In Chicago, a US court has found ‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollet guilty of staging a fake hate crime against himself to gain media attention and boost his career. As per reports, the actor, who is black and gay, had lied to the police and had falsely claimed that he was attacked in a dark Chicago street by two masked strangers in 2019.
The jury in Cook County Circuit Court deliberated for nine hours before announcing that they have found Smollet guilty in 5 of the 6 felony charges of disorderly conduct that he faced, one for each time he lied to the police.
The 39-year-old actor faces up to 3 years in prison, though there is a chance that he may be given probation, as per a Reuters report.
Speaking to the media, special prosecutor Dan Webb stated that Smollet’s allegations were ‘ridiculous’. He added that the actor lied to the jury too, adding that Smollet would not have lost his case as he did today if he had not lied to the jury.
Smollett’s defence attorney stated that his client is an ‘innocent man’ and they are confident that they will see the guilty verdicts are turned into appeal. The lawyer added that they feel justice was not done and the battle is difficult for the actor because he has been already ‘tried and convicted in the media’.
Bak in 2019, Smollett had made headlines and had even given an 18-minute interview for Good Morning America where he described how horrible he felt after the attack and took indirect potshots at then US President Donald Trump for motivating racial, homophobic attacks in the country.
Good Morning America was one of many corporate news sites to spread the #JussieSmollett hoax.
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 10, 2021
pic.twitter.com/s7bMVz4vys
‘Trump supporters attacked me’: Smollet had claimed
In 2019, Smollett had claimed that he was attacked, racially abused and assaulted by a pair of Trump supporters. He had claimed that the attackers threw a noose around his neck, poured some chemicals on his face while yelling racist and homophobic slurs at him. He had added that the attackers were raising pro-Trump slogans.
After a police investigation, it was found that the actor himself had hired two brothers and had paid them 3500 US Dollars to stage the attack on him. Smollett’s intention was to paint himself as a victim and boost his profile in the entertainment industry as a gay and black actor who was abused and assaulted by Trump supporters.
The brothers who had been hired by the actor, Abimbola Osundairo and Olabinjo Osundairo had testified in court against the actor, telling that he had trained them how to ‘attack’ him as part of the plan. But Smollett had told under oath that they were lying.
Smollett had lost his role as the singer-songwriter in the final season of Fox drama Empire after the fiasco. His career has taken a downward turn after that.
Top Democrat leaders had outraged about the attack that never happened
Incredible stuff pic.twitter.com/IczNfxlU46
— Libs of Tik Tok (@libsoftiktok) December 10, 2021
Jussie Smollett’s allegations of the fake ‘racial attack by Trump supporters’ had come at a time when the USA’s political environment was charged up in preparation for the 2020 elections. Top Democrat leaders, including current president Joe Biden, current VP Kamala Harris, Alexandra Ocasio Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Bernie Sanders had viciously called out the ‘racial attack’ that never even happened.
A popular Twitter handle named Libs of TikTok shared a screenshot of how the fake attack was used for political outrage by top Democrat leaders.
