Disgraced actor Jussie Smollett had his conviction for lying about a fake racist and homophobic attack in downtown Chicago thrown out by the Illinois Supreme Court on a technicality.
In a shocking twist, the court found that the former “Empire” actor had his Fifth Amendment rights violated by a special prosecutor’s decision to try him after initial charges against him were previously dropped.
Smollett, 42, who is black and gay, claimed two men in Make America Great Again hats assaulted him in the dead of night in January, 2019, approaching him out of nowhere in the darkness and declaring “this is MAGA country” before the attack.
According to Smollet, the men yelled homophobic and racial slurs, put a noose around his neck and doused him with bleach, leading to a massive search for suspects by Chicago police that cost the city more than $130,000.
However, investigators quickly unraveled the elaborate self-victimization ruse, revealing the actor actually hired two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, to stage the attack in a ploy to boost his profile and burnish his tough guy credentials.
Police later said Smollett admitted to them he plotted the hoax because he was unhappy with his “Empire” salary – which was $100,000 per episode at the time. He was later fired following his arrest. He has never publicly admitted to lying, and loudly proclaims his innocence to this day.
The incident garnered extensive national coverage, with nearly every high-profile liberal celebrity and politician rushing to breathlessly post their support for Smollett in a sea of since-deleted tweets.
Smollet was eventually convicted on five felony counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police about the details of the bogus attack.
