Jussie Smollett Taking 'Necessary Steps' Amid Hate Crime Case Appeal, Rep Says
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Jussie Smollett is going through rehab in an outpatient treatment program, a representative for the actor told TMZ.
“Jussie has had an extremely difficult past few years,” the rep said, according to a Wednesday report. “He has quietly been working very hard for some time now and we are proud of him for taking these necessary steps.”
Smollett is more than a year removed from a brief jail stint after he was convicted of filing a false police report in a staged hate crime attack on him. He was sentenced to immediately begin serving 150 days in March 2022 but was released less than a week later as he pursued an appeal, which is ongoing.
In 2019, Smollett had claimed that two men placed a noose around his neck and doused him with a chemical substance in a racist and homophobic assault in Chicago. Prosecutors argued that he faked the whole thing for publicity and paid a pair of brothers for their help in carrying it out.
He has denied the accusations and even wrote a song that appeared to be about authorities’ efforts.
The spokesperson did not specify why Smollett entered treatment, but the actor testified in 2021 that he had repeatedly done drugs with a man identified as one of his fake assailants, Abimbola Osundairo. Neither Abimbola Osundairo nor his brother, Olabinjo Osundairo, has been charged in the case.
The Osundairos worked on the set of “Empire,” a Fox hip-hop drama featuring Smollett that aired from 2015 to 2020. Smollett, who played Jamal Lyon on the show, was written out of the final season.
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