{"id":58926,"date":"2019-03-04T23:59:34","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T23:59:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=58926"},"modified":"2019-03-04T23:59:34","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T23:59:34","slug":"robin-roberts-gets-completely-honest-interview-jussie-smollett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=58926","title":{"rendered":"Robin Roberts gets \u2018completely honest\u2019 about interview with Jussie Smollett"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost three weeks after Robin Roberts sat down with \u201cEmpire\u201d star Jussie Smollett regarding his alleged hate crime, she\u2019s opening up about how she approached the highly publicized sit-down.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be completely honest, I was like I don\u2019t know if I want to do the interview or not,\u201d she said during The Cut\u2019s \u201cHow I Get It Done\u201d event at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge on Monday.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI said, \u2018I don\u2019t want to sit down with him if he\u2019s going to lawyer up,’\u201d the \u201cGood Morning America\u201d host, 58, recalled. \u201cAnd then I was told, \u2018He wants to speak with you,\u2019 [because] he was outraged by people making assumptions about whether it had happened or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts said she was promised she could challenge him on the \u201cred flags\u201d over the alleged racist and homophobic attack and that she\u2019d get new information out of him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey said, \u2018He wants to say things that he has not said\u2019 and I\u2019m like, \u2018As a journalist, as a newsperson, this is newsworthy, he\u2019s going to go on record for the first time, yes I\u2019ll do the interview,’\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n\n

Following the interview, ABC staffers have said they were skeptical of Smollett\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

Scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 12, the interview started two-and-a-half hours later than expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sit down with him, and I don\u2019t know what he\u2019s going to say,\u201d she said. \u201cFollowing up [about how] he couldn\u2019t believe people didn\u2019t believe him, well I go, \u2018You\u2019re out 2 o\u2019clock in the morning, you\u2019re getting a sandwich, [and] you won\u2019t give up your phone.’\u201d<\/p>\n

But trying to be as \u201cneutral\u201d as possible, Roberts acknowledged the inherent pressure she felt to represent the LGBT community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a black gay woman, he\u2019s a black gay man,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s saying that there\u2019s a hate crime, so if I\u2019m too hard, then my LGBT community is going to say, \u2018You don\u2019t believe a brother,\u2019 if I\u2019m too light on him, it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, because you are in the community, you\u2019re giving him a pass.’\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a no-win situation for me,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Two days later, when the interview aired, the discussion was overshadowed by news that two Nigerian brothers alleged they were paid by the actor to stage the attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are looking at the interview through the eyes of \u2018How did you not know?’\u201d she recalled. \u201cI did the interview 48 hours before then. Had I had that information or [knew] what the brothers were alleging, heck yeah, I would have asked him about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI pride myself in being fair, I know how much work went into being balanced about what had happened and to challenge him on certain things,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She concluded by saying that since Smollett was considered a victim at the time of their interview, she carefully selected her questions.<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n