Jussie Smollett convicted of lying to police about attack

(Image credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images)

published 10 December 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.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Explore More

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Subscribe to The Week

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox