Jussie Smollett's reported hate-crime attack
■ The claim
Actor Jussie Smollett was widely reported, based on his account and initial police statements, to have been the victim of a racist and homophobic assault by two men in Chicago in January 2019. Many commentators and public figures treated the attack as established fact.
■ What actually happened
Within weeks Chicago police said Smollett had paid two brothers to stage the attack, and he was charged with filing a false report. Charges were dropped in March 2019, then a special prosecutor re-indicted him, and in December 2021 a jury convicted him on five counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police. In November 2024 the Illinois Supreme Court overturned the conviction on a procedural ground: the state had to honor the earlier deal that dropped the charges. The court did not find him innocent, and the special prosecutor said the ruling had nothing to do with innocence.
■ The proof
Chicago police findings announced Feb. 21, 2019, and the Dec. 9, 2021 jury verdict; the Nov. 21, 2024 Illinois Supreme Court reversal rested on the non-prosecution agreement, not on the facts of the attack.
■ Original reporting
- NPR: Police say Empire actor attacked in possible hate crime (Jan. 29, 2019)https://www.npr.org/2019/01/29/689758253/police-say-empire-actor-jussie-smollett-attacked-in-possible-hate-crime
- ABC7 Chicago: Smollett attacked in possible hate crime, police sayhttps://abc7chicago.com/empire-actor-attacked-in-possible-hate-crime-police-say/5111396/
■ Corrections, findings & records
- WBEZ: Chicago's top cop says Smollett attack was a publicity stunt (Feb. 21, 2019)https://www.wbez.org/crime/2019/02/21/smollett-attack-was-publicity-stunt-top-cop-says
- ABC7 Chicago: Smollett guilty on 5 counts of disorderly conduct (Dec. 2021)https://abc7chicago.com/post/jussie-smollett-verdict-charges-latest-news/11315052/
- AP via ABC News: Illinois Supreme Court overturns conviction on procedural grounds (Nov. 21, 2024)https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/jussie-smolletts-conviction-2019-attack-overturned-116094756
■ Wayback Machine copies
Stories sometimes get edited after publication. These links open the Internet Archive's earliest snapshot of each original.
- Archive copy: NPR: Police say Empire actor attacked in possible hate crime (Jan. 29, 2019)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.npr.org/2019/01/29/689758253/police-say-empire-actor-jussie-smollett-attacked-in-possible-hate-crime
- Archive copy: ABC7 Chicago: Smollett attacked in possible hate crime, police sayhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://abc7chicago.com/empire-actor-attacked-in-possible-hate-crime-police-say/5111396/
■ Grade
DEBUNKED: Shown false by evidence or official findings, whether or not the outlet corrected it. How we grade →