Jussie Smollett returns to the general public eye as Netflix’s new documentary questions the reality behind his 2019 hate crime report.
Jussie Smollett and the polarizing saga surrounding his 2019 hate crime report are again within the highlight as Netflix prepares to launch a brand new documentary that reopens the case and questions every part the general public thought they knew.
Titled The Fact About Jussie Smollett?, the movie drops August 22 and dives headfirst into the high-profile investigation that gripped headlines and fueled nationwide debate.
Directed by Gagan Rehill and produced by RAW—the crew behind Don’t F**okay With Cats and The Tinder Swindler—the documentary options interviews with police officers, authorized consultants, journalists and Smollett himself.
The movie guarantees to make clear what some declare is newly uncovered proof.
Smollett, who rose to fame on the hit collection Empire, made headlines in January 2019 when he instructed Chicago police he was the sufferer of a racist and homophobic assault.
He stated two MAGA males used slurs, poured a chemical on him and positioned a noose round his neck.
Within the trailer, former Chicago Police Division detective Melissa Staples recollects her preliminary response.
“They see an actor referred to as Jussie Smollett with a noose round his neck. He says he was the sufferer of a hate crime. I believed it was a horrible crime at first till it began to disintegrate,” she stated.
Then-superintendent Eddie Johnson additionally expressed doubts early within the case.
“Some components struck me as a bit peculiar. We have been experiencing a polar vortex at the moment. Who could be exterior in such frigid situations,” Johnson stated.
After a prolonged investigation, Chicago police concluded Smollett staged the assault and employed two brothers to hold it out. He was charged with felony disorderly conduct for submitting a false report.
In a controversial transfer, the Prepare dinner County State’s Lawyer’s Workplace dropped the fees after Smollett forfeited a $10,000 bond and accomplished group service. A particular prosecutor later refiled fees, citing “substantial abuses of discretion.”
A jury convicted Smollett in December 2021 on 5 counts of mendacity to police. However in November 2024, the Illinois Supreme Courtroom reversed the convictions, ruling that the second prosecution violated his due course of rights based mostly on the unique settlement with prosecutors.
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