Curt Schilling Compares Bubba Wallace Noose to Jussie Smollett: 'All a Lie'

Former MLB star Curt Schilling has compared the incident involving NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace to the case that saw actor Jussie Smollett admit he had staged a racial attack.

On Tuesday, the FBI found Wallace had not been victim of a crime after a noose had found in his garage at Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama, ahead of the Geico 500 on Sunday. The driver never saw the noose himself, as it was reported to NASCAR by a team member, leading the organization to launch an investigation into the incident.

The probe concluded on Tuesday, with the FBI determining the noose was in fact a pull rope shaped like an old-fashioned noose and had been in place from as early as October.

"The FBI report concludes, and photographic evidence confirms, that the garage door pull rope fashioned like a noose had been positioned there since as early as last fall," NASCAR said in its statement.

"This was obviously well before the 43 team's arrival and garage assignment. We appreciate the FBI's quick and thorough investigation and are thankful to learn that this was not an intentional, racist act against Bubba. We remain steadfast in our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all who love racing."

Following the FBI verdict, Wallace's integrity was questioned on social media, with some suggesting the incident was a hoax.

Schilling did not address the NASCAR driver directly but drew parallels between the incident and the case involving Smollett.

"So we have Jussie Smollett v 2.0? Where is the media recanting their idiocy?" the three-time World Series winner tweeted in response to a tweet from ESPN' SportsCenter announcing the outcome of the investigation.

In a follow up tweet in response to a user, Schilling added: "It was all a lie."

An actor on FOX's TV show Empire, in February last year Smollett claimed he was attacked by two strangers who beat him, before dousing him in bleach and leaving him with a rope tied against his round neck.

Smollett claimed the two assailants had shouted "This is MAGA country" during the attack, a reference to President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan.

The case eventually led Chicago Police to arrest two brothers, Abimbola "Abel" Osundairo and Olabinjo Osundairo. The duo testified in front of a grand jury court before being released from police custody after 48 hours of questioning

It subsequently emerged that Smollett had staged the attack and paid the two brothers a cheque of $3,500 to carry it out.

Less than a month after the alleged attack, Smollett was charged by a grand jury with a class 4 felony for filing a false police report and was arrested the following day.

While the charges were dropped a month later, in April 2019 the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against Smollett to cover the costs of "overtime authorities expended investigating the alleged attack", only for the actor to counter-sue the city seven months later.

In February this year, following an investigation by a special prosecutor, a Cook County grand jury again indicted Smollett on six counts pertaining to the felony of filing false police reports.

Speaking to CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday night, Wallace accepted the findings of the investigation but lashed out at those questioning his integrity.

"I'm mad because people are trying to test my character and the person that I am and my integrity," he explained.

"They're not stealing that from me, but trying to test that. ... In my statement Sunday night this will not break me. None of the allegations of being a hoax will break me or tear me down."