Empire's Jussie Smollett sentenced to jail time after faking racist attack
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Actor Jussie Smollett, who starred as Jamal Lyon in Empire, has been sentenced to 150 days in jail after being found guilty of lying to the police about being the victim of a hate crime. Smollett still denies any wrongdoing, making a passionate speech after receiving the sentencing in which he also denied feeling 'suicidal'. He has also been ordered to 30 months of probation and $145,000 (£110,000) in restitution and fines.
Smollett was initially found guilty of five charges of disorderly conduct back in December, after publicly claiming - and informing police - that he had been brutally beaten in a racially-motivated attack.
He claimed to have been walking home alone at 2am on 29 January 2019 when he had a rope placed around his neck and an "unknown chemical substance" poured on him, by attackers who he said made references to MAGA (Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan) – Smollett then received an outpouring of support from other notable names such as Naomi Campbell, Viola Davis and Janelle Monae.
Things later took a turn when two brothers, Obabinjo (Ola) and Abimbola (Abel) Osundairo, who had both been extras on the set of Empire, were identified as the attackers, and claimed Smollett had paid them to stage the incident. A police raid of their home later unearthed a black face mask, an Empire script, phone, receipts, a red hat and bleach.
On 17 February 2019, after rumours began to swirl that the attack was staged by Smollett in order to garner sympathy, his lawyers released a statement saying: "Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with... [It's] impossible to believe [the Osundairos] could have played a role in the crime against Jussie, or would falsely claim Jussie's complicity."
Three days later, Smollett was officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by Chicago Police for filing a false police report. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson then suggested at a press conference that same month that Smollett "took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career" and implied the actor's motivations were also to do with being "dissatisfied with his salary".
During his trial last year, the Osundairos testified against Smollett and said he had paid them $3,500 to carry the attack out. The Chicago Police assigned 30 officers to the investigation, which involved 1,837 overtime hours.
Judge James Linn told the actor, "There is nothing that I can do here today that can come close to the damage you've already done to your own life You've turned your life upside down by your conduct and shenanigans [...] You're just a charlatan pretending to be a victim of a hate crime, and that's shameful."
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