“Empire” actor Justin “Jussie” Smollett was arrested Feb. 21 for faking a hate crime and filing a false police report because he allegedly felt unhappy with his salary.

This attempt of increasing pay by taking advantage of the bigotry in our society is disgraceful to those who were actual victims of racially and homophobically charged attacks. Smollett’s greedy performance just ended up being a waste of city materials and law enforcement’s time. His actions will hurt people who report actual hate crimes in the future.

The consequences of Smollett’s actions have already taken place. Ann Coulter, a social and political commentator and writer, has taken to Twitter to claim that all hate crimes are hoaxes, including Smollett’s alleged faked attack. This idea has been retweeted over 1,700 times and there’s no doubt other powerful, influential people share similar views. With this stunt pulled by Smollett, the credibility of past and future hate crimes have been crippled.

On the other hand, supporters of Smollett have also taken to Twitter to express that Smollett has always been the victim, quoting articles from credible sources like BBC. However, new updates have developed, making past articles not accurate for the current situation. This spread of outdated information falsely deems the guilty “innocent until proven guilty.”

The simplest solution would be to make rational decisions and to spread awareness about actual victims or acts of prejudice. If one is a victim of a hate crime, report it even if it becomes dismissed, at least one person is bound to believe and help. If one sees a hate crime or knows that someone is a victim of one, they shouldn’t hesitate to help. Contact the Southern Poverty Law Center at (888) 414-7752 or www.adl.org.

In short, the world is already full of inconsiderate and cruel beings. Taking advantage of those suffering for your own personal gain is plain offensive and causes completely unnecessary conflict and hurt.