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Tweet storm after Jussie Smollett's guilty verdict gets more coverage than Josh Duggar

While Smollett’s crime was staging a hate attack against himself, Duggar has been found guilty of downloading and possessing child pornography

Twitter was filled with reactions after two important judgments were announced – one was for Jussie Smollett's trial and another one for Josh Duggar's – on Thursday, December 9. The ‘Empire’ actor was convicted of five counts of disorderly conduct for making false reports to police that he was a victim of a racist, homophobic assault in January 2019. On the other hand, Duggar was found guilty of downloading and possessing child pornography.

In Smollett’s case, each count carries time behind bars for a minimum of three years and a $25,000 fine, but legal experts believe that he will get a lighter sentence or probation based on his lack of previous convictions. After the verdict, Special prosecutor Dan Webb said in a press conference that the “verdict was a resounding message by the jury that, in fact, Mr. Smollett did exactly what we said he did.”

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Duggar, on the other hand, is expected to face a tougher sentence because of his serious offenses. He was convicted on one count each of receiving and possessing child abuse images. He is likely to go behind bars for up to 20 years and pay $250,000 for each count, after being sentenced. Following the judgment, the US Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas Clay Fowlkes said: “This verdict sends the message that these cases are a top priority for our office. This verdict also demonstrates that no person is above the law. Regardless of wealth, social status, or fame, our office will continue to seek out all individuals who seek to abuse children and victimize them through the downloading, possession, and sharing of child pornography.”

Though there is no comparing the two cases, both are high-profile in the sense that both guilty men are 'TV-famous.' But people noticed that there was a difference in coverage between Smollett's and Duggar's cases. Many pointed out that despite the fact that the crime of the ‘19 Kids and Counting’ star was more serious than 'Empire' actor Smollett, the media was more harsh on the latter in their coverage. An outraged Twitter user said, “Republicans have been awfully quiet about the josh duggar trial but have the most to say about the jussie smollett trial.” A second person tweeted, “What Josh Duggar has done and is, is infinitely worse than Jussie Smollett, who definitely deserves prison. And yet right wing media is all over themselves.  Weird.  Almost like being black and committing a crime is the real crime and being a pedophile monster doesn’t matter.”

A person noted: “I think the Josh Duggar CHILD PORNOGRAPHY trial could be covered at an equal or perhaps greater level than the sensationalized #JussieSmollett trial but it’s not.” Another one questioned, “Why is there So much coverage on @JussieSmollett for lying to cops but not enough coverage over A Bastard who watch n Downloaded CP for YEARS n who also was on a hit TV show @joshduggar?” “America, where the Jussie Smollett verdict is a bigger news story than the Josh Duggar verdict,” a user sarcastically wrote.

A tweet read, “NO problem w/ Jussie Smollett guilty verdicts. Faking hate crimes makes it less likely real victims are believed. But right wing media for some reason far more concerned w/ Smollett than Josh Duggar being convicted of possessing awful child pornography. Wonder why?” The second one mentioned: “oh I see that Josh Duggar got convicted of child porn and Jussie Smollett got convicted of making up a hate crime and guess which one people are talking about more.”