Jussie Smollett Hate Crime Hoax Conviction Overturned by Illinois Supreme Court

The Illinois Supreme Court overturned disgraced Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s hate crime hoax on Thursday, dropping all charges against him and ruling that he cannot be tried again.

Cook County’s State’s Attorney Kim Fox had initially struck a plea deal with Smollet, requiring the actor to forfeit his $10,000 bond and complete 15 hours of volunteer community service.

“We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust,” Justice Rochford’s wrote.

“Nevertheless,” she continued, “what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied.”

In March 2022, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in Cook County jail, 30 months of probation, pay a restitution of $120,106, and a fine of $25,000, after being found guilty of five counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report after he hired two brothers from Nigeria to stage a fake hate crime against him.

Days later, however, Smollett was released from jail on bond pending his conviction appeal.

Earlier this year, the actor appealed his case to the Illinois Supreme Court in an attempt to try to convince the public that he really was attacked by homophobic racists during a 2:00 a.m. Subway sandwich run in Chicago in 2019.

As Breitbart News reported, Smollett had claimed he was physically attacked by two men wearing MAGA hats who put a rope around his neck, poured bleach on him, and shouted racial and homophobic slurs, before eventually yelling, “This is MAGA country!”

The brothers later testified that Smollett gave them money to buy the rope they turned into a noose to put around his neck, and the ski masks to hide their faces.

Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.