BBC Sounds, music radio podcasts.

Hello, I'm Tina Dehealey and this is Beyond Today where we ask one big question about one big story.

Today, why does it matter if Jossi Smollett staged his own attack?

Last week you probably heard the name Jussi Smalette all over the media and on the

internet. He is a black gay American fairly famous actor who stars in a big TV show in the US called Empire.

Well today we're going to explore how he ended up at the center of what's been described as a hate crime hoax, the events that followed and

what they tell us about victimhood, Trump's America, and why the truth has

almost become the least important part of the story. We're going to hear

from Zach Beauchamp from Vox on the wider implications of Jesse's case but first

here's Aline McBool, North America correspondent for the BBC, who's in Chicago at the moment, covering this case.

So he plays a character called Jamal Lion in that series.

You know, is he a household name? Well he is now, but a

couple of weeks ago he posted on social media pictures of himself in hospital with bruises. on his

face, and he said he'd been attacked.

We got back to the apartment.

There was no food.

And so I went out to Walgreens thinking that they were 24

hours and to have a smoke. Walgreens was closed. So I called him up and I said, hey I'm going to run to subway which was

across the street and I'm going to get a salad. Do you want anything? I went to the

subway and got the order during that time. I texted my manager thinking that he was still in Australia because he was on an Australian tour with one of his other clients.

I say, you know, call me when you can. He called me immediately and while he was on the phone I heard as I was crossing the

intersection I heard Empire. He said they were wearing masks they subjected

...