It was the hoax heard round the world.
Jussie Smollett – a budding actor on the popular show Empire – told America he’d been the victim of a shockingly racist, homophobic attack by two white men wearing MAGA hats.
He was walking home at 2am on January 29, 2019, when the pair pounced, dousing him with liquid and throwing a rope around his neck.
Smollett scuttled home, telling his friends on the phone about what had happened. They called the police.
And then the lies started to unravel.
Chicago Police Department determined that Smollett, the son of a prominent family, had almost fooled everyone.
He had orchestrated the attack, telling brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo to attack him in the street in exchange for money. Cops said he wanted to boost his profile. He has always denied it – insisting for years that he was telling the truth.
Now, as Illinois’ High Court overturns his conviction in a shock decision based on a legal technicality, many are left scratching their heads – and reflecting on the wild saga.
Jussie Smollett, seen in court in March 2019, has had his conviction for lying to the police with a bizarre anti-Trump hoax overturned in a sensational ruling from the Illinois Supreme Court
The actor’s hoax and subsequent arrest sparked a media firestorm years ago, as it was bizarrely found that he had actually paid two Nigerian brothers, Abel and Ola Osundairo (pictured) to stage the incident
THE ‘ATTACK’
Smollett said he had flown back to Chicago from filming when he decided to venture out into the subzero night at 2am to buy a tuna sandwich from Subway.
On his way home, he later claimed, he was seized on by two white men in MAGA hats.
He said they called him racial and homophobic slurs and yelled ‘This is MAGA country n****!’ before punching him in the face.
‘So I punch his a** back. We end up tussling by the stairs, fighting, fighting, fighting…and then it just stopped,’ the actor told Good Morning America.
‘I looked down and I noticed a rope around my neck and I started screaming, “There’s a f****** rope around me neck!”
Smollett even showed police the noose that he claimed he was almost lynched with during the investigation.
OUTPOUR OF SUPPORT
As soon as the story emerged, Smullett began receiving an outpouring of sympathy, with Hollywood and DC rallying around him.
Then-senator Kamala Harris wrote on X: ‘Jussie Smollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery.
‘This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.’
Before his first arrest, Smollett broke down in tears as he insisted he wasn’t lying about the hoax during an appearance with Good Morning America
The interview was the first time Smollett had answered questions about the case publicly
Bernie Sanders wrote on Twitter: ‘The racist and homophobic attack on Jussie Smollett is a horrific instance of the surging hostility toward minorities around the country. We must come together to eradicate all forms of bigotry and violence.’
Reverend Al Sharpton added: ‘The reported hate attack on my friend and brother, actor Jussie Smollett is despicable and outrageous. The guilty must face the maximum.’
Celebrities including Janet Jackson, John Legend and Lee Daniels also all rushed to offer their support in the wake of the alleged horrifying attack.
Just two weeks after the alleged attack, on February 12, Smollett sat down for an interview on Good Morning America.
At the time, he was still being described by police as a victim and not a suspect, but questions surrounding his cooperation with their probe were growing as sources within the Chicago Police Department leaked more and more information about the case.
Robin Roberts offered Smollett a sympathetic ear and listened as he described details of the attack through tears. She also brought up the growing suspicion around his story which angered him.
‘It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot more. That says a lot about the place that we are at in the country right now,’ Smullett fired back.
Within a few hours of the interview being aired on February 14, Chicago PD announced it had found the men in the surveillance video Smollett identified as his attackers on TV.
THE STORY UNRAVELS
Police said they tracked down the Osundairo brothers, who are Black, using surveillance video and taxi and ride-share records. When taken into custody, the siblings detailed for police how Smollett orchestrated the fake attack.
When the alleged attackers were revealed as Nigerian, Smollett’s lawyer offered an explanation for why the actor told police he thought they were white: they could have been wearing white make-up.
Smollett even showed police the noose that he claimed he was almost lynched with during the investigation (pictured)
An evidence picture of the ‘noose’ Smollett claimed he was attacked with
Police released this image of the brothers walking near the scene on the night of the attack which Smollett said, without realizing they had been arrested, was ‘absolutely’ an image of the men who attacked him
She went on to point to a 2016 YouTube video of Abel Osundairo, the brother in question, where he is wearing white make-up to perform a Joker monologue as potential proof of her theory.
By that time, stories had leaked that detectives believed Smollett had concocted the story, seemingly in an attempt boost his public profile.
It also emerged that Chicago prosecutor Kim Foxx had meddled in the case before she was forced to recuse herself.
Fox had exchanged text messages with his a friend of the Smollett family who was angry about the Chicago Police Department leaking details of the case.
She then personally lobbied the then-chief of police, Eddie Johnson, to have it moved into the care of the FBI. When her involvement was revealed as Smollett became more and more of a suspect, she recused herself.
She then however continued to meddle, instructing deputy Joseph Magats to ignore the recommendation of a grand jury who charged Smollett with lying 16 times.
Under the direction of Foxx’s fury, Magats entered a deal with Smollett which meant he would serve 15 hours of community service and pay a $10,000 fine to avoid jail and have the whole case wiped.
Despite a grand jury indictment finding he lied repeatedly to cops, the charges against him were then sensationally dropped that March, sparking outrage from the public.
Prosecutor Kim Foxx dropped the charges against Smollett in March 2019
In 2019, before Smollett was charged, an unnamed friend of the Smollett family was in contact with Foxx. The family was upset about how many details of the investigation were being leaked to the press. They wanted it to be handed over from the Chicago Police Department to the FBI and Foxx (whose text is in blue) told ‘the friend’ she was trying to get it done for them
SMOLLETT FACES TRIAL
After he was fined $140,000 for wasting police resources, a special prosecutor was named to investigate why the charges against Smollett were dropped.
It was this decision that has now led to Smollett’s ultimate conviction to be overturned, as it was found his rights were violated because Smollett had agreed with prosecutors that he would not be re-charged at the time after they were dropped.
Smollett was charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct for making what prosecutors say was a false police report — one count for each time he gave a report, to three different officers.
Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson, who is black, said at the time: ‘Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.’
Smollett reacting after being sentenced to 150 days in jail. He said yelled out that if anything happens to him in custody it’s the jail’s fault because he is not suicidal
Smollett again sparked backlash during his conviction hearing, as he triumphantly raised his fist to appear defiant, despite being caught in a blatant lie
Abimbola Osundairo said on the stand that Smollett had recruited him and his brother to stage a homophobic and racist attack on him, saying the former star even instructed them on how to throw fake punches.
Smollett also planned a ‘dry run’ and gave him a $100 bill to buy supplies, Osundairo testified.
Osundairo told jurors Smollett instructed him to punch him but ‘not too hard.’ Once Smollett was on the ground, Osundairo said Smollett said he should give Smollett ‘a bruise’ and ‘give him a noogie’ — or rub his knuckles hard on Smollett’s head.
Osundairo, who worked as a stand-in on Empire, said he and his brother agreed because he felt indebted to Smollett for helping him with his acting career.
He testified that Smollett gave him a check for $3,500 and wrote on it that it was for a nutrition and workout program. But Osundairo said the money was both for the program and for helping to stage the attack.
A defense attorney told jurors during openings that Smollett was a ‘real victim’ and that the brothers’ accounts are unreliable.
This booking photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office shows Jussie Smollett. A judge sentenced Jussie Smollett to 150 days in jail Thursday, March 10, 2022
Smollett was convicted in December 2021 for lying to police.
He again sparked backlash during his conviction hearing, as he triumphantly raised his fist to appear defiant, despite being caught in a lie.
He was sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months’ probation after it was proven that he made the episode up, and he was also slapped with a hefty fine of $130,160.
Smollett appealed the ruling and has not yet served a day of that sentence behind bars, even after his conviction was previously affirmed by a lower court in 2023 before the Supreme Court agreed to hear his appeal.