Jussie Smollett attacked several people in an explosive new interview, including the Chicago police force and the city’s mayor.
Smollett found himself at the center of a high‑profile legal saga when he claimed to have been assaulted in a racist and homophobic hate crime in Chicago in January 2019.
Authorities later alleged that he orchestrated the attack himself, paying two acquaintances to stage it, but Smollett has consistently maintained his innocence.
A grand jury indicted him in February 2020 on six counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing false police reports; in December 2021, he was convicted on five counts and subsequently sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of probation, and more than $120,000 in restitution.
“The villains are the two people who assaulted me, the Chicago Police Department and, if I may be so brave, the mayor,” he told Variety.
Rahm Emanuel was the city’s mayor from 2011 to 2019 and is the brother of Hollywood power broker Ari Emanuel.
The Illinois Supreme Court overturned Smollett’s conviction in November 2024. Prosecutors maintain that the charges were dismissed not because he is innocent, but because of procedural errors.
“I saw firsthand how narratives are built. I saw firsthand the way that someone can take the exact opposite of who you are and literally sell it,” he says of the way the industry turned on him. “And people will be like, ‘I believe it!’ God rest his soul, but homeboy Michael Jackson tried to warn us.”