Now that Jussie Smollett has actually been arrested and charged with faking a hate crime, those disappointed that he wasn’t really attacked by redneck Trump supporters in MAGA hats don’t really have much to say — NOW they’re waiting for all the information to come in.

As Twitchy reported earlier, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph went out of her way to defend Smollett; hey, at least he didn’t kill someone.

As Cameron Gray has noticed, Ralph was not the only woman on the red carpet at ESSENCE’s Black Women in Hollywood event Thursday night who couldn’t find it in her heart to condemn Smollett as a criminal who allegedly hired people to “attack” him and make it look like racist, homophobic Trump supporters had put a noose around his neck.

Here’s Ralph again, who pivoted to murderers walking around free.

Sheryl Lee Ralph on Jussie Smollett: "Is it a big, bad mistake? Absolutely. But a lot of people have made some awful, awful, big, bad mistakes. Some people have even killed people, they're walking around free" #BlackWomenInHollywood pic.twitter.com/xl5lPqsZgx — Variety (@Variety) February 21, 2019

Here’s Iyanla Vanzant using the incident to call Trump a liar.

Iyanla Vanzant on Jussie Smollett: "He told a lie. That's what he did. Now we can make up whatever we want to make up about it, but he told a lie the same way the leader of this country does every day" #BlackWomenInHollywood pic.twitter.com/yVpiivLnG6 — Variety (@Variety) February 21, 2019

Here’s Elaine Welteroth, who reminds us that violence against the LGBT community is real … except for those times when it’s faked, we assume.

Elaine Welteroth on Jussie Smollet: "Ultimately until there are facts that have been verified, I'm not going to weigh in on it publicly. I support people of color, I support the LGBTQ community. Violence against those communities is real, regardless of the outcome of this case" pic.twitter.com/O2PbHlDtGL — Variety (@Variety) February 21, 2019

Here’s Tarana Burke, who also took the occasion to remind us that there are real survivors of violence out there.

Tarana Burke: "People are going to grapple with this for a long time… It doesn't change the fact that there are so many survivors of violence, period" #BlackWomenInHollywood pic.twitter.com/4HUvBaNYk8 — Variety (@Variety) February 21, 2019

Here’s Kandi Burruss, who sends her love to Smollett regardless:

Kandi Burruss has a message for Jussie Smollett: "If it's true, I still love you. If it's not true, I'm all the way behind you" #BlackWomenInHollywood pic.twitter.com/CbPJLV7m99 — Variety (@Variety) February 21, 2019

Hey, check it out! Rep. Maxine Waters is there! What wisdom did she have to offer?

Maxine Waters doesn't think we can make sense of the Jussie Smollett situation at this point https://t.co/qucFzcSqVf pic.twitter.com/jrf3ePIzH3 — Variety (@Variety) February 21, 2019

Um, a lot of us can. It’s crystal clear. But heck, even “Black Panther’s” Angela Bassett can’t make sense of it all.

Angela Bassett says we can't make sense of the Jussie Smollett story yet #BlackWomenInHollywood pic.twitter.com/Ctp5OSK5Jz — Variety (@Variety) February 21, 2019

"Land of the free? Home of the brave? Still processing how and why in 2019 we are still not safe in our own bodies in this country. This act of bigotry and hate-fueled violence against @jussiesmollett is #MAGA’s America." – @elainewelteroth Weighing in publicly on January 29th https://t.co/UdMnWUs0TJ — Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) February 21, 2019

The man can do no wronghttps://t.co/BXshiiarQ8 — Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) February 21, 2019

Not a single person in this thread of @variety interviews is willing to condemn Jussie Smollett the way they did Trump and his supporters https://t.co/cMqosjsKbv — Cameron Gray (@Cameron_Gray) February 21, 2019

If anything, they criticized Trump and his supporters more harshly than they criticized Smollett, if they even acknowledged that he’d allegedly staged his own hate crime.

But Trump!

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