NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley wasn't going to sit idly while the rest of the world clowned “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who was recently arrested for paying two brothers as part of a staged hate crime.
During halftime of last night's NBA on TNT broadcast, Barkley cracked several jokes at Smollett's expense, including the fact that he actually wrote a personal check for $3,500.
“America,” Barkley said. “Let me just tell you something. Do not commit crimes with checks. If you’re gonna break the law, do not write a check. Get cash, man. … You think they put that on the receipt? Facemask, rope, bleach?”
“You wasted all that damn time and money,” Barkley continued (H/T Yahoo Sports). “You know what you should’ve did? Just went up to Liam Neeson’s neighborhood. It would’ve solved all your damn problems.”
Neeson recently revealed that he once set out looking for a "black bastard" in Northern Ireland after a friend of his claimed she was raped by a black man.
Barkley is hardly the first person to crack jokes about Smollett.
50 Cent and Snoop Dogg have also gotten into the mix, as seen in their IG posts embedded below.