Luigi Mangione and Jay-Z have both been enduring some extremely damning headlines this week, with the former charged with second-degree murder and the latter accused of rape.
In case you missed it, Mangione was identified as the suspect who shot dead UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, while Jay-Z was named in a lawsuit alongside Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs alleging that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl back in 2000. The fact that both of these news stories broke this week has resulted in some netizens drawing comparisons between the two cases, with one viral post on X currently asking whether it’s Mangione or Jay-Z “who should be behind bars.”
The X post asked users to cast their votes by either retweeting (which signalled Mangione) or liking (Jay-Z) the post. You would’ve only needed to scroll through social media in recent days to know where the internet’s loyalty lies (hint, it’s been thirsting for him since his arrest), so the results of the poll aren’t exactly surprising. Over 3,000 retweeters thought it should be Mangione who should be behind bars, compared to a whopping 47,000 likers who voted for Jay-Z’s imprisonment.
Of course, the alleged crimes of both parties are harrowing and should result in punishment if found guilty, but scores of X users flocked to the replies to explain why it should be one over the other who goes to jail. “One of them sold crack & destroyed centuries of black families,” one person wrote in reference to Jay-Z’s drug dealing history, “the other avenged his loved ones who got f****d over & died at the hands of the U.S. healthcare system.”
On the latter point, it’s believed Mangione killed Thompson as revenge for the healthcare system’s mistreatment of a sick relative, and it’s this motive that has won the favor of those who view his act as anti-capitalist. “Free our hero Luigi,” one person wrote under the poll, with another saying they were “ready to break out Luigi in person.” For the Mangione supporters, there were those more level-headed users who said the alleged crimes both warranted prison time, with one writing “Both? Why is this a question.”
Given the freshness of both cases, it remains to be seen whether either party will go to prison. Jay-Z is at this point only facing a civil lawsuit, which typically doesn’t result in jail time, but he has nonetheless denied the allegations against him and denounced those involved in filing the lawsuit. For his part, Mangione was said to be in possession of a handwritten note at the time of his arrest this week, which reportedly included lines like “these parasites had it coming” and “it had to be done.”
Both Jay-Z and Mangione have been the subject of intense speculation in the wake of the crimes alleged against them, with the rapper under renewed scrutiny both for a resurfaced clip involving Rihanna and his mother in-law’s social media activity. Mangione, meanwhile, has become something of an internet sensation, to the point where true crime enthusiasts are pouring over the details of the case and trawling through his social media presence.
Published: Dec 11, 2024 05:34 am