Overview

• In a recent Variety interview, Smollett reiterated his unchanged account of the 2019 attack and accused the Chicago Police Department and former mayor Rahm Emanuel of orchestrating a cover-up.
• He suggested that officials manufactured the controversy to distract from the Laquan McDonald case by deploying a “shiny object” narrative.
• The Illinois Supreme Court vacated his 2021 felony disorderly conduct conviction in 2024 on due-process grounds without pronouncing him factually innocent.
• Special prosecutor Dan Webb has insisted that the high court’s decision did not undermine the “overwhelming evidence” from trial, including sworn testimony by Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo.
• He is slated to appear in Netflix’s The Truth About Jussie Smollett? on August 22 and is also pursuing roles on Fox’s Special Forces and the release of a new album.