His legal team did their best to defend him against allegations of staging an attack on himself for fame, but Jussie Smollett couldn't sway a jury. This case took over 2019 after the former Empire actor alleged that while walking down a Chicago street in the early morning hours, he was assaulted by two white men spouting racist and homophobic slurs. Smollett even reportedly showed up at a police station with a noose around his neck, allegedly placed there by his assailants, but an investigation by the Chicago Police Department cast doubt on his story.
Soon, he faced lawsuits and litigation, but throughout it all, Smollett has insisted that he did not have anything to do with the attack. The Osundairo brothers, the two men who claimed they were hired by Smollett to carry out the alleged fake assault, testified against him in court.
The actor was recently found guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct and today (March 10), Smollett returned to receive his sentence. Initially, Smollett faced upwards of three years in prison, but instead, a judge sentenced him to 150 days in the Cook County Jail, a $25,000 fine, and $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago. His sentence is to begin immediately.
"Let me tell you, Mr. Smollett, I know that there is nothing that I will do here today that can come close to the damage you've already done to your own life," the judge reportedly said. "You've turned your life upside down by your misconduct and shenanigans, you've destroyed your life as you knew it, and there's nothing that any sentencing judge could do to you that can compare to the damage you've already caused yourself."
"You're just a charlatan pretending to be a victim of a hate crime, and that's shameful," the judge also stated, while also telling Smollett that he is "profoundly arrogant and selfish and narcissistic." He also condemned Smollett for doing "real damage" for victims of actual hate crimes.
"You knew this was a country that was slowly trying to heal past injustices and current injustices and trying to make a better future for each other," he said. "And it was a hard road and you took some scabs off some healing wounds and you ripped them apart for one reason: You wanted to make yourself more famous, and for a while it worked... You were actually throwing a national pity party for yourself."
Smollett did make a statement, once again maintaining he wasn't involved in a hoax.
"I am innocent, and I am not suicidal," said Smollett. "If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for over four hundred years and the fears of the LGBT community. Your honor, I respect you and I respect the jury. But I did not do this, and I am not suicidal — and if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that. I respect you, your honor, and I respect your decision."
The judge denied Smollett's request for a new trial.
[via]
