Jussie Smollett’s Hate Crime Conviction Overturned by Illinois Supreme Court.
In a surprising legal turn, the Illinois Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of Empire star Jussie Smollett, who was accused of orchestrating a hate crime hoax in 2019.
On Thursday, November 21, 2024, the court ruled in Smollett’s favor, stating that his rights were violated when Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx initially dropped all charges against him, only for a special prosecutor to later revive the case and retry him.
The case began in January 2019 when Smollett, who is Black and openly gay, reported that two men had attacked him while he was filming Empire in downtown Chicago.
According to Smollett, the men, whom he later identified as Nigerian-American brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, shouted racial and homophobic slurs, placed a noose around his neck, and yelled “This is MAGA country”—a reference to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign slogan.
The incident quickly drew national attention, with many rallying behind Smollett, believing him to be the victim of a hate crime. But as the investigation progressed, suspicions about the veracity of his story started to surface.
In March 2019, after an extensive police investigation, Smollett was charged with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.
However, in a controversial move, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped the charges against him, offering Smollett a deal that included community service and the forfeiture of his bond. While this decision raised eyebrows, the case was seemingly closed—until a special prosecutor was appointed to review it.
The special prosecutor found significant “abuses of discretion” in Foxx’s office and concluded that Smollett should be retried. In 2020, a grand jury reinstated charges against Smollett, accusing him of staging the attack to draw attention to himself and advance his career.
The trial in 2021 was widely followed, with Smollett maintaining his innocence throughout. He testified that he had been the victim of a real hate crime, while prosecutors argued that he had paid the Osundairo brothers $3,500 to stage the assault.
Evidence presented at trial suggested that Smollett had given the brothers a script, including instructions to shout specific slurs and invoke “MAGA country.” Despite his defense, the jury convicted Smollett on five counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false report.
He was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of probation, and ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago for the costs of the investigation.
But the case didn’t end there. In December 2023, an appeals court upheld Smollett’s conviction, ruling that his original deal with Foxx’s office did not guarantee that he would be immune from prosecution. However, when the Illinois Supreme Court took up the case in March 2024, they reversed the conviction, agreeing that Smollett’s rights had been violated.
The court ruled that once the charges were dropped, they could not be reinstated by a special prosecutor, as Smollett had reasonably relied on the initial agreement. In its ruling, the court stated, “What would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied.”
The decision has sparked mixed reactions. For Smollett’s supporters, the ruling is seen as a win for justice, especially considering the handling of the case from the beginning. On the other hand, many critics still believe Smollett orchestrated the entire event for personal gain, accusing him of exploiting serious social issues for publicity.
While Smollett has always maintained his innocence, the case has left an indelible mark on the public’s perception of him and raised questions about how the justice system handles high-profile cases involving celebrities.
Now that the conviction has been overturned, it remains to be seen what the next steps will be for Smollett, both legally and personally. The saga has already been a long and controversial one, and this latest development ensures that the public’s interest in his case will likely continue for some time to come.
