Overview

• In an August interview with Variety, Smollett denied staging the 2019 attack and accused the Chicago Police Department and former Mayor Rahm Emanuel of framing him.
• He is featured in the Netflix documentary The Truth About Jussie Smollett? debuting Aug. 22 and will join Fox’s Special Forces competition series this fall.
• Brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo previously testified under oath that they carried out the assault at Smollett’s direction.
• A 2024 Illinois Supreme Court ruling vacated his five-count felony conviction on Fifth Amendment grounds tied to the initial dropped charges.
• In May 2025 he settled the City of Chicago’s civil lawsuit over investigative costs by donating to local charities without admitting guilt.