Jussie Smollett: top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up to receive our rundown of the day'sdirect to your inbox When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Jussie Smollett: Charles Barkley tells shocking joke Charles Barkley made some controversial comments about Jussie Smollett and Liam Neeson during a half-time segment on TNT on Thursday night. Empire star Smollett has been charged with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false report after alleging staging a racist and homophobic attack. Police have said Smollett paid two brothers $3,500 to beat him up in the alleged staged attack. Smollett has denied the allegations against him. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the actor “took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career” and said it was a “publicity stunt” the city did not deserve. His lawyers said Johnson’s comments had no place in the American legal system and said Smollett’s presumption of innocence was trampled upon at the expense of Smollett. The statement called the actor a man of “impeccable character and integrity” who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence. READ MORE: Jussie Smollett: Actor BACK ON SET of Empire following his release from police custody Jussie Smollett: Charles Barkley made some controversial comments about Jussie Smollett Smollett called the cast of Empire together on Thursday and reportedly apologised to his co-workers for any embarrassment they might have felt, CNN reported. However this didn’t stop Barkley from joking about the case during the halftime segment of Thursday’s Rocket-Lakers game. When the TNT crew was talking about NBA predictions which have “no chance of happening”, Barkley quipped “two black guys beating a black guy up.” He continued: “America. Let me just tell you something. Do not commit crimes with checks. READ MORE: Jussie Smollett charged with ‘faking’ racist attack: Empire star to appear in court TODAY America. Let me just tell you something. Do not commit crimes with checks Charles Barkley “If you’re gonna break the law, do not write a check. Get cash, man…You think they put that on the receipt? Facemask, rope, bleach?” But Barkley wasn’t over just yet as he brought into the mix actor Liam Neeson who recently admitted to having a “primal urge to lash out” and attack a random black person after his friend was alleged to have been raped by a black man. Neeson revealed in an interview with the Independent: “She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way. “But my immediate reaction was…I asked, did she know who it was? ’No.’ What colour were they? Jussie Smollett: Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson speaks during a press conference Jussie Smollett: The actor was released on bond on Thursday “She said, ‘It was a black person’.” He continued: “I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by somebody - I’m ashamed to say that - and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] ‘black b*****d’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could,” another pause, “kill him.” Barkley joked: “Jussie, you wasted all that time and money. You know what you should’ve did? “Just went up in Liam Neeson’s neighbourhood.” Jussie Smollett: The actor handed himself into police on Thursday and was arrested and charged<doc-sep>NBA Hall of Famer and commentator Charles Barkley mocked Jussie Smollett on Thursday after the actor was accused of faking an assault, telling him he should have just gone to "Liam Neeson's neighborhood." "You wasted all that damn time and money. You know what you shoulda did? Just went up in Liam Neeson's neighborhood," Barkley said on TNT's "Inside the NBA" Charles Barkley came with the jokes for Jussie Smollett: "You wasted all that damn time and money. You know what you shoulda did? Just went up in Liam Neeson's neighborhood." pic.twitter.com/DuY1ThVdFC — Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) February 22, 2019 Smollett, an actor on Fox's "Empire," was charged with filing a false report and disorderly conduct after Chicago police said he staged an attack. ADVERTISEMENT Smollett told police that two men beat him, tied a rope around his neck and poured an unknown chemical substance on him while shouting racist and homophobic slurs, as well as pro-Trump language. Authorities now say Smollett paid two men $3,500 to stage the attack. Smollett's attorneys have denied the charges against their client. Actor Liam Neeson also made headlines earlier this month when he said in an interview that after a family friend was raped he looked for black people to take revenge. Neeson said that following the attack, which took place decades ago, he went into black neighborhoods hoping to find someone to attack. He added that he regretted those actions. “It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that,” he said in the interview.<doc-sep>Charles Barkley couldn’t stop cracking jokes at Jussie Smollett‘s expense, even looping in Liam Neeson. The “Inside the NBA” host clearly followed the events that transpired on Thursday involving the “Empire” star, including his arrest, police press conference, bail hearing, and release. As the show went to commercial, Barkley (who couldn’t stop laughing at the story) joked that Jussie Smollett should have gone Neeson’s neighborhood and it “would have solved all your damn problems!” Barkley (who apparently is an avid reader of pop culture news) is, of course, referring to the recent scandal where Neeson admitted to wanting to kill a random black person because of the anger he felt after the rape of a friend. The NBA great couldn’t let it go, joking later in the show, “America, let me just tell you something, do not commit crimes with checks … If you’re going to break the law, do not write a check. Get cash, man!” Wiser words have never been spoken. The post Charles Barkley Clowns on Jussie Smollett: ‘He Shoulda Just Went Out in Liam Neeson’s Neighborhood!’ appeared first on The Blast.<doc-sep>
Former NBA star Charles Barkley poked fun at the Jussie Smollett controversy during TNT’s halftime coverage of the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers game on Thursday night. “Jussie, you wasted all that damn time and money. You know what you shoulda did?” Barkley said before a commercial break. “Just went up to Liam Neeson’s neighborhood. You coulda solved all your damn problems.” The former Phoenix Suns player was referencing reports that the Empire star falsified a police report about being the victim of an alleged hate crime in Chicago last month. Barkley tied it to the backlash Neeson drew earlier this month, when he revealed an urge to kill a Black man years ago after learning his friend had been raped. Smollett allegedly paid two Black men to stage his attack, during which he said racial and homophobic slurs were yelled at him. Earlier during the TNT segment, the commentator made other jokes about Smollett reportedly paying his attackers with a check. “America, let me just tell you something,” Barkley said. “Do not commit crimes with checks. If you’re gonna break the law, do not write a check. Get cash, man. I never use the ATM. Now, I heard you can only get $200. Make a lot of stops at the ATM. Do not write checks when you commit illegal activity.” Co-hosts Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson nervously laughed at the comments. Smollett was released on bond following his Thursday arrest. He faces up to three years in prison and substantial fines if convicted of a felony charge of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.