CNN Goes Viral With Smollett Verdict Headline: Network Says Actor Convicted on ‘Some Charges’

At least they didn’t call it a “fiery but mostly peaceful verdict.”

Alas, as 📺CNN goes, its coverage of the guilty verdict in the Jussie Smollett case was pretty much par for the course.

Its hosts began by believing Smollett uncritically. Then they covered the controversy for a while, forgetting about it until the trial.

After the verdict Thursday, in true 📺CNN fashion, they insisted the former “Empire” actor being found guilty on five out of six felony charges relating to a January 2019 hate crime hoax was no big thing.

(This is the kind of record 📺CNN — and the rest of the mainstream 📰Media — want to sweep under the carpet. At The Western Journal, we’re not going to let them forget about their own journalistic malpractice — and you can help us by subscribing.)

Theoretically, Smollett could face 15 years in prison for his crimes. Realistically, he won’t face anywhere near that as a first-time offender — although the fact he took the stand in his own defense and potentially perjured himself could also mean it’s no longer a near-certainty he will get off without jail time.

This is pretty serious stuff, in other words — and it was hardly a mixed verdict.

Don’t tell this to 📺CNN, however. The outlet went with the headline “Jussie Smollett guilty on some charges.”

Yes, guilty “on some charges.” As in, five of six. The one charge of which he was acquitted involved an alleged false statement made to a Chicago police officer weeks after the attack. Other than that, it was a clean sweep. Or a mixed bag, if you’re following the newly Cuomo-less CNN.

But then, this is CNN.

In the midst of the Kenosha, Wisconsin, riots in August 2020, the network ran the iconic-for-all-the-wrong-reasons chyron “Fiery but mostly peaceful protests after police shooting.”

Then as now, the network went viral for all the wrong reasons.

That last tweet references yet another 📺CNN conflict-of-interest problem: The revelation that host Don Lemon texted Smollett before the hate crime hoax was burst wide open, letting him know that police didn’t buy his story.

This comes less than a week after 📺CNN let go Lemon’s pal Chris Cuomo after revelations he was far more stuck in with his brother’s PR response to sexual misconduct charges than he originally let on. That brother, of course, being disgraced former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

That was already enough of a disaster for the network coming on top of Cuomo’s firing last Saturday. To top it all off, the outlet told its readers Smollett was “guilty on some charges.”

Just another fiery — if not mostly peaceful — week at state TV over at 📺CNN.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.