‘Suicide is not fashion’: Burberry apologizes for hoodie with noose at London Fashion Week
https://www.rt.com/news/452009-burberry-...de-racism/
INTRO: Fashion giant Burberry has apologized after featuring a hoodie with a noose around the neck during its showcase at London Fashion Week, spark a wave of outrage over insensitivity towards suicide and racism. One of its own models, Liz Kennedy, lambasted the brand for whom she is an ambassador, decrying both main connotations of the offending noose, saying: “Suicide is not fashion... Let’s not forget about the horrifying history of lynching either.”
MORE: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-47302587
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2yzNcEFAhs
Jussie Smollett faces prison, career ruin if he lied about attack (faux-victim style)
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/...ut-n973531
EXCERPT: . . . If Smollett falsified a police report, the charge is a Class 4 felony in Illinois, and carries a potential sentence of one to three years in prison. Smollett could also be ordered to pay restitution to compensate for the cost of the Chicago Police Department investigation. [...]
Smollett told police that two men attacked him at 2 a.m. [Jan29], poured bleach on him, and put a noose around his neck. He also claimed they told him that it was “MAGA country,” a reference to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. Chicago investigators are now seeking to speak with Smollett.
Federal investigators are also probing a threatening letter that was sent to the “Empire” set. The letter included homophobic language and contained a white powder, which was later determined to be a crushed painkiller tablet. Should that letter turn out to be fake, federal prosecutors could also pursue a mail fraud charge, legal experts say.
Andrew Weisberg, a former prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, said Smollett could get probation, assuming that he has a clean record. Update: NBC News reported Tuesday, and Variety confirmed, that Smollett pleaded no contest in 2007 to three misdemeanor counts stemming from a DUI incident in Los Angeles, including one count of giving false information to the police. [...] He was sentenced to three years of probation. Weisberg also said prosecutors may face pressure not to be lenient. “It’s a very high-profile case,” he said. “Prosecutors tend to be tougher because everybody’s watching. … I think they may come down hard, in terms of not reducing it to a misdemeanor.”
Steve Greenberg, a Chicago defense attorney [...] said it was likely, though, that Smollett would be allowed to plead to a misdemeanor, and not serve jail time. “They’re not going to ruin a guy’s life over this,” Greenberg said. “People make false reports all the time to the police. They get in a DUI, they call police and say, ‘My car was stolen.’ Ninety percent of the time, even if they’re charged with a felony, those people end up pleading to a misdemeanor.”
[...] Smollett ... may see endorsement opportunities and roles dry up if he is found to have been untruthful. ... “If he made this up, he broke the trust of a lot of his fans,” said Ray Drasnin, founder of Purple Penguin PR. “Say you lied and you’re sorry for that lie. Apologize to the people who have supported you, promise to make it up, and find a cause that’s near and dear to your heart and devote yourself to it.”
MORE: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/...ut-n973531
https://www.rt.com/news/452009-burberry-...de-racism/
INTRO: Fashion giant Burberry has apologized after featuring a hoodie with a noose around the neck during its showcase at London Fashion Week, spark a wave of outrage over insensitivity towards suicide and racism. One of its own models, Liz Kennedy, lambasted the brand for whom she is an ambassador, decrying both main connotations of the offending noose, saying: “Suicide is not fashion... Let’s not forget about the horrifying history of lynching either.”
MORE: https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-47302587
VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2yzNcEFAhs
Jussie Smollett faces prison, career ruin if he lied about attack (faux-victim style)
https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/...ut-n973531
EXCERPT: . . . If Smollett falsified a police report, the charge is a Class 4 felony in Illinois, and carries a potential sentence of one to three years in prison. Smollett could also be ordered to pay restitution to compensate for the cost of the Chicago Police Department investigation. [...]
Smollett told police that two men attacked him at 2 a.m. [Jan29], poured bleach on him, and put a noose around his neck. He also claimed they told him that it was “MAGA country,” a reference to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan. Chicago investigators are now seeking to speak with Smollett.
Federal investigators are also probing a threatening letter that was sent to the “Empire” set. The letter included homophobic language and contained a white powder, which was later determined to be a crushed painkiller tablet. Should that letter turn out to be fake, federal prosecutors could also pursue a mail fraud charge, legal experts say.
Andrew Weisberg, a former prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, said Smollett could get probation, assuming that he has a clean record. Update: NBC News reported Tuesday, and Variety confirmed, that Smollett pleaded no contest in 2007 to three misdemeanor counts stemming from a DUI incident in Los Angeles, including one count of giving false information to the police. [...] He was sentenced to three years of probation. Weisberg also said prosecutors may face pressure not to be lenient. “It’s a very high-profile case,” he said. “Prosecutors tend to be tougher because everybody’s watching. … I think they may come down hard, in terms of not reducing it to a misdemeanor.”
Steve Greenberg, a Chicago defense attorney [...] said it was likely, though, that Smollett would be allowed to plead to a misdemeanor, and not serve jail time. “They’re not going to ruin a guy’s life over this,” Greenberg said. “People make false reports all the time to the police. They get in a DUI, they call police and say, ‘My car was stolen.’ Ninety percent of the time, even if they’re charged with a felony, those people end up pleading to a misdemeanor.”
[...] Smollett ... may see endorsement opportunities and roles dry up if he is found to have been untruthful. ... “If he made this up, he broke the trust of a lot of his fans,” said Ray Drasnin, founder of Purple Penguin PR. “Say you lied and you’re sorry for that lie. Apologize to the people who have supported you, promise to make it up, and find a cause that’s near and dear to your heart and devote yourself to it.”
MORE: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/...ut-n973531