When you’ve lost the home crowd, you know times are tough. That adage has to be running through the mind of disgraced race-baiting hoaxer Jussie Smollett. The 2019 NAACP Image Awards were held in a ceremony over the weekend in Hollywood and if you thought that Smollett would be feeling the love and support from his African-American friends and colleagues in the industry, well, that didn’t happen. At least not from everyone.

When told to not make any jokes about Jussie Smollett as he presented the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, comedian Chris Rock essentially responded with a “here, hold my beer” kind of moment. Chris Rock ripped the band-aid off the wounded Smollett and just let the jokes rip. He even changed the phony victim’s name. Too bad Smollett was a no-show for the awards ceremony. The social justice warrior/actor/singer suddenly looked quite cowardly.

“They said no Jussie Smollett jokes. I know. What a waste of white skin. You know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be out of here. F–ing running Hollywood,” Rock joked.

“What was he thinking?” Rock asked. “From now on, you’re Jessie from now on. You don’t even get the ‘U’ no more. That ‘U’ was respect. You don’t get no respect from me.

The main event aired on TV One Saturday night, though some awards (like his category) were presented Friday. Jussie Smollett lost out to Grey’s Anatomy’s Jesse Williams in the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series category.

https://twitter.com/tvonetv/status/1112175037094612993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com%2Fentertainment%2Ftv%2Fct-ent-chris-rock-jussie-smollett-naacp-awards-20190331-story.html

Chris Rock’s jokes were met with laughter from the audience. No doubt he was saying what many of them were feeling, too. What the hell was he thinking?

Not everyone there was aggrevated with Smollett’s behavior, though. Hosting the ceremony was Blackish star Anthony Anderson, a fellow social justice warrior/actor. When all of the charges against Smollett were suddenly dropped, Anderson declared his happiness that “the system worked for him.” When interviewed before the night of the ceremony, Anderson threw the race card as he spoke of the lack of fairness in the system. Anderson hoped to see him at the event. He was wanting to hear some kind of woke speech from Smollett.

“I hope to see him here,” Anderson told the outlet. “I hope he wins. I’m happy for him that the system worked for him in his favor because the system isn’t always fair, especially for people of color.”

“So I’m glad it worked out for him,” the Black-ish star continued. “It’s not my place or any other person’s place to judge him or what not, but I’m glad that he’s nominated… I hope he wins because I’d be interested to hear his speech.”

That’s an interesting take because it is abundantly clear to most people that Smollett was released from the 16 felony counts because of his stature and his political connections, as well as the connections his legal team and also the prosecutor hold. This isn’t rocket science. It’s the Chicago Way. Does anyone think a young man of Smollett’s age without the financial and career success charged with all those felonies, black or white or Asian or any other ethnic heritage, would have been treated this way? And why did Smollett forfeit the $10,000 cash bond payment to the city if he is just an innocent victim of a hate crime? The system certainly did not work. Good heavens.

On the Red Carpet before the ceremony Saturday night, Hollywood screenwriter Lena Waithe spoke of her support. He threw both the race card and the queer card, too. Because, why not?

Earlier in the evening, Lena Waithe came out in support of Smollett in her interview with Variety on the NAACP Image Awards red carpet, saying that she believes him and that “being queer and black is like having a target on your back every time you walk out the door.”

Lena Waithe stands with Jussie Smollett, "being queer and black is like having a target on your back every time you walk out the door" #ImageAwards pic.twitter.com/CUdiKbo34s

— Variety (@Variety) March 31, 2019

Seems to me those with “a target on their backs” are President Trump and his supporters. In the absence of real criminal activity at the hands of Trump’s deplorables, the unhinged leftists simply concoct hoaxes to fill the void. Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and well. It looks like it will be with us at least a coupe of more years.