Jussie Smollett conviction overturned for bogus hate crime

Jussie Smollett’s 2019 conviction for making a fake hate crime has been overturned. Stay tuned for the full story.

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The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned actor/singer Jussie Smollett’s conviction on charges that he staged a racist and homophobic attack on himself in downtown Chicago and then lied to police in 2019. In 2021, the ‘Empire’ actor was convicted of five crimes. disorderly conduct for allegedly staging a hate crime against himself and was sentenced to 150 days in county jail. Smollett has always maintained his innocence. He has testified that “there is no hoax.” We caught him in the studio earlier in September where he shared this:

Jussie Smollett:

It’s really about knowing who you are and being okay with that, and acknowledging your flaws and acknowledging your faults, but not letting anyone else tell you who you are.

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That same month, the court heard an appeal that argued a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County State’s Attorney initially dropped charges.

But today, according to the Chicago Tribune, Smollett’s sentence has been overturned. Billboard received a statement from Special Prosecutor Dan K. Webb regarding the Illinois Supreme Court’s reversal of the convictions and sentence of Jussie Smollett. “We respectfully disagree with the court’s factual and legal reasoning, which reverses longstanding Illinois precedent.”

We also heard from Smollett’s lawyer Nenye Uche: “This was not a prosecution based on facts, rather it was a vindictive pursuit and such a procedure has no place in our criminal justice system. Ultimately, we are glad that the rule of law was the big winner today. We are grateful to the Illinois Supreme Court for restoring order to Illinois’ criminal jurisprudence.”

Stay tuned for more updates here on Billboard News.