Where Is Jussie Smollett Now? Inside the Actor's Life 6 Years After His Infamous Hate Crime Scandal
- - Where Is Jussie Smollett Now? Inside the Actor's Life 6 Years After His Infamous Hate Crime Scandal
Alyssa DavisAugust 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
River Callaway/WWD via Getty
Jussie Smollett at the Fashion Trust U.S Awards 2025 on April 08, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Jussie Smollett is moving forward after his six-year legal battle with the city of Chicago was settled.
The ordeal began after he reported that he was the victim of an alleged hate crime in 2019. The Empire actor, who is gay and Black, claimed that two men had attacked him outside of his apartment building, using slurs.
After an investigation, he was charged with filing a false police report and allegedly hiring former Empire extras to stage the hate crime. After a back-and-forth in which Smollett was charged and cleared twice, the court proceedings and lawsuits were resolved with the actor's convictions being overturned by the state. The city then pursued a lawsuit against Smollett in an attempt to regain money spent on the investigation.
In May 2025, the former Empire star agreed to pay a charitable sum in exchange for the lawsuit being dropped. While the ordeal is now behind him, Smollett recognizes that the January 2019 incident and tumultuous investigation that followed will be associated with him for the rest of his life.
Recalling the narrative turning against him, Smollett told PEOPLE, "I was numb. I didn't know how to connect the dots." Now, the actor is speaking out in a Netflix documentary called The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, which premiered on Aug. 22.
So, where is Jussie Smollett now? Here’s everything to know about the actor and his life six years after the alleged hate crime hoax.
What happened to Jussie Smollett after the alleged hate crime hoax?
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Jussie Smollett attends the 2022 BET Awards on June 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
In 2019, Smollett’s entertainment career came to an abrupt halt when he was accused of staging a fake hate crime against himself. He was written out of the final season of Empire as the investigation unfolded, with Lee Daniels, the show’s creator, telling Vulture he was “beyond embarrassed” for supporting Smollett before speculation of an alleged hoax arose.
Two years later, a Chicago judge convicted Smollett on felony disorderly conduct and false police reports charges, and the court of public opinion wreaked additional havoc on his reputation. The allegations, conviction and subsequent fallout in all areas of Smollett’s life led to him entering an outpatient rehab facility in 2023.
Did Jussie Smollett confess to staging his own hate crime?
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Jussie Smollett arrives at the Leighton Courts Building for the start of jury selection in his trial on November 29, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois.
Smollett has never wavered from his claims of innocence. After agreeing to pay a $50,000 charitable donation to settle the civil lawsuit the city of Chicago was pursuing against him, the actor shared a lengthy statement maintaining his stance on Instagram.
"Over six years ago, after it was reported I had been jumped, City Officials in Chicago set out to convince the public that I willfully set an assault against myself. This false narrative has left a stain on my character that will not soon disappear," Smollett claimed. "These officials wanted my money and wanted my confession for something I did not do. Today, it should be clear ... They have received neither."
Smollett then shared he’d been given the alternative of making a $50,000 donation to a Chicago charity of his choice “in exchange for the case being dismissed,” and he chose Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts as the recipient of the sum.
After again asserting his innocence, Smollett expressed gratitude for having access to resources to defend himself throughout the legal battle and added that he would be making an additional donation on behalf of individuals who do not have the same privilege.
"I am donating an additional $10,000.00 to the Chicago Torture Justice Center who provides resources to communities healing from the violence and the Chicago Police Department,” the actor wrote. “To anyone who has had to prove they have in fact been violated, you know how difficult this can be to navigate. I stand with and for you.”
Who does Jussie Smollett blame for the hoax narrative?
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Jussie Smollet appears at a hearing on March 14, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois.
Smollett maintains he was indeed the target of a hate crime and denies any involvement in staging the altercation, and he now casts blame on more than just his attackers. “The villains are the two people who assaulted me, the Chicago Police Department and, if I may be so brave, the mayor [at the time, Rahm Emanuel],” he claimed to Variety in August 2025.
Smollett suggested the reason the Chicago Police Department allegedly launched a campaign against him was to distract from the federal case surrounding the murder of Laquan McDonald, a teenager who was killed when a Chicago cop shot him 16 times in October 2014.
“Could it be that they had just found out about the missing minutes and the missing tape from the murder of Laquan McDonald? Could it be that the mayor helped hide that?” Smollett asked. He added, “We’re living in a world where the higher-ups, their main mission, in order to do all of the underhanded things that they’re doing, is to distract us with the shiny object.” Emanuel did not respond to the allegations.
While Smollett hasn’t publicly disparaged the Osundairo brothers, he has maintained that his attackers were White President Donald Trump supporters, and the brothers — who are Black — were not the individuals who assaulted him, despite their testimony under oath saying they did.
The Osundairos have talked at length about their alleged role in the supposed hate crime on Fox News and released a book detailing their account, Bigger Than Jussie: The Disturbing Need for a Modern-Day Lynching, in 2023.
“All I can say is, God bless you, and I hope it was worth it,” Smollett said to Variety, referencing those he blames for the investigation and hoax claims.
Does Jussie Smollett still act?
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Jussie Smollett on 'Special Forced: World's Toughest Test'.
While Smollett stepped away from the spotlight during the height of his criminal case, he pivoted to working behind the camera in 2020. His directorial debut, B-Boy Blues, which he also produced with his company SuperMassive Movies, was released in 2021.
Smollett’s sophomore feature film, The Lost Holliday, in which he directs and acts, hit theaters in 2024. Remarking on the movie’s reception, Smollett told PEOPLE, "I don't know that I was surprised, but I am so grateful. I'm a very grateful person and I'm happy to still physically be here and I don't take it lightly. The response has been ... I don't even know what the word would be. It's just great. It's just been wonderful to see."
Smollett also returned to music with a deal with Rowdy Records. His sophomore album, Break Out, will be released in September 2025 and follows his 2018 debut album, Sum of My Music.
In addition to his creative pursuits, Smollett participated in a Netflix documentary recounting the alleged hate crime and the turbulent litigation that followed. The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, which sheds light on allegedly missing pieces of evidence supporting the actor’s claims of innocence, will be released on Aug. 22, 2025.
Smollett’s career relaunch also includes a return to Fox, the network that dropped him from Empire. The actor will participate as one of the celebrity competitors on season 4 of Special Forces: World's Toughest Test, which premieres on Sept. 25, 2025.
Where is Jussie Smollett now?
Jussie Smollett/Instagram
Jussie Smollett and his fiancé visit Rome, Italy in June 2025.
With the alleged hate crime hoax officially behind him, Smollett is focused on reestablishing his career and building a family.
In June 2025, the Empire alum announced that he had proposed to his boyfriend, his The Last Holliday costar Jabari Redd. “I’ll be spending my birthday with my Fiancé… He said YES. 💍,” Smollett wrote on Instagram.
The previous year, the actor told PEOPLE he hoped to further his musical and filmmaking aspirations, as well as to become a father in the coming years. "I pray to have a child,” Smollett said. “I'm the type of person that I think that I would feel ... I'll say this, I can't imagine my life ending without having been a father.”
Smollett also attributed his drive to rebuild his career despite his tarnished reputation to his desire to inspire his future children. "I want my future kid to look at me and be like, 'Yo, he did that. He got through things and he created a world, or attempted to create a world and leave it just a tiny bit, or a lot of it, better than it was when he found it," he said.
"I just really want my kid to like me and be proud of me,” Smollett added. “I'm doing all of this stuff is for my kid, for one day them to read this conversation and just be like, 'Oh, he said that he was doing this for us. And he did.' "
on People
Source: “AOL AOL Entertainment”
