NEED TO KNOW
Jussie Smollett is opening up about the aftermath of his 2019 alleged hate crime hoax.
In Netflix’s new documentary The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, premiering on Friday, Aug. 22, the actor, 43, recalls feeling “like I was being eulogized” on social media as news quickly spread that he’d allegedly been a victim of a hate crime, the same crime he’d later be accused of orchestrating for attention.
“I felt like I had died, and I was alive to see — and what people were saying was so kind, but it was too much for me,” he says. “It made me very uncomfortable. It made me extremely embarrassed. It made me feel extremely emasculated.”
Smollett, who is Black and openly gay, claimed that on Jan. 29, 2019, he was attacked by two men while leaving a Subway sandwich shop near his apartment in Chicago.
He claimed the two men yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him, put a rope around his neck and doused him with bleach.
After an investigation conducted by law enforcement, prosecutors alleged that Smollett staged the attack to get media attention.
Prosecutors alleged that Smollett paid $3,500 to two brothers, Abimbola “Bola” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, whom he worked with on the show Empire, to help him pull off the staged attack.
In The Truth About Jussie Smollett? Smollett claims he paid the brothers the $3,500 to get him an illegal herbal supplement from Nigeria, while the brothers claim the actor paid them to beat him up.
“I believe he wanted to be the poster boy of activism for Black people, for gay people, for marginalized people,” says Bola. Adds Ola: “I thought it was crazy, but at the same time, I’m like, ‘It’s Hollywood.’ This is how it goes.”
Smollett claims he was “playing whack-a-mole with rumors, with lies,” and “at a certain point, it’s too many, and you can’t catch them all.”
Following a jury trial in 2021, Smollett was found guilty of five felony counts of disorderly conduct for making false reports to investigators.
He was sentenced to 150 days in jail in March 2022, given a $25,000 fine and ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution for overtime expenses incurred by the Chicago Police Department.
Six days into his sentence, Smollett was released on bail.
In 2024, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned Smollett’s convictions.
The court ruled that the actor’s rights had been violated because a special prosecutor pursued charges that were previously dropped by the Cook County State’s Attorney.
The Truth About Jussie Smollett? calls into question whether there could have been collusion between the police and the Osundairo brothers.
On the first day the brothers were placed in custody, police searched their home with a warrant and found several guns, which Ola is not allowed to possess since he is a convicted felon.
Footage is then shown in the documentary of Ola in custody having a private conversation with his lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, where she outlines to him the difference between having your record sealed and having it expunged.
“To my eyes, that’s when the brothers broker a deal,” says documentary producer Abigail Carr.
The brothers’ lawyer denies that they made a deal with police, stating that Ola’s record is neither sealed nor expunged.
“There was no deal with the police,” says Ola, as Bola adds, “You don’t need an immunity deal when you’re telling the truth.”
“I was conflicted,” Bola continues. “I didn’t want to go expose him. I wanted him to be a man and come out and say what happened himself.”
Smollett, meanwhile, says he “cannot stand the brothers for what they did” and “for how they’ve allowed themselves to benefit.”
“But, with that said, I see that from the beginning they were victims in this,” Smollett says.
The Truth About Jussie Smollett? concludes with Smollett maintaining his innocence.
“What is important, regardless of what you think about me… the fact is I didn’t do that,” he says. “That’s all that matters.”
The Truth About Jussie Smollett? begins streaming on Netflix on Aug. 22.
