Jussie Smollett Completes 5-Month Rehab Program
Source: Variety / Getty
Jussie Smollett, the actor whose tale of a racial attack proved to be a hoax, has completed a five-month stay in rehab, TMZ first reported.
Smollett, 41, was starring on the TV show Empire in 2019 when he said he was attacked outside of his Chicago apartment building, called a racial slur, had a chemical substance poured on him and a noose placed around his neck. But personal trainers and brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo said Smollett paid them to set up the incident to gain more publicity for his role on the show. In 2021, he was convicted of five felony counts for the hoax.
Smollett became the whipping boy of conservative media and a running joke on Black media after the initial reports were disproven. In October of 2023, he checked himself into an outpatient rehab facility to deal with substance abuse issues that were revealed during his trial in Chicago.
Sources told TMZ that Smollett was “doing the work” during his time in rehab. He has a new team and an upcoming film he directed called The Lost Holiday. He worked on it with Vivica A. Fox who publicly supported him despite the bad press the incident generated.
“That was tough. He’s family; he’s always gonna be family,” she said on Watch What Happens Live. in 2019. “I love him to death.”
Smollett, who is the older brother of actress Jurnee Smollett, comes from a family of actors. In 2022, she defended her brother in an Instagram post. “Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at nearly five times the rate of White Americans. Jussie is innocent. And… you don’t have to believe in his innocence to believe he should be free.”
Smollett was sentenced to five months in jail and must pay $145K in restitution and fines to the city of Chicago. He must also serve 30 months of probation. He is currently waiting for the Illinois Supreme Court to decide whether or not they will hear the case on appeal.
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