Disgraced actor Jussie Smollett is still trying to prove his innocence five years after his notorious hate crime hoax.
The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear Smollett’s latest appeal in which he asked them to overturn his convictions on five counts of disorderly conduct related to a 2019 incident in which he pretended to be the victim of a vicious hate crime.
“What should have been a straightforward case has been complicated by the intersection of politics and public outrage,” Smollett’s lawyers wrote in their appeal filed last month.
Smollett, who is both black and gay, was found guilty of orchestrating a brutal racist and homophobic attack near his Chicago apartment back in July 2019.
The elaborate plot, which involved paying two Nigerian brothers to help stage the incident, was the subject of intense media scrutiny after Smollett claimed that his attackers tied a noose around his neck and declared their allegiance to the MAGA movement.
The brothers hired by actor & left-wing activist Jussie Smollett for a fake white supremacist hate crime speak out in a new documentary. Smollett orchestrated the hate hoax to frame Trump supporters. The outlandish story was exploited by Democrats & pic.twitter.com/h2rBSit5qF…
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 16, 2023
It was reported at the time that Smollett’s motivations for staging the attack were because he was dissatisfied with his salary of over $1 million a year and hoped that public sympathy for his supposed trauma would lead to an improved contract.
Among those who believed Smollett at the time was Kamala Harris, who described the attack as a “modern day lynching.”
.@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery.
This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2019
In 2021, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months felony probation, $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago, and a fine of $25,000 for crimes related to the incident. He served just six days behind bars before he was allowed out while he appealed the case.
Last December, an Illinois Appellate Court panel threw out arguments made by Smollett’s legal team that his trial violated his Fifth Amendment rights against double jeopardy.
“I could have said I was guilty a long time ago!” Outburst in court after Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail for faking a hate crime.
Today, Smollett lost his appeal to overturn his 2022 conviction for disorderly conduct.#CourtTV What do YOU think? ⚖️👇 pic.twitter.com/MLYdbdFTgk
— Court TV (@CourtTV) December 1, 2023
In February, TMZ reported that Smollett had completed a five-month stint in rehab for substance abuse while his agents are “hard at work gearing him up for the upcoming release of his new film and other projects.”
There is currently no set date for the court to take up his case. If his final appeal fails, Smollett will be required to serve his prison sentence.
