Trevor Noah Explains Why He ‘Feels Bad’ for ‘Black Pinocchio’ Jussie Smollett

“Jussie Smollett, Empire actor and Black Pinocchio,” began The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah on Wednesday night. “He told an incredible story about being jumped on the street by two Trump supporters, and now, somebody might finally go to jail for that attack.”

Yes, Smollett, 37, has been charged by a special prosecutor with six new counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police about an alleged hate-crime attack—this after Cook County prosecutors dropped similar charges against the actor, who is black and gay, last March.

“Jussie Smollett planned and participated in a staged hate crime attack, and thereafter made numerous false statements to Chicago Police Department officers on multiple occasions, reporting a heinous hate crime that he, in fact, knew had not occurred,” special prosecutor Dan Webb announced. He’s set to be arraigned in Chicago on Feb. 24.

And Noah wasn’t through. “Yes, Jussie Smollett is back in the headlines, this time for being indicted for reporting a fake hate crime. And it really sounds bad, until you remember that his plan all along was to get a recurring storyline [on Empire] that doesn’t go away. This is what he wanted!” joked the comedian, referencing reports that Smollett staged the attack because he was anxious about his status on the Fox TV series.

“And look, I know what Jussie did was wrong, but at the same time I kind of feel bad for him, because he gets into trouble now for calling in fake crimes, but those Permit Patties who made those bullshit calls to 911, they live their lives,” Noah added. “They just do their thing. Maybe that should be Jussie’s punishment: he should be forced to get a white-lady nickname. Everywhere he goes, people will be like, ‘Well, well, well, there goes Subway Smollett!’”