NEED TO KNOW
More than six years ago the nation was hooked by the story of Jussie Smollett’s apparent attack on the streets of Chicago. While at first it seemed like a brutal act of hate, as the actor was found with a rope tied around his neck, the details that followed painted a much more complicated picture.
And now, the case is being examined once again through the lens of RAW, the producers behind Don’t F**k with Cats and Tinder Swindler, in the new documentary The Truth About Jussie Smollett? and PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the trailer.
The trailer opens by revisiting Jan. 29, 2019, the night the alleged crime was called in.
“They see an actor called Jussie Smollett with a noose around his neck,” Melissa Staples, former chief of detectives for the Chicago Police Department says. “He says he was the victim of a hate crime.”
Netflix
“I thought it was a horrible crime at first,” she continues later. “Until it started to fall apart.”
Through interviews with law enforcement, lawyers, journalists, investigators and ultimately Smollett himself, the documentary explores how the narrative shifted, turning the actor and singer from the obvious victim to potentially the perpetrator of a hoax.
“I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I’m being accused of,” Smollett says in footage from a press conference at the time.
E. Jason Wambsgans-Pool/Getty
Another law enforcement official points out that one of the conflicting details of the story was that the alleged incident took place while the city was experiencing bad weather.
“Some things kind of struck me as a little odd,” Eddie Johnson, former superintendent of the Chicago Police Department says in the trailer, later adding: “We were going through the polar vortex at the time. Who is out in the street with it being cold out there?”
Journalist Chelli Stanley mentions evidence that White men had been on the scene, which might conflict with the authorities’ claim that Abimbola “Abel” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, two brothers who were connected to Smollett, had been paid by Smollett to facilitate the “bogus” hate crime.
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The trailer ends with the question “Who really can we trust?” before Smollett himself is seen sitting down for the start of an interview.
To this day, Smollett vehemently denies any wrongdoing and reached a settlement with the city of Chicago and agreed to pay a $50,000 charitable donation to Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts in May 2025.
“Over six years ago, after it was reported I had been jumped, City Officials in Chicago set out to convince the public that I willfully set an assault against myself. This false narrative has left a stain on my character that will not soon disappear,” he wrote on Instagram following the settlement. “These officials wanted my money and wanted my confession for something I did not do. Today, it should be clear…. They have received neither.”
The settlement came nearly four years after Smollett was found guilty of five felony counts of disorderly conduct for filing false police reports following a jury trial in 2021. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail in March 2022 and was hit with a $25,000 fine and ordered to pay more than $120,000 in restitution to the Chicago Police Department for overtime pay. He ultimately served six days of his sentence before he was released on bail. The convictions against him were overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court in November 2024.
The Truth About Jussie Smollett? will premiere globally Aug. 22 on Netflix.
