Jussie Smollett Discloses His Perspective on the Suspected 2019 Hate Crime Hoax Incident
Jussie Smollett, the former star of the hit TV show Empire, continues to maintain his innocence in the 2019 hate crime allegations that rocked the entertainment industry. In a recent interview with Variety, Smollett expressed his ongoing insecurity about public perception and the uncertainty surrounding others' opinions of him.
Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts in 2019 for allegedly filing a false police report about a hate crime. He claimed that two men shouted racial and homophobic slurs, put a noose around his neck, and poured bleach on him. However, in 2021, he was found guilty of falsely reporting a hate crime, a verdict that was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2024.
In the interview, Smollett asserted that his story has never changed, while other people's stories have. He maintained his innocence and claimed he was a victim of the hate crime he was later charged for falsely reporting. Smollett referred to the Chicago Police Department and former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel as the villains in the incident, a sentiment he has also expressed in a 2025 interview connected to the Netflix documentary The Truth About Jussie Smollett?
Smollett questioned the involvement of former mayor Rahm Emanuel in hiding information related to the 2014 murder of teenager Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, suggesting that the scrutiny surrounding him may have been a result of this connection.
Smollett expressed sympathy and questioned the motives of the Osundairo brothers, who alleged to authorities they planned the hate crime hoax with him. He stated that he does not know why exonerating evidence supporting his claims hasn't emerged six years after the initial report.
Smollett's comments were made ahead of the release of the Netflix documentary titled The Truth About Jussie Smollett. A link to the entire interview with Jussie Smollett can be found here. This signals that he maintains a defensive stance regarding the allegations and portrays himself as a victim of injustice rather than admitting wrongdoing.
[1] "Jussie Smollett Opens Up About His Past, His Future and the Empire That Broke His Heart." Variety, 4 Apr. 2023, https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/jussie-smollett-interview-variety-empire-1235341190/
[2] "Jussie Smollett: The Villains in the Story." The Guardian, 20 Mar. 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/20/jussie-smollett-the-villains-in-the-story
- The interview with Jussie Smollett, published by Variety in 2023, reveals that the former Empire star continues to assert his innocence in the 2019 hate crime allegations.
- In the same interview, Smollett also questioned the motives of the Osundairo brothers, who alleged to authorities they planned the hate crime hoax with him, and expressed doubt over the emergence of exonerating evidence.
- Smollett's interview, published in The Guardian in 2025, also touches upon his sympathy for the LGBTQ community and his feelings about the black content in entertainment, when he mentioned his connection to the 2014 murder of teenager Laquan McDonald by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke.
- Ahead of the release of the Netflix documentary titled The Truth About Jussie Smollett, the former celebrities maintain a defensive stance regarding the allegations and portray himself as a victim of injustice rather than admitting wrongdoing, as seen in various general-news and crime-and-justice articles.
