It made it to the national news because he's a celebrity. People often assume the media has a motive other than money. Reporting on a celebrity getting jumped equals ratings.
And when it turned out he was lying, the media reported on that too, not just because they had to correct the story, but because that's more ratings.
As for having no evidence, the media was just reporting on his claims. I hate TMZ, but they were right for standing up for themselves when people criticized them for reporting on the "This is MAGA country" line. TMZ said they never claimed this really happened, they simply reported on what Jussie's claims were.
