Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail in staged hate crime
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Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 30 months of felony probation, with the first 150 days to be served in county jail, for lying to police in a staged hate crime.
Smollett was sentenced Thursday in Chicago, after a jury found him guilty of five counts of disorderly conduct in December. Cook County Judge James Linn denied a request to suspend Smollett's sentence and ordered that he be placed in custody immediately. Smollett was also ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago.
Upon hearing his sentence, Smollett forcefully maintained his innocence and said several times that he is not suicidal, adding that "if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself, and you all must know that."
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Linn acknowledged Smollett's passion for social justice but said the actor also had another side to him that's "profoundly arrogant, selfish, and narcissistic." He cited Smollett's "premeditation" in the staged attack, the "pain" he'd caused to real victims of hate crimes, and the "damage" he'd done to the city of Chicago as aggravating factors in his decision.
Terrence Antonio James/getty images Jussie Smollett at his sentencing
The winding case dates back to January 2019, when Smollett, who is openly gay, told Chicago authorities that two men yelled racist and homophobic slurs at and attacked him, poured an unknown chemical substance on him, and wrapped a rope around his neck.
A month later, prosecutors charged Smollett with filing a false report, before dropping the charges in March 2019. "I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one," Smollett said after the charges were dropped. "I would not be my mother's son if I was capable of one drop of what I have been accused of."
In February 2020, however, Smollett was indicted again on similar charges, accused of making four separate false reports to Chicago police. In court in December 2021, prosecutors maintained that Smollett orchestrated the attack with the two men — brothers who testified that the actor paid them to do so — to gain publicity.
Smollett has consistently denied any wrongdoing, telling the jury "there was no hoax."
EW has reached out to Smollett's lawyer Nenye Uche for comment on his sentencing.
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