Jussie Smollettreceived a bit of good news in his ongoing hate-crime hoax case. The actor, who once starred in the hit Fox seriesEmpire, has seen the case overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court, bringing to an end one of the strangest celebrity cases in recent years. And that’s saying a lot.
PerVariety, the Illinois Supreme Court found that the decision to try Smollet for his crimes by the special prosecutor was a violation of the actor’s rights. To take everyone back to 2019, Smollett indicated that he was a victim of a hate crime only for evidence to emerge that the event was allegedly staged. In 2021, he wasconvicted on five felony countsof disorderly conduct and was sentenced to150 days in county jailfollowed by 30 months of probation. He was also ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution. This decision was rendered after the original charges against the actor were dropped, but the case was picked up again by the Cook County state’s attorney, who requested an independent inquiry into the matter.
In 2023, Smollett’s appeal was rejected, and he was ordered to complete his full sentence after only serving six days before he was set freepending the results of his appeal. The Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear Smollett’s appeal earlier this year and in an opinion released today, the court decided to overturn Smollett’s conviction, writing that retrying the actor would be a violation of his rights.
“We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust. Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied.”
Jussie Smollett Was on One of the Biggest Shows on Television Before the Hoax
Before the alleged hate crime hoax, Smollett was riding high as a member of the ensemble cast of Fox’sEmpire, portraying musician Jamal Lyon, the son of the main characters brought to life by Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard. During the beginning of its run,Empirewas one of the most-watched television shows on Fox, with a first season that saw improved ratings from episode to episode during Season 1, a rarity at that time for network TV.
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In January 2019, Smollett alerted the Chicago Police Department that he was a victim of a hate crime, alleging that two individuals yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him while one of them poured bleach on him and the other tied a noose around his neck. When Smollett made contact with the police, the actor still had the noose around his neck as proof. By morning, the story had made the rounds on national television and across every major news publication. Initially, Smollett received an outpouring of sympathy, but the Chicago Police Department was quick to suspect that something wasn’t quite right with his story.
It was soon discovered that the two people who allegedly committed the hate crime were Nigerian-American brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, individuals who had previously worked as extras on the set ofEmpireand even worked out with Smollett on occasion. More evidence soon emerged that this was a staged attack set up by Smollett, with the brothers later testifying that the actor made sure the “attack” took place near a surveillance camera, so video of the event could be made public.
WhileEmpireran for six seasons, Smollett was let go from the show before the end of the fifth season and was removed from the final two episodes of Season 5 because of all the controversy surrounding the hoax. As to why Smollett allegedly orchestrated all of this, some speculated that it had to do with his role and the popularity ofEmpirediminishing as the show went along, with ratings slipping in subsequent seasons following its breakout Season 1. In other words, Smollett’s alleged actions came down to maintaining relevance, which makes the situation all the more frustrating. With this latest turn in the case, perhaps Smollett can count his lucky stars and be thankful that he’s merely sentenced to obscurity and not serious jail time.
