After nine hours of deliberation, a jury in Chicago today found former Empire star “Jussie Smollet” guilty on five counts, including staging a fake hate crime against himself with the aim of sharpening his celebrity profile.
Back in January 2019, Jussie Smollet filed a police report about an attack that had become a touchstone in America’s cultural wars at the interface of culture, celebrity life, racism, and politics. Sympathizers, including many other stars, initially rushed to Smollet’s support when he first made the claims of being attacked by people who had screamed “This is Maga County,” an allusion to Donald Trump’s political slogan. “Make America Great Again.”
Jussie Smollet made allegations that he had been attacked by two masked men on a darkened street. According to his statement, the attackers put a noose around his neck and poured chemicals over him while hurling racist and homophobic insults. All this seems to have been a hoax right now after the verdict made in Chicago.
Two extras from the popular TV show “Empire” testified during the course of this trial about how Smollet paid them to stage the alleged attack.
What follows after all this for Smollet could be a total of three years in the cold cell, but he will most likely not face prison time because he has no known criminal record. He is instead likely to face probation and hours of community service. Currently, the actor still remains free on his bond as he awaits his sentence at a later date.
