Jussie Smollett convicted of lying to police about attack

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

published December 10, 2021

Actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty Thursday on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for falsely reporting to police in January 2019 that he was attacked in a hate crime.

He was acquitted on one count. The trial was held in Chicago, and the jury — six men and six women — deliberated for about nine hours, CBS News reports.

Smollett told police that while walking near his Chicago home at 2 a.m., he was attacked by two men who dumped a chemical on him and yelled "racist and homophobic slurs." Later, brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo said they had been paid by Smollett to fake the attack on a sidewalk, as he wanted it captured on surveillance camera so the video could spread on social media. Prosecutors said Smollett paid the brothers, who both took the stand during the trial, $3,500 for their assistance.