More than five years later, I still don’t know what to make of Jussie Smollett or the “staged attack hoax” or whatever we should call it. In 2019, Jussie claimed that a couple of MAGA-types attacked him, poured bleach on him and put a noose around his head in Chicago. The Chicago police rather quickly decided that Smollett was lying and began investigating him, and they found some evidence which seemed to suggest that Jussie did stage the attack. What happened after that was a hell of a lot of politics: Donald Trump & his supporters targeted Jussie, Jussie was charged with crimes (like filing a false police report), then the charges were dropped and then he was charged again and found guilty. He was sentenced to five months in prison, then he got out in five days. Like, it’s all been A LOT. Throughout it all, Jussie has continued to say that he’s innocent, truthful and consistent. Well, Jussie has a new film coming out and he sat down with People Magazine to talk about his life after the past five years and more. Some highlights:
Smollett maintains his innocence to this day. “I was numb,” he says, recalling the incident to PEOPLE. “I didn’t know how to connect the dots. I really genuinely did not know. I couldn’t make sense of what was going on, and I couldn’t make sense of what people were actually thinking … what exactly do they think happened? I couldn’t put two and two together.”
He thought that there was “no way” the public could believe “a stupid rumor”: He thought that the majority of the noise was being created by “haters.” “They had a mission. I felt very disconnected from that. I still to this day can’t entirely make sense of, ‘What the f— was that?’ But obviously it was painful. I certainly am not going to sit here and try to act to the world as if I was fine…We’re still dealing with the repercussions from that narrative. We’re still dealing with that every day.”
He entered outpatient rehab last year: “At the same time, it’s not in my mental and it’s not in my soul, it’s not in my spirit. People can say what they want about you, but they have no control. They can do whatever they want, they can even put you behind bars. They can control your physical, but they can’t control my mind. They can’t control my spirit. They can’t control my soul, and they can’t control the knowledge that I have of who I am.”
His darkest day: Smollett pinpoints Feb. 21, 2019 — the day he was arrested. “That was a pretty dark day because that’s when everything clicked to me of what was happening. A lot of things tested my strength, a lot of things tested my mental, but the one thing I never lost — I never started thinking that I am somebody that I’m not. That is the one thing that did not happen. Keep in mind, I was deep in my thirties when this happened. This isn’t like I’m a 16-year-old or a 20-year-old, [where] this is impacting their very being of who they believe that they are. I never started thinking that I am somebody that I’m not.”
He didn’t know how politically charged he would become: “I don’t know that, back then, I entirely knew just how caught up in that conversation I was. I really didn’t. I wasn’t aware of just how much of a political football I was — from both sides. Things can’t be stifled because the world is going to keep on spinning.”
I mean… what I’ll say is that if I was in Jussie’s situation, I would not admit to anything either. I would play it the way he’s playing it, maybe even go a little bit further to sow doubt about the Chicago PD’s initial investigation. That’s something that’s stuck with me after all of these years – how quickly the Chicago cops decided that Jussie was lying, and how quickly the investigation turned on him. And Jussie is right that it became this really crazy, hyper-politicized situation, with Trump and his MAGA cult trying to say all victims of hate crimes are lying or whatever. All in all, I still have questions, but I’ve made my peace with never really knowing the real story. Which is probably a win for Jussie.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – JUNE 26: American actor Jussie Smollett arrives at the BET Awards 2022 held at Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 703201448, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Jussie Smollett, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – JUNE 26: American actor Jussie Smollett arrives at the BET Awards 2022 held at Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 703201456, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Jussie Smollett, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
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- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – JUNE 26: American actor Jussie Smollett arrives at the BET Awards 2022 held at Microsoft Theater at L.A. Live on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 703201618, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Jussie Smollett, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
I mean, it was more than “some” evidence that maybe he staged it. he knew the guys, had worked with them, and paid them to help stage it. it’s honestly ridiculous that he’s still trying to say he’s innocent.
this does not mean the Chicago PD isn’t still corrupt or racist, or that Donald Trump isn’t a horrific being. but he def staged this attack lol.
honestly the stack made no sense at the time and I remember getting yelled at by commenters for suggesting it was questionabl lol. I’m not surprised the police decided quickly it didn’t make sense.
The Chicago police are notoriously corrupt and I won’t even speak about the racist felon, but a close friend in Chicago who has described quite a bit of racist micro aggressions immediately called out this story as very sus.
Ok. But, still the police got security camera of the two black guys buying the stuff they used during the attack. They also got the check Jussie paid them. The police may be corrupt, but he still staged the attack with his friends.
That was my point exactly. My friend who has experienced racism first hand in Chicago immediately called out this story as suspicious. And was right.
@Mightymolly, I thought you were calling the police sus 😂 Yeah, his story was bizarre, but some people still gave him the benefit of doubt, because what kind of a person would lie about a hate crime, especially in those Trump years??
@Sevenblue – Oh definitely but someone looking at it from an insider’s perspective was like rednecks venturing into downtown Chicago and assaulting a celebrity? Chicago’s got 99 problems but that’s not one. (Note: Chicago is a fabulous city with wonderful people but it has a complicated history that is not fully resolved.)
You paid by CHECK, Jussie. Omaiga.
^^This^^ @Mimi. There is more than a little evidence. I agree that I would never admit it were I him, but at the same time, you gotta understand that this is not just a “stupid rumor.”
Did no one learn from Jerry Springer!!
OMG! That reference! Okay, I need to explain this for anyone who wasn’t born yet. Before Jerry Springer moved to Chicago and basically invented the trashy talk show format, he was – wait for it – the mayor of Cincinnati. His tenure was marred by scandal though because he *wrote a check* to a sex worker. (But actually it’s not as bad as I thought. He did resign from the city council, but he won again and was eventually appointed mayor, so he had a successful political career before becoming the trash tv host we all secretly loved).
Exactly! To my he’s playing this all wrong. He should have admitted it, said he had a mental breakdown or some shit, asked for forgiveness and everybody would have moved on.
But there’s no actual evidence that he helped stage it. Only that he knew the two guys. So it’s sus but they have not released anything that concretely shows him planning or plotting this. And I’m sorry but I’m supposed to trust cops? Nah.
You can’t make up stories about people attacking you and it’s a lie. Kind of like Trump lies and people believe him. It’s not a rumor. It’s a lie.
He only spent 5 days in jail? He was very lucky to say the least. I guess pretty young black men have it a little easier out there. Although it was really bad for him to make up a hate attack against him, the right-wing media used it as weapon to attack the WOKE movement that was still new back then. The high priestess of racism AKA Ann Coulter made Jussie the poster boy of black people victimizing white people in the US.
He spent 5 days in jail. Since the Judge ordered him straight to jail. But since it was not a violent crime conviction. His team was able to get him out pending appeal. He was to serve 5 months in jail and 30 months’ probation.
He has been fighting serving his full sentence for years. Last I read he had to serve the full sentence. But I am not sure if he did. Or his team is still appealing it.
I believe the brothers. It was a staged attack. And Jussie never wanted the police involved. His manager called the cops. And then Jussie couldn’t stop the train. Which tends to happen when things spin out of control. You don’t plan on. I don’t know what he was thinking doing this. If it was to raise his profile and get a bigger raise from Fox. Or was politically motivated. Also, Chicago is not a MAGA town at all. Only Jussie knows the real reasons. I just hope he keeps getting the help he needs. He’s extremely talented and come from a talented and prominent family.
It was just a massive waste of emergency resources investigating it.
It was a gift to MAGA and so stupidly executed that I can’t believe he thought it would work.
He should have faced more consequences, given that his actions greatly hurt victims of *real* hate crimes, but I don’t think the man belongs in jail. He’s not violent. He’s not a threat to society. Jail isn’t going to do shit to help or change him.
That being said, it doesn’t sound like rehab did much either because he doesn’t appear to have learned anything.
I initially believed him because I believe that people do horrible things to one another all the time.
However, as a Chicago resident, one thing that was surprising from the jump was that he was outside that night at all. This happened over a couple days of a polar vortex. Chicago, proud of being able to survive the cold, had put out advisories to stay indoors because it was dangerously cold. Everything but essential businesses were closed.
Jussie’s flight was delayed, and he got into Chicago late that night. And the brothers had planned for their flight out of US to Africa right after. They had to do it that night.
IF Jussie had done it earlier in the evening. It would have been more plausible. But who goes out in a Polar Vortex at 2am for a sandwich. His whole story never made sense.
Everyone in Chicago instantly knew this was a lie. Sad to see that he still insists in lying about the incident. I thought his punishment was too harsh, but he doesn’t seem to have learned anything.
Yep things can be true… the Chicago police is 💩 and he stage his. Hate crime. I do believe his friends that this was staged , think they had more than a check to prove his complicity. He was an idiot… why do that ?
He came up with this stunt? act? skit? to get something. We will never know what. And it just blew up in his face. He is still not taking responsibility for what he did. It sounds like rehab was a waste of money.
Attention. He wanted attention. Just like now, all he wants is attention.
If he truly wanted to move on and build his career he would shut up, quit giving interviews, and just do the work he says he wants to do. Instead, he keeps. running. his. lying. mouth.
I think he didn’t realize how it would backfire on him, and that his case would be used to discredit hate crimes in general. He could very well be that narcissistic. He was thinking about getting positive publicity for himself but never considered the wider implications. I think that’s what he’s really saying. So he’s an idiot as well as an opportunist. Especially for paying the rent-a-muggers by check.
As far as I know Jussie’s case has never been used to discredit hate crimes. If anything, I found a swell of support online. To believe victims regardless of what Jussie did.
Social media is not all one sided.
“that’s stuck with me after all of these years – how quickly the Chicago cops decided that Jussie was lying, and how quickly the investigation turned on him”
Errr, look, normally I see what you’re saying. But I was surprised it even took as long as it did. Anyone who’s worked on even just the outskirts of the Justice and Legal system was very quickly cringing as people rallied around this guy. It was painfully obvious he was lying and painfully obvious what the fallout would be.
I get that he’s trying to salvage his career but I find this story in extremely poor taste. We shall see what the appeal court says I guess.
“that’s stuck with me after all of these years – how quickly the Chicago cops decided that Jussie was lying, and how quickly the investigation turned on him”
Yeah, the facts are a smart lawyer sat the brothers down and told them. It’s time to tell the truth. And they flipped on Jussie. Securing immunity for themselves telling the cops everything.
It wasn’t a witch hunt from the start. The cops did their job and found Jussie lied. And a lot of money was spent investigating it. While Jussie was giving interviews and on tour acting like he fought the evil MAGA bandits.
Nobody was looking to beat up Jussie in a polar vortex while he was getting a sandwich.
It’s kinda shocking his lawyer and his team would let any reporter ask him about this, especially given his non-explanation. It would be completely different if he used the interview to say he made a terrible mistake and he was going through some things at the time–whatever. But this interview just makes him sound like a guy who’s more upset he got caught than anything, He certainly doesn’t sound like he’s remorseful or taking any accountability. Just so weird that his people would let him sit down for this because it doesn’t help to rehab his image in any meaningful way–quite the opposite, actually.
His story was full of holes. HE went out at 2/3am in Chicago, when it was FREEZING outside, alone, to get SUBWAY when he was staying at a hotel. I doubt that he traveled alone, so he had at least an assistant to get his subway. The hotel would either send someone out to get it or placed a delivery order for him. When my friends and I heard that story, we knew immediately that he was lying.
That incident will follow him forever.
He’ll never get his career speed back.
As a Black woman, I’m not going to excuse or listen to any of his crap around what he did. There are people out there who have things like this happening to them and all he did was cheapen their experience and give people a excuse to doubt real stories. If he wants to keep lying to himself, fine with me. Delusion is a hell of a drug.
I remember around the time it happened – wasn’t he on the cusp of being cut or fired from the show he was on?
Like, he had actual reasons and the means to pull if off…and then it backfired terribly. Plus, you can tell by the way he phrases things, that he believes he’s smarter than everyone else (so it’s not exactly a stretch to imagine that he genuinely believed he’d get away with it).
Probably got some kardashian like advice. ‘Bad press is press, and people tend to forgive and forget when you keep your head down for a while’
He lied, got caught. Lied again, and is still denying it to this day.
This trend has been going on for awhile now. Something huge happens right before a big event, movie, or album drops.
Just like that Cardi & Off thing.. How many times in the past 4 year did they divorce? Right!!