Hunter Martin/Getty Images, Brian Lawdermilk/Getty ImagesCurt Schilling has retreated from social media after comparing Bubba Wallace's discovery of a noose in his garage to the controversial incident involving Jussie Smollett.
The famed baseball player turned Blaze TV commentator quipped on his now de-activated Twitter account, "So we have @JussieSmollett v 2.0? Where is the media recanting their idiocy?"
As some will recall, in Jan. 2019, Smollett claimed that he was the victim of an attack in which two offenders approached him and gained his attention by yelling out racial and homophobic slurs. He also alleged that the offenders poured an unknown chemical substance on him and threw a noose around his neck.
However, investigators debunked these claims and subsequently charged him with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report. The charges were dropped, but then Smollett was once again charged with staging and falsely reporting an attack against himself. He plead guilty to the charges in February.
Bubba Wallace, meanwhile, has found himself in the spotlight after he and his team, referred to as no. 43, reported the discovery of a noose in his NASCAR stall at the Talladega Superspeedway. The driver, who is currently the only Black man in NASCAR, claimed that it was a "despicable act of racism and hatred," which led to an investigation by the FBI.
But on Tuesday, the federal agency concluded its day-long investigation and announced they found no evidence of a hate crime. "The FBI report concludes, and photographic evidence confirms, that the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there as early as last fall," NASCAR said in a statement. "This was obviously well before the 43 team's arrival and garage assignment."
As news of the FBI's findings spread, some like Schilling were quick to suggest that Wallace fabricated his account, similar to how Smollett allegedly acted. "it was all a lie," the former MLB player stated.
He has since deactivated his Twitter account.
Wallace hasn't addressed Schilling's comments specifically but he said in an interview with CNN's Don Lemon that he is "pissed" the FBI's conclusion has drawn his integrity into question. He said, "I'm mad because people are trying to test my character, and the person that I am, and my integrity. And they're not stealing that away from me, but they're just trying to test that."
Furthermore, the star claimed that it was NASCAR president Steve Phelps who told him the about the noose with "tears rolling down his face."
Prior to the noose incident, Wallace called on NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag from official events, citing its ties to the South's history of slavery and segregation. NASCAR heeded his and other racers' request, but this new rule was met with backlash, some of which was directed at Bubba.
Nonetheless, the 26-year-old told Don Lemon, "That's what happens when you have a voice and you have a platform. People are going to try to take that away from you with all their power. They will lose sleep over making sure you don't succeed. So, you have to be strong, always keep your head on a swivel and always watch your back, but always stand up for what's right."