Jussie Smollett’s conviction overturned in alleged hate crime scam

Jussie Smollett’s conviction for an alleged hate crime was overturned Thursday by the Illinois Supreme Court.

The “Empire” actor was convicted in December 2021 of five counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly staging a hate crime against himself in 2019 and was sentenced the following year to 150 days in county jail plus 30 months of probation and $130,000 in restitution. This came after the original charges against him were dropped in March 2019, but the case was reopened by the state of Illinois along with a special prosecutor. In December 2023, a state appeals court rejected his bid for an appeal and it was ruled that he must complete his full sentence, of which he served six days, before being released pending appeal. Earlier this year, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal.

In a statement released Thursday (via Chicago Tribune), the Illinois Supreme Court found that a special prosecutor’s decision to retry Smollett violated his rights.

“We recognize 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 unfair,” the court’s statement reads, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Yet what would be more unjust than the resolution of a single criminal case would be a finding by this court that the state was not obligated to honor agreements upon which people have injuriously relied.”

In January 2019, Smollett told police he was attacked outside his Chicago apartment building by two men who called him racist and homophobic thugs and put a noose around his neck. After an investigation, police alleged that Smollett paid two acquaintances to stage the assault, and a grand jury indicted him on a Class 4 felony count of filing a false police report. In March 2019, all charges were dropped after the Cook County State’s Attorney reached an agreement with his defense team that included Smollett participating in community service and forfeiting a $10,000 bond. However, following controversy over dropping the charges, the state of Illinois conducted a separate investigation into the case with a special prosecutor, who then indicted Smollett again in February 2020. In November 2021, Smollett’s trial began and he was found guilty the next month.

In addition to “Empire,” Smollett is known for starring in “The Mighty Ducks” as a child and had roles in the films “Alien: Covenant” and “Marshall” and the series “The Mindy Project” and “Revenge.” Despite his legal troubles, this year Smollett directed, co-wrote and starred in the drama “The Lost Holliday” alongside Vivica A. Fox.