Jussie Smollett has just been sentenced after claiming to be the subject of an assault in 2019 that investigators say was a hoax. Per Variety, the Empire actor was sentenced to five months in jail with an additional order from Judge James Linn to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago. Smollett must also serve 30 months of probation following his time in jail. The actor lashed out as he was led from the courtroom while maintaining that he was innocent.
“I am innocent and I am not suicidal," Smollett said, prompting a rebuttal from the judge accusing the Empire star of trying to make himself more famous.
"You’ve turned your life upside down by your misconduct and shenanigans," Linn said. "You’ve destroyed your life as you knew it. You wanted to get the attention, and you were so invested in issues of social justice, and you knew this was a sore spot for so many people in this country… You were throwing a national pity party for yourself... You've turned yourself from riches to rags. Your very name has become an adverb for lying.”
Insisting that he's not suicidal, Smollett explained, “If I did this it means I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans for over 400 years in this country, and the fears of the LGBT community. If anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself, and you must all know that.”
Smollett was convicted at trial in December on five of six charges of disorderly conduct in regards to the attack officers say he fabricated. Because of his minimal prior record, it was expected the actor would get probation, but the judge denied Smollett's attorneys' request that the jail term be stayed. Prosecutor Dan Webb called for the jail term and argued that Smollett made the violation worse by refusing to accept fault.
“He denigrated — degraded true hate crimes. He marginalized the people who are true victims of hate crimes," Webb said.
Several witnesses had written letters read aloud by the actor's attorneys on Smollett's behalf to ask the judge for leniency. This includes the head of the NAACP along with the head of Black Lives Matter, as well as actors Alfre Woodard and Samuel L. Jackson. Jojo Smollett, Jussie's older brother, testified on the stand that Smollett had already suffered a loss of income and public ridicule and had been properly punished.
“We all make mistakes, judge,” said Smollett's head attorney, Nenye Uche, who noted that a prison term could become a "death sentence" due to COVID-19. “Let he who is without sin among you cast the first stone.”
Jussie Smollett Claims He Was Assaulted in January 2019
On Jan. 29, 2019, Jussie Smollett reported to the Chicago Police Department that he'd been attacked by two masked assailants. According to the actor, the two men had physically attacked him, doused him with bleach, and placed a rope around his neck. Smollett also suggested it was a hate crime as his assailants were using slurs during the attack.
Investigators identified the masked men as Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, two brothers who worked with Smollett as extras on Empire. The two were said to be quickly cooperative with police in their investigation, claiming they'd been hired to Smollett to help orchestrate the hoax. During the trial, Smollett changed his story and said he'd had a relationship with Abimbola that went bad and that the brothers acted alone in orchestrating the attack without his involvement. Though he maintained all throughout the trial that he's innocent, Smollett was ultimately found guilty.