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Jussie Smollett’s Conviction for 2019 Staged Attack on Himself Is Overturned

Jussie Smollett's conviction has been overturned, five years after he allegedly staged a racist, homophobic attack on himself. Get the details.

The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned Jussie Smollett’s 2021 conviction for allegedly staging a racist and homophobic attack on himself in 2019, ruling on Thursday (Nov. 21) that his rights had been violated when a special prosecutor stepped in to retry him despite the Cook County State’ Attorney’s Office initially dropping all charges against him. Two years later, a jury found Smollett — who is Black and gay — guilty of five of six counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly lying to police about the incident, with prosecutors accusing him of hiring the two men to attack him because he was unhappy with his employer’s response to hate mail he’d received, according to the Associated Press. In addition to 30 months of probation, Smollett — who has maintained his innocence — was ordered to pay $130,160 in restitution and sentenced to 150 days in jail — which he never served due to the lengthy appeals process that has played out in the years since.

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