As actor Jussie Smollett prepares to return to television, he continues to deny orchestrating a hoax hate crime against himself in 2019, while simultaneously launching renewed attacks on the city of Chicago and its police department.
Six years after his career came to an abrupt halt, Smollett is poised to reappear on the small screen in a new competition series this fall. However, as reported by Breitbart, the impending debut has reignited questions about the alleged hate crime hoax, which Smollett continues to deny despite mounting evidence.
The villains are the two people who assaulted me, the Chicago Police Department and, if I may be so brave, the mayor [then Rahm Emanuel], Smollett stated, deflecting blame onto others.
In an attempt to divert attention from his own alleged wrongdoing, Smollett accused former Mayor Emanuel of attempting to conceal the video footage of the police-involved shooting of teenager Laquan McDonald. Were living in a world where the higher-ups, their main mission, in order to do all of the underhanded things that theyre doing, is to distract us with the shiny object, he declared.
Moreover, Smollett insisted that his account of the events that transpired on that frigid Chicago night has remained consistent. Every single other persons story has changed multiple times. Mine has never. I have nothing to gain from this, he asserted.
When questioned about the lack of exculpatory evidence, Smollett responded, To be honest with you, I dont really know. Im not an investigative reporter or a detective. I can only tell you what did not happen. And what did not happen is the story thats been out there for almost seven years, that somehow I would have even a reason to do something as egregious as this.
In early 2019, Smollett reported to police that he was the victim of a hate crime in downtown Chicago, claiming that two men had hurled homophobic slurs at him, declared this is MAGA country, and tied a noose around his neck. Initially, the media accepted Smollett's claims as fact, but soon discrepancies began to emerge in his narrative.
Smollett subsequently turned himself in to the police and was charged with felony filing of a false police report. Despite this, Chicago prosecutor Kim Foxx dropped the charges, sparking outrage from both the Chicago Police Department and Mayor Emanuel. A Chicago judge later appointed a special prosecutor to investigate the handling of Smolletts case.
In 2022, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail after being convicted on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. He was subsequently sued by the city for $130,000 to cover the cost of the hoax investigation. Smollett settled the suit by agreeing to donate $60,000 to two Chicago-based charities. The Illinois Supreme Court later overturned his five felony charges, a move that Smollett claims proves his innocence.
However, despite arduous and expensive attempts to punish me, I am innocent in the eyes of God and our criminal justice system, Smollett contended. I will continue creating my art, fighting passionately for causes I hold dear and defending my integrity and family name with the truth.
However, the state Supreme Court clarified that it did not declare Smollett innocent. The court merely vacated the guilty verdict on fifth amendment grounds because Kim Foxx had previously dropped the charges.
Special prosecutor Dan Webb stated that the ruling had nothing to do with Mr. Smolletts innocence. He added, The Illinois Supreme Court did not find any error with the overwhelming evidence presented at trial or the jurys unanimous verdict that Mr. Smollett was guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct.
Despite Smollett's steadfast denial of the allegations against him, the controversy surrounding the 2019 incident continues to cast a shadow over his career.
As he prepares to return to television, the question remains: will the public and the industry be able to separate the actor from the scandal that has defined him for the past few years? Only time will tell.
Login