rail technique: What more can he do to become an Olympic contender in snowboarding?

The 26-year-old hopes to enter the record books as the first African competing in his sport at the highest echelon on behalf of his native Uganda. He was close to qualifying for the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea when a medical condition threw him off course.

“It’s a life circumstance,” he said matter of factly.

The setback arose last February at the Winter University Games in Kazakhstan, where he fell ill during practice. Medical tests revealed arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat that can be fatal.

Mawejje packed up his gear and headed back to Utah. After consulting with his coaches and doctors, Mawejje shifted his focus to the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.

“My goal has not changed or wavered. My goal is to still represent my home nation of Uganda at the world games,” Mawejje said during an interview last year at Westminster College in Pennsylvania.

WATCH: Brolin Mawejje Talks About Snowboarding

Video courtesy of Brolin Mawejje’s Instagram account.

Mountains provide a spectacular backdrop for the liberal arts college, where Mawejje is completing a master’s degree in public health, emphasizing epidemiology.

Mawejje has been back on the slopes since shortly after his diagnosis; the Mayo Clinic lists regular exercise among protective factors for his condition. He trains in Park City, Utah, and Jackson, Wyo., near the home of the American family that took him in. He also runs, lifts weights and bounces on a trampoline to improve his balance for the jumps, flips and twists of freestyle snowboarding.

“I have not won any major trophies this year,” Mawejje acknowledged in an email. But he’ll have a home advantage for his next competition: The FIS World Championships open this weekend in Park City. Athletes earn points at events sanctioned by the FIS, short for International Ski Federation, which countries consider when they pick athletes to represent them at the Olympics.

Unusual path

Mawejje took an unlikely trail to snowboarding. He never saw snow until he was 12, when he moved from his family home outside Uganda’s capital, Kampala, to a suburb of Boston, Mass. His mother had relocated there when he was a toddler.

“I came to the U.S. for more opportunities and better education,” he said.

At 14, an after-school program introduced him to skiing and snowboarding.

“I wanted to have friends, so I joined in,” Mawejje said.

Through close pal Philip Hessler, he got a second family, moving with them to Jackson Hole, Wyo., in 2009. Both boys later enrolled at Westminster College.

Hessler traced Mawejje’s development as a snowboarder and young man growing up in a foreign land in the 2014 documentary Far From Home, shot while both were students. Hessler went on to co-found the video production agency WZRD Media and works as a filmmaker.

Hessler regards Mawejje “as my brother and one of my best friends,” he told VOA, lauding Mawejje’s perseverance and ability “to thrive in new circumstances. … He is able to straddle being a part of many worlds.”

That includes Uganda. Mawejje says his mother gave him the opportunity and “understanding that I need to go back home and give back to my people and to my community.” He’s concentrating now on the Olympics, but aims to later attend medical school to become a doctor.

“To have a career that impacts a lot of people … is greater than sports,” he said.

Kaye Stackpole, a Westminster official who’s among Mawejje’s mentors, expands on his point.

“He has personally experienced great medical care and average-to-low medical care,” she said. “He wants to elevate education and medical care, especially in his country of Uganda. … I think that every step he takes is toward his goal of helping others.”

Charity work

Meanwhile, Mawejje works with charities such as the Kampala-based advocacy group Joy for Children on “initiatives that empower the youth and future of Uganda,” he said.

The athlete travels to Uganda and to snowboarding events around the world as a goodwill ambassador for Visa financial services. On Instagram, he tags that company and other corporate sponsors. He also has worked since he was in high school, as a lab analyst at Massachusetts General Hospital and as an instructor at snowboarding camps, among other jobs.

While in Kampala recently, Mawejje participated in a charity event and met with Uganda’s Olympic Committee president to “discuss the path to the Olympics with their support,” he said.

The committee has provided verbal encouragement but, to date, no “tangible support,” Mawejje said. Economic growth slowed in the East African country in the last few years, the World Bank has reported, noting that roughly a fifth of its 40 million residents live in poverty.

Mawejje hopes to get support from Uganda, the African continent and the diaspora. He says his Olympic quest is not just for himself.

“I am just the face going through the journey. … A lot of people in Africa go, ‘Why help him?’ … You are not helping me, you are helping the idea of all of us. It’s really the Olympic goal.”

He cites the three Nigerian women who last February made up the first African bobsled team at the Olympics. Though they placed last, “I am proud just to hear of the ladies of Nigeria,” Mawejje said. “And I just want East Africa to have the same representation.”
…

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The tomb of Egypt’s famed boy pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, has undergone restoration to help minimize damage by tourists.

The work, done by the Getty Conservation Institute after years of research and officially presented Thursday, aims to minimize scratches, dust damage and microbiological growth from breath and humidity brought in by tourists.

The nearly intact tomb of King Tut, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings, located on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor.

For many, King Tut embodies ancient Egypt’s glory, because his tomb was packed with the glittering wealth of the 18th Dynasty, which ruled from 1569 to 1315 B.C.

 
…

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The tomb of Egypt’s famed boy pharaoh, King Tutankhamun, has undergone restoration to help minimize damage by tourists.

The work, done by the Getty Conservation Institute after years of research and officially presented Thursday, aims to minimize scratches, dust damage and microbiological growth from breath and humidity brought in by tourists.

The nearly intact tomb of King Tut, who ruled Egypt more than 3,000 years ago, was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter in the Valley of the Kings, located on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor.

For many, King Tut embodies ancient Egypt’s glory, because his tomb was packed with the glittering wealth of the 18th Dynasty, which ruled from 1569 to 1315 B.C.

 
…

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Detectives have recovered more surveillance footage of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett walking in downtown Chicago before and after he says he was attacked by two masked men, but they still haven’t found video of the attack, a police spokesman said Thursday.

 

Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said there are hundreds of surveillance cameras in the area, which is home to many high-end hotels and restaurants, and that the hope is that detectives will be able to piece them together to capture most if not all of Smollett’s trip from a Subway restaurant to his apartment at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, when Smollett said the attack occurred.

 

Guglielmi said piecing together the private and public surveillance video is tedious work that is made more difficult by the fact that the time stamps on various cameras may not be in sync, meaning detectives have to figure out the exact times of events.

 

“It’s like putting together a puzzle,” he said.

 

Guglielmi also said police have recovered video that shows the 36-year-old actor walking into his apartment, but that he hasn’t seen it and doesn’t know if Smollett appeared to be in any distress when he arrived home.

 

He said that Smollett and his manager told detectives they were talking on the phone at the time of the attack, but that Smollett declined to turn over his phone records to the detectives, who routinely ask for such information during criminal investigations.

 

Meanwhile, police are hoping to identify and talk to the two people who were walking in the area at the time of the attack and whose images police released to the public late Wednesday. Guglielmi stressed that the people are not considered suspects and that police want to question them because they were in the vicinity and might have information that could be useful to the investigation.

 

Smollett, who is black and gay and plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox television show, said the men beat him, subjected him to racist and homophobic insults, threw an “unknown chemical substance” on him and put a thin rope around his neck before fleeing. Smollett returned to his apartment afterward and his manager called police from there about 40 minutes later, Guglielmi said.

When officers arrived, the 36-year-old actor had cuts and scrapes on his face and the rope around his neck that he said had been put there by his assailant. According to Guglielmi, Smollett later went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after police advised him to do so.

 

Reports of the attack drew a flood of outrage and support for Smollett on social media. Some of the outrage stemmed from Smollett’s account to detectives that his attackers yelled that he was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

 

The FBI is investigating a threatening letter targeting Smollett that was sent last week to the Fox studio in Chicago where “Empire” is filmed, Guglielmi said. The FBI has declined to comment on the investigation.

 

Guglielmi said Wednesday that detectives, who are investigating the allegations as a possible hate crime, have looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from that section of the Streeterville neighborhood. But he said they still needed to collect and view more in the hopes of finding footage of the attack or of the men who match Smollett’s description of the suspects.

 

In addition to his acting career, Smollett has a music career and is a noted activist, particularly on LBGTQ issues. Smollett’s representative said his concert scheduled for Saturday in Los Angeles will go on as planned. Smollett has not spoken publicly about the attack, but his representative told The Associated Press on Wednesday night that the actor “is at home and recovering.”

 

Now in its fifth season, the hourlong drama “Empire” follows an African-American family as they navigate the ups and downs of the record industry. Smollett’s character is the middle son of Empire Entertainment founder Lucious Lyon and Cookie Lyon, played by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, respectively.

 

Chicago has one of the nation’s most sophisticated and extensive video surveillance systems, including thousands of cameras on street poles, skyscrapers, buses and in train tunnels.

 

Police say the cameras have helped them make thousands of arrests. In one of the best-known examples of the department’s use of the cameras, investigators in 2009 were able to recreate a school board president’s 20-minute drive through the city, singling out his car on a succession of surveillance cameras to help them determine that he committed suicide and had not been followed and killed by someone else, as his friends speculated.

 

 
…

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Detectives have recovered more surveillance footage of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett walking in downtown Chicago before and after he says he was attacked by two masked men, but they still haven’t found video of the attack, a police spokesman said Thursday.

 

Spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said there are hundreds of surveillance cameras in the area, which is home to many high-end hotels and restaurants, and that the hope is that detectives will be able to piece them together to capture most if not all of Smollett’s trip from a Subway restaurant to his apartment at about 2 a.m. Tuesday, when Smollett said the attack occurred.

 

Guglielmi said piecing together the private and public surveillance video is tedious work that is made more difficult by the fact that the time stamps on various cameras may not be in sync, meaning detectives have to figure out the exact times of events.

 

“It’s like putting together a puzzle,” he said.

 

Guglielmi also said police have recovered video that shows the 36-year-old actor walking into his apartment, but that he hasn’t seen it and doesn’t know if Smollett appeared to be in any distress when he arrived home.

 

He said that Smollett and his manager told detectives they were talking on the phone at the time of the attack, but that Smollett declined to turn over his phone records to the detectives, who routinely ask for such information during criminal investigations.

 

Meanwhile, police are hoping to identify and talk to the two people who were walking in the area at the time of the attack and whose images police released to the public late Wednesday. Guglielmi stressed that the people are not considered suspects and that police want to question them because they were in the vicinity and might have information that could be useful to the investigation.

 

Smollett, who is black and gay and plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox television show, said the men beat him, subjected him to racist and homophobic insults, threw an “unknown chemical substance” on him and put a thin rope around his neck before fleeing. Smollett returned to his apartment afterward and his manager called police from there about 40 minutes later, Guglielmi said.

When officers arrived, the 36-year-old actor had cuts and scrapes on his face and the rope around his neck that he said had been put there by his assailant. According to Guglielmi, Smollett later went to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after police advised him to do so.

 

Reports of the attack drew a flood of outrage and support for Smollett on social media. Some of the outrage stemmed from Smollett’s account to detectives that his attackers yelled that he was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

 

The FBI is investigating a threatening letter targeting Smollett that was sent last week to the Fox studio in Chicago where “Empire” is filmed, Guglielmi said. The FBI has declined to comment on the investigation.

 

Guglielmi said Wednesday that detectives, who are investigating the allegations as a possible hate crime, have looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from that section of the Streeterville neighborhood. But he said they still needed to collect and view more in the hopes of finding footage of the attack or of the men who match Smollett’s description of the suspects.

 

In addition to his acting career, Smollett has a music career and is a noted activist, particularly on LBGTQ issues. Smollett’s representative said his concert scheduled for Saturday in Los Angeles will go on as planned. Smollett has not spoken publicly about the attack, but his representative told The Associated Press on Wednesday night that the actor “is at home and recovering.”

 

Now in its fifth season, the hourlong drama “Empire” follows an African-American family as they navigate the ups and downs of the record industry. Smollett’s character is the middle son of Empire Entertainment founder Lucious Lyon and Cookie Lyon, played by Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson, respectively.

 

Chicago has one of the nation’s most sophisticated and extensive video surveillance systems, including thousands of cameras on street poles, skyscrapers, buses and in train tunnels.

 

Police say the cameras have helped them make thousands of arrests. In one of the best-known examples of the department’s use of the cameras, investigators in 2009 were able to recreate a school board president’s 20-minute drive through the city, singling out his car on a succession of surveillance cameras to help them determine that he committed suicide and had not been followed and killed by someone else, as his friends speculated.

 

 
…

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Some people take their pet dogs everywhere they can. One place where they are always welcome is at doga — yoga classes for dogs and humans. While the pet parents get into their yoga poses, like downward-facing dog, their pups get petted and held. VOA’s Deborah Block takes us to a doga class in Alexandria, Virginia, where people and pups are having a good time.
…

your ads here!

Some people take their pet dogs everywhere they can. One place where they are always welcome is at doga — yoga classes for dogs and humans. While the pet parents get into their yoga poses, like downward-facing dog, their pups get petted and held. VOA’s Deborah Block takes us to a doga class in Alexandria, Virginia, where people and pups are having a good time.
…

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From Princess Margaret’s 21st birthday gown to Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence’s red carpet dress, Christian Dior outfits that have made headlines go on show in a London exhibition dedicated to the French fashion house.

With a supporting cast of accessories, sketches and perfume bottles, “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” takes a close look at the history of the luxury brand he founded in 1946 and which remains the epitome of haute couture.

In all more than 500 items, the legacy of the late couturier and his six successors are on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum from Feb. 2.

“Not only did (Dior) …revolutionize fashion design… but he was also important in how he did business,” Oriole Cullen, Fashion and Textiles curator at the V&A, told Reuters.

“His business model was very much something which is still in use today. He wanted to look globally and at different markets.”

One of the earliest outfits on show is Dior’s signature Bar suit: a sculpted off-white jacket cinched at the waist and black pleated skirt. The 1947 design revolutionized womenswear and was dubbed Dior’s “New Look.”

Another highlight is the gold straw embroidered silk bodice and full-skirted gown Dior designed for Britain’s Princess Margaret’s in 1951. She wore the gown for her official 21st birthday portrait.

Dior’s love of Britain — where he staged several fashion shows — is also explored in the exhibition, which is based on a previous Paris House of Dior display.

“He was a self-confessed anglophile,” Cullen said. “For him it was an important market.”

Dior died in 1957, aged 52. A young Yves Saint Laurent took over and was followed by successive creative directors Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri, at the helm since 2016.

Their designs, worn by royals and celebrities, are mixed alongside the founder’s, each loyal to his legacy and fascinations. Dior was superstitious — his lucky star is on display — and Chiuri has paid homage to that in her creations.

“The lovely thing is to see how different these designers are but how they always reference back to the heart of Dior, different themes such as the garden, travels and historicism,” Cullen said.
…

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From Princess Margaret’s 21st birthday gown to Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence’s red carpet dress, Christian Dior outfits that have made headlines go on show in a London exhibition dedicated to the French fashion house.

With a supporting cast of accessories, sketches and perfume bottles, “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams” takes a close look at the history of the luxury brand he founded in 1946 and which remains the epitome of haute couture.

In all more than 500 items, the legacy of the late couturier and his six successors are on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum from Feb. 2.

“Not only did (Dior) …revolutionize fashion design… but he was also important in how he did business,” Oriole Cullen, Fashion and Textiles curator at the V&A, told Reuters.

“His business model was very much something which is still in use today. He wanted to look globally and at different markets.”

One of the earliest outfits on show is Dior’s signature Bar suit: a sculpted off-white jacket cinched at the waist and black pleated skirt. The 1947 design revolutionized womenswear and was dubbed Dior’s “New Look.”

Another highlight is the gold straw embroidered silk bodice and full-skirted gown Dior designed for Britain’s Princess Margaret’s in 1951. She wore the gown for her official 21st birthday portrait.

Dior’s love of Britain — where he staged several fashion shows — is also explored in the exhibition, which is based on a previous Paris House of Dior display.

“He was a self-confessed anglophile,” Cullen said. “For him it was an important market.”

Dior died in 1957, aged 52. A young Yves Saint Laurent took over and was followed by successive creative directors Marc Bohan, Gianfranco Ferre, John Galliano, Raf Simons and Maria Grazia Chiuri, at the helm since 2016.

Their designs, worn by royals and celebrities, are mixed alongside the founder’s, each loyal to his legacy and fascinations. Dior was superstitious — his lucky star is on display — and Chiuri has paid homage to that in her creations.

“The lovely thing is to see how different these designers are but how they always reference back to the heart of Dior, different themes such as the garden, travels and historicism,” Cullen said.
…

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Major League Baseball is kicking off a yearlong tribute to Jackie Robinson, who would have been 100 years old Thursday.

Robinson’s widow, Rachel, and their daughter Sharon, will be handed the symbolic key to the city in Brooklyn, New York, where Robinson spent his major league career.

They will also join baseball commissioner Rob Manfred to open an exhibit dedicated to Robinson at the Museum of the City of New York.

A new Jackie Robinson Museum will open in New York later this year, and on April 15, every major league team will observe Jackie Robinson Day.

All players will wear a number 42 on their uniforms for one day, the number Robinson wore during his career. Baseball has retired the number 42, meaning no major league player can choose it for his number.

Robinson was the first African-American to play in the major leagues, joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 as a second baseman.

He faced outright racism from fans, other teams, and other players, including some of his teammates.

The sometimes short-tempered Robinson held back his anger, refusing to give his racist critics the satisfaction of reacting with violence, even when he was physically assaulted.

He instead silenced his critics with his performance on the playing field, including superb fielding, aggressive base-running, a .311 lifetime batting average, 137 home runs, six all-star games, and helping lead the Dodgers to the World Series six times and one world championship in 1955.

Robinson retired from playing in 1956 and was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame six years later. He was 53 when he died of a heart attack in 1972.
…

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Major League Baseball is kicking off a yearlong tribute to Jackie Robinson, who would have been 100 years old Thursday.

Robinson’s widow, Rachel, and their daughter Sharon, will be handed the symbolic key to the city in Brooklyn, New York, where Robinson spent his major league career.

They will also join baseball commissioner Rob Manfred to open an exhibit dedicated to Robinson at the Museum of the City of New York.

A new Jackie Robinson Museum will open in New York later this year, and on April 15, every major league team will observe Jackie Robinson Day.

All players will wear a number 42 on their uniforms for one day, the number Robinson wore during his career. Baseball has retired the number 42, meaning no major league player can choose it for his number.

Robinson was the first African-American to play in the major leagues, joining the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 as a second baseman.

He faced outright racism from fans, other teams, and other players, including some of his teammates.

The sometimes short-tempered Robinson held back his anger, refusing to give his racist critics the satisfaction of reacting with violence, even when he was physically assaulted.

He instead silenced his critics with his performance on the playing field, including superb fielding, aggressive base-running, a .311 lifetime batting average, 137 home runs, six all-star games, and helping lead the Dodgers to the World Series six times and one world championship in 1955.

Robinson retired from playing in 1956 and was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame six years later. He was 53 when he died of a heart attack in 1972.
…

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The Beatles’ farewell documentary “Let It Be” is getting an encore, and a reinvention.

“Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson announced Wednesday that he is making a new film out of some 55 hours of footage — shot in January 1969 — that has never been seen by the public. The original movie, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, came out soon after the Beatles broke up in 1970 and has long been viewed as a chronicle of the band members growing apart. In a Rolling Stone interview given months after the film’s release, John Lennon recalled the making of “Let It Be” as a miserable experience, “set-up by Paul (McCartney) for Paul. 

“That is one of the main reasons the Beatles ended. I can’t speak for George, but I pretty damn well know we got fed up of being side-men for Paul,” he said.

But Jackson says the additional footage tells a very different story.

“It’s simply an amazing historical treasure-trove,” he said. “Sure, there’s moments of drama — but none of the discord this project has long been associated with.”

For Jackson, the Beatles movie marks another turn to documentaries after his recent “They Shall Not Grow Old,” a film that brings World War I to life after the director restored heavily-damaged, grainy footage, transferred it into 3-D and even used expert lip readers to restore lost dialogue.

He is working on “Let It Be” with the cooperation of McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison. The new project was announced on the 50th anniversary of one of the highlights of “Let It Be,” the Beatles’ spirited performance on the roof of Apple Records in London.

No release date has been set. A remastered version of the original film, which won an Oscar for best original score, also is planned.

In 1969, the movie was meant to show the Beatles turning away from the psychedelic tricks of “Sgt. Pepper” as they jam on new songs such as “I’ve Got a Feeling” and “Get Back.” But the Beatles seem far older and wearier than the joyous moptops of a few years earlier. Harrison briefly walked out during filming and on camera argues with McCartney over a proposed guitar part. Harrison would later blame tension with McCartney and unhappiness with Lennon’s then-new relationship with Ono, who is often by Lennon’s side in the movie.

“Paul wanted nobody to play on his songs until he decided how it should go. For me it was like: ‘What am I doing here? This is painful!”’ he said in an interview for a 1990s video anthology of the Beatles.

“Then superimposed on top of that was Yoko, and there were negative vibes at that time. John and Yoko were out on a limb. I don’t think he wanted much to be hanging out with us, and I think Yoko was pushing him out of the band, inasmuch as she didn’t want him hanging out with us.”

“Let It Be” didn’t come out until May 1970, and Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner would speak of Lennon “crying his eyes out” when the two saw it together. 

Meanwhile, the accompanying album led to a bitter dispute between McCartney and his bandmates. The group had pushed aside longtime producer George Martin and brought in Phil Spector, who infuriated McCartney by adding strings and a choir to the ballad “The Long and Winding Road.” In 2003, McCartney oversaw a new and sparer version of the album, “Let It Be … Naked.”

Last fall, McCartney hinted at the upcoming revision of the film.

“I know people have been looking at the (unreleased) footage,” he said in an interview aired on Canada’s Radio X. 

“And someone was talking to me the other day and said: ‘The overall feeling is very joyous and very uplifting. It’s like a bunch of guys making music and enjoying it.’”
…

your ads here!

The Beatles’ farewell documentary “Let It Be” is getting an encore, and a reinvention.

“Lord of the Rings” director Peter Jackson announced Wednesday that he is making a new film out of some 55 hours of footage — shot in January 1969 — that has never been seen by the public. The original movie, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, came out soon after the Beatles broke up in 1970 and has long been viewed as a chronicle of the band members growing apart. In a Rolling Stone interview given months after the film’s release, John Lennon recalled the making of “Let It Be” as a miserable experience, “set-up by Paul (McCartney) for Paul. 

“That is one of the main reasons the Beatles ended. I can’t speak for George, but I pretty damn well know we got fed up of being side-men for Paul,” he said.

But Jackson says the additional footage tells a very different story.

“It’s simply an amazing historical treasure-trove,” he said. “Sure, there’s moments of drama — but none of the discord this project has long been associated with.”

For Jackson, the Beatles movie marks another turn to documentaries after his recent “They Shall Not Grow Old,” a film that brings World War I to life after the director restored heavily-damaged, grainy footage, transferred it into 3-D and even used expert lip readers to restore lost dialogue.

He is working on “Let It Be” with the cooperation of McCartney, Ringo Starr, and Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison. The new project was announced on the 50th anniversary of one of the highlights of “Let It Be,” the Beatles’ spirited performance on the roof of Apple Records in London.

No release date has been set. A remastered version of the original film, which won an Oscar for best original score, also is planned.

In 1969, the movie was meant to show the Beatles turning away from the psychedelic tricks of “Sgt. Pepper” as they jam on new songs such as “I’ve Got a Feeling” and “Get Back.” But the Beatles seem far older and wearier than the joyous moptops of a few years earlier. Harrison briefly walked out during filming and on camera argues with McCartney over a proposed guitar part. Harrison would later blame tension with McCartney and unhappiness with Lennon’s then-new relationship with Ono, who is often by Lennon’s side in the movie.

“Paul wanted nobody to play on his songs until he decided how it should go. For me it was like: ‘What am I doing here? This is painful!”’ he said in an interview for a 1990s video anthology of the Beatles.

“Then superimposed on top of that was Yoko, and there were negative vibes at that time. John and Yoko were out on a limb. I don’t think he wanted much to be hanging out with us, and I think Yoko was pushing him out of the band, inasmuch as she didn’t want him hanging out with us.”

“Let It Be” didn’t come out until May 1970, and Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner would speak of Lennon “crying his eyes out” when the two saw it together. 

Meanwhile, the accompanying album led to a bitter dispute between McCartney and his bandmates. The group had pushed aside longtime producer George Martin and brought in Phil Spector, who infuriated McCartney by adding strings and a choir to the ballad “The Long and Winding Road.” In 2003, McCartney oversaw a new and sparer version of the album, “Let It Be … Naked.”

Last fall, McCartney hinted at the upcoming revision of the film.

“I know people have been looking at the (unreleased) footage,” he said in an interview aired on Canada’s Radio X. 

“And someone was talking to me the other day and said: ‘The overall feeling is very joyous and very uplifting. It’s like a bunch of guys making music and enjoying it.’”
…

your ads here!

Sarah Michelle Gellar makes a horror movie parody for Olay. Jeff Bridges and Sarah Jessica Parker tout Stella Artois. Steve Carrell hawks Pepsi.

Star power abounds in this year’s Super Bowl ads.

Advertisers are hoping to provide some welcome distraction and entertainment as economic fears persist and the nation’s political climate remains sharply divided. As much as this year’s Super Bowl will be a battle on the field between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams, it will be a battle between advertisers over who gets the buzz — and who gets forgotten.

Celebrities are a relatively safe bet to garner good will from Super Bowl viewers who aren’t looking to be lectured at. There has been a retreat from more overtly political ads that were seen during the 2017 Super Bowl from such companies as 84 Lumber and Airbnb.

“The big theme is a return to light-hearted humor,” University of Virginia professor Kim Whitler said. “There’s an acknowledgement the Super Bowl is about entertainment.”

The Super Bowl remains advertising’s biggest mass-market showcase, and one of the last remaining ones in an age of personalized ads targeted to individual interests based on data collected by Facebook, Google and other tech mammoths. Digital ads are expected to make up nearly 60 percent of ad spending by 2020, according to eMarketer, up from about 50 percent in 2018.

Yet a 30-second Super Bowl ad can cost more than $5 million. More than 100 million people in the U.S. are expected to tune in to Sunday’s game on CBS. SimpliSafe’s creative director, Wade Devers, said the home-security company is advertising during the Super Bowl for the first time because the game has “a unique audience” primed to be interested in watching the ads.

Advertisers are doing what they can to stand out — Bridges, for instance, revives his “The Dude” character from “The Big Lebowski” — while shying away from controversy.

“It’s such a big investment. Advertisers really want to generate as much return as they can,” Northwestern University marketing professor Tim Calkins said. “I think we’ll see a lot of humor and product-focused advertising. A lot of advertisers are nervous about taking on big themes.”

So don’t expect any mention of the government shutdown or the debate over building a wall at the Mexican border, for example.

But safe can also mean dull.

“It will be a lackluster year,” said Kelly O’Keefe, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth’s Brandcenter. “I hope to see a few standouts, but the ads could be more mediocre than they have in a few years.”

Tried and true

A few old favorites are returning. Anheuser-Busch is trotting out its famed Clydesdales. They pull a Dalmatian dog through a field populated with windmills to the tune of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” to promote the idea that Budweiser is brewed with energy from wind power.

As for celebrities, always a staple in Super Bowl ads, Jason Bateman appears as an affable elevator operator to showcase Hyundai’s Shopper Assurance program. M&M’s enlisted actress Christina Applegate, and Avocados From Mexico’s ad will feature Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. Colgate Total’s ad features Luke Wilson as a close talker.

Strong women

Olay will play off horror movies and the phrase “Killer Skin,” with an ad starring Gellar. Toyota is highlighting the perseverance of Antoinette “Toni” Harris, a female football player at a California community college. And Bumble selected Serena Williams to be its spokeswoman in the dating app’s first ever Super Bowl ad.

Tech ribbing

Michelob Ultra has robots beating humans at sports like running and spinning. But then one robot looks longingly in a bar where people are enjoying a post-workout beer. “It’s only worth it, if you can enjoy it,” an on-screen message reads.

In an ad for Pringles , a smart speaker laments not being able to taste the snack.

Amazon pokes fun at itself as celebrities from Harrison Ford to astronaut twins Mark and Steve Kelly testing products that didn’t quite work out, including an electric toothbrush and a dog collar with Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant.

Music mania

The Super Bowl reportedly had trouble finding artists to sing during the Super Bowl: Singer Travis Scott agreed to perform only after the NFL agreed to donate $500,000 to charity. But there has been no hesitation with musicians jumping into Super Bowl ads.

First time-Super Bowl advertiser Expensify created a catchy music video with rapper 2 Chainz and actor Adam Scott. The 30-second ad also features the song.

Pepsi has long enlisted musicians to help sell its drinks and snacks. For its Doritos brand, Chance the Rapper is teaming up with the Backstreet Boys to promote a new flavor. Michael Buble will star in an ad for Pepsi’s Bubly sparkling water brand. And an ad for Pepsi itself has Carrell with rapper Lil Jon and pop singer Cardi B.

Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, has Ludacris.

Surprises

Although many companies released their ads online early, Villanova marketing professor Charles Taylor says some are holding back “for the potential to make a bigger splash.”
…

your ads here!

Sarah Michelle Gellar makes a horror movie parody for Olay. Jeff Bridges and Sarah Jessica Parker tout Stella Artois. Steve Carrell hawks Pepsi.

Star power abounds in this year’s Super Bowl ads.

Advertisers are hoping to provide some welcome distraction and entertainment as economic fears persist and the nation’s political climate remains sharply divided. As much as this year’s Super Bowl will be a battle on the field between the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams, it will be a battle between advertisers over who gets the buzz — and who gets forgotten.

Celebrities are a relatively safe bet to garner good will from Super Bowl viewers who aren’t looking to be lectured at. There has been a retreat from more overtly political ads that were seen during the 2017 Super Bowl from such companies as 84 Lumber and Airbnb.

“The big theme is a return to light-hearted humor,” University of Virginia professor Kim Whitler said. “There’s an acknowledgement the Super Bowl is about entertainment.”

The Super Bowl remains advertising’s biggest mass-market showcase, and one of the last remaining ones in an age of personalized ads targeted to individual interests based on data collected by Facebook, Google and other tech mammoths. Digital ads are expected to make up nearly 60 percent of ad spending by 2020, according to eMarketer, up from about 50 percent in 2018.

Yet a 30-second Super Bowl ad can cost more than $5 million. More than 100 million people in the U.S. are expected to tune in to Sunday’s game on CBS. SimpliSafe’s creative director, Wade Devers, said the home-security company is advertising during the Super Bowl for the first time because the game has “a unique audience” primed to be interested in watching the ads.

Advertisers are doing what they can to stand out — Bridges, for instance, revives his “The Dude” character from “The Big Lebowski” — while shying away from controversy.

“It’s such a big investment. Advertisers really want to generate as much return as they can,” Northwestern University marketing professor Tim Calkins said. “I think we’ll see a lot of humor and product-focused advertising. A lot of advertisers are nervous about taking on big themes.”

So don’t expect any mention of the government shutdown or the debate over building a wall at the Mexican border, for example.

But safe can also mean dull.

“It will be a lackluster year,” said Kelly O’Keefe, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth’s Brandcenter. “I hope to see a few standouts, but the ads could be more mediocre than they have in a few years.”

Tried and true

A few old favorites are returning. Anheuser-Busch is trotting out its famed Clydesdales. They pull a Dalmatian dog through a field populated with windmills to the tune of Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” to promote the idea that Budweiser is brewed with energy from wind power.

As for celebrities, always a staple in Super Bowl ads, Jason Bateman appears as an affable elevator operator to showcase Hyundai’s Shopper Assurance program. M&M’s enlisted actress Christina Applegate, and Avocados From Mexico’s ad will feature Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth. Colgate Total’s ad features Luke Wilson as a close talker.

Strong women

Olay will play off horror movies and the phrase “Killer Skin,” with an ad starring Gellar. Toyota is highlighting the perseverance of Antoinette “Toni” Harris, a female football player at a California community college. And Bumble selected Serena Williams to be its spokeswoman in the dating app’s first ever Super Bowl ad.

Tech ribbing

Michelob Ultra has robots beating humans at sports like running and spinning. But then one robot looks longingly in a bar where people are enjoying a post-workout beer. “It’s only worth it, if you can enjoy it,” an on-screen message reads.

In an ad for Pringles , a smart speaker laments not being able to taste the snack.

Amazon pokes fun at itself as celebrities from Harrison Ford to astronaut twins Mark and Steve Kelly testing products that didn’t quite work out, including an electric toothbrush and a dog collar with Amazon’s Alexa digital assistant.

Music mania

The Super Bowl reportedly had trouble finding artists to sing during the Super Bowl: Singer Travis Scott agreed to perform only after the NFL agreed to donate $500,000 to charity. But there has been no hesitation with musicians jumping into Super Bowl ads.

First time-Super Bowl advertiser Expensify created a catchy music video with rapper 2 Chainz and actor Adam Scott. The 30-second ad also features the song.

Pepsi has long enlisted musicians to help sell its drinks and snacks. For its Doritos brand, Chance the Rapper is teaming up with the Backstreet Boys to promote a new flavor. Michael Buble will star in an ad for Pepsi’s Bubly sparkling water brand. And an ad for Pepsi itself has Carrell with rapper Lil Jon and pop singer Cardi B.

Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, has Ludacris.

Surprises

Although many companies released their ads online early, Villanova marketing professor Charles Taylor says some are holding back “for the potential to make a bigger splash.”
…

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A cast member on the hit television show “Empire” alleged he was physically attacked by men in Chicago who shouted racial and homophobic slurs, police said Tuesday (January 29).

The police did not release the actor’s name but a statement from Fox, which airs “Empire,” identified him as Jussie Smollett, 36. Authorities said they are investigating the alleged attack as a hate crime. Smollett is black and openly gay.

According to a police statement, the actor was walking near the Chicago River downtown around 2 a.m. Tuesday when he was approached by two men who shouted at him, struck him in the face and poured an “unknown substance” on him before one of them wrapped a rope around his neck.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that when officers first came in contact with Smollett, he still had a rope around his neck. While being interviewed by detectives, Guglielmi said Smollett told them that the attackers yelled he was in “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to the Trump campaign’s “Make America Great Again” slogan that some critics of the president have decried as racist and discriminatory.

The police spokesman added that the two men were wearing masks. Investigators have not found any surveillance video or witnesses from which they can put together a description of the offenders, he said.

Smollett was able to take himself to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He was last reported in good condition.

Guglielmi also said the FBI is investigating a threatening letter targeting Smollett that was sent to the Fox studio in Chicago last week.

Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton called the alleged attack “outrageous and despicable.” He also said that if the alleged assailants really were shouting slogans related to President Trump, the president should publicly say “if his brand does not represent these kind of alleged attacks.” Sharpton added “his silence is deafening.”
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