Jussie Smollett sentenced to 5 months in jail over hate crime hoax

Jussie Smollett
(Image credit: Brian Cassella-Pool/Getty Images)

Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor who was convicted of staging a fake hate crime against himself, is headed to jail.

A judge sentenced the actor to 30 months probation Thursday after he was convicted of lying to police about being the victim of a hate crime. He was ordered to spend 150 days of his sentence in county jail starting immediately.

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Brendan Morrow

Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.