jsbt

It's what Tom Arnold of all people said too around the day of: On some level, she wanted it to happen. I believe both are right.

The original article has a lot more interesting BTS insights. They were struggling with her constantly and wanted to believe she could change.

Is it OT to post the Washington Post story on Roseanne from today? It's got a lot of detail on the BTS turmoil during season 1 of the original revival and quotes from a number of BTS personnel including Sara. I just worry that if it gets shunted to the Roseanne forum no one will see it.

Renewal looks ready to be confirmed:

I don't particularly care if he goes to prison and I never believed he'd serve time. His career and life as we know it being ruined is enough for me.

I'm in a strange spot in that I agree that it both seems excessive and that I have no sympathy for him whatsoever.

Will we, though?

Agreed! Which would explain why Jussie went from initially refusing to charge the brothers when he was alerted they'd been found by the police (after calling them before and after the attack), and now upon hiring Geragos, his defense strategy has shifted to include an alleged drug habit, a handful of flimsy semantics claims, a series of desperate leaks to TMZ, and now, finally, claiming that oh, his good friends the brothers are homophobes after all despite being his friends, chosen trainers and on-set co-workers for a long time.

Welp:

There's writing a bad check and then there's faking a fucking hate crime.

If it'll keep him out of jail (and I assume it will based solely on establishing reasonable doubt, as well as his privilege as a wealthy celebrity), that's all Geragos cares about. The spaghetti strategy is viable for that purpose. For getting his career and his name back? Nope.

Yeah, the fact that his only current actions appear to be "muddy the waters" and "pin it all on my flunkies" don't speak well to any kind of redemptive narrative or genuine remorse. I'll never get over any of it really or take him seriously again or respect him having any kind of public career - which I don't think he'll ever have again. But for me the noose and bleach are definitely the things that I will never get out of my head. I completely believed that part of the story and it was so horrifying.

I don't mind aspects of the THR article, I think it's decent. But it tries too hard to find an emotional throughline for what is, at present, an opaque and unknowable personality and motive. Whatever we thought Jussie Smollett was before - me included, I really admired his work and choices - he is clearly something else. And everything it accurately pinpoints as potential moral weaknesses can only be fully reckoned with by him accounting for his crimes and making public and private amends. Until he does that - and stops leaning on Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson's defense attorney - I have no time for forgiveness.