‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett’s Conviction Overturned For Faking 2019 Hate Crime

On Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction in an alleged hate crime hoax after over five years.

Smollett, who is black and gay, reported in 2019 that outside a Subway restaurant in Chicago, two men yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him, splashed him with bleach, put a noose around his neck and assaulted him on the street. 

Smollett initially received an outpouring of support from the public, and two brothers, Abimbola ‘Bola’ and Olabinjo ‘Ola’ Osundairo were detained as suspects. However, prosecutors later claimed that Smollett knew the Osundairo brothers personally and had paid them to attack him. 

In late February 2019, surveillance footage was obtained that supposedly showed Smollett rehearse the attack with the Osundairos two days before it took place. In March, Smollett was charged with a Class 4 felony for filing a false police report. Later that month, the charges were abruptly dropped. Smollett maintained his innocence in the incident but was realistic about his options and agreed to allow the city to keep his $10,000 bail and complete 16 hours of community service.

However, Smollett was again indicted in February 2020 when the state of Illinois conducted a separate inquiry led by special prosecutor Dan Webb. The trial against Smollett began in November 2021, and he was found guilty that December. In March 2022, he was sentenced to 30 months of felony probation, which included 150 days in jail, and ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution.

This week, almost six years later, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned Smollet’s conviction due to “prosecutorial issues” that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the court’s original decision to drop the charges.

Smollett’s lead attorney Nenye Uche said the case should have never gone to trial in the first place.

“This was a vindictive persecution. This was no prosecution,” Uche said. “I’m sure Jussie would want an apology, but he’s a realistic man, right? He knows he’s not going to get it.”