ACTOR Jussie Smollett’s conviction for orchestrating a fake hate crime has been overturned.
An Illinois Supreme Court handed down the ruling siding with the Empire actor’s appeal that he should never have been convicted in 2021 after agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors during his original case in 2019.
Actor Jussie Smollett speaking to a judge after his sentence was read at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in Chicago on March 10, 2022Reuters
On January 29, 2019, Smollett reported to Chicago police that he was the victim of a hate crime when he was attacked outside his apartment building.
The actor, 42, alleged two men physically assaulted him and used racial and homophobic slurs.
Smollett alleged in the police report that the men left a noose around his head before shouting, “This is MAGA country.”
However, a police investigation determined Smollett paid the two men, identified as brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, $3,500 to stage the assault in a bid to help him progress his career.
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