Jussie Smollett has maintained his innocence despite being convicted for falsely reporting a hate crime and then having it overturned.
In March 2021, the former Empire actor was sentenced to 150 days in prison and 30 months felony probation for falsely reporting that he’d been a victim of a homophobic and racist hate crime in 2019 in Chicago.
The actor was also ordered to pay $120,106 (£88,607) in restitution, as well as a $25,000 (£18,443) fine.
This came after the original charges against him were dropped in March 2019. The case was picked back up when the Cook County state’s attorney asked the state to conduct an independent inquiry with a special prosecutor.
In December 2023, Smollett’s bid for an appeal was rejected and it was ruled that he would have to complete his full sentence, six days of which he served before being freed pending appeal.
Then in November 2024, his conviction was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court on a technicality.
Yesterday (August 14) a trailer for a new Netflix documentary The Truth About Jussie Smollett? which interviews police officers, journalists and the actor himself, dropped.
Now speaking, in a new interview with Variety, Smollett has maintained his innocence.
“The villains are the two people who assaulted me, the Chicago Police Department and, if I may be so brave, the mayor,” he said in reference to the mayor at the time Rahm Emanuel. “We’re living in a world where the higher-ups, their main mission, in order to do all of the underhanded things that they’re doing, is to distract us with the shiny object.”
He added: “All I can say is, God bless you, and I hope it was worth it. Every single other person’s story has changed multiple times. Mine has never. I have nothing to gain from this.”
Emanuel declined to comment to Variety over Smollett’s accusations and is yet to comment publicly.
The Truth About Jussie Smollett? will air on Netflix on August 22.
