The Illinois Supreme Court will hear Jussie Smollett’s appeal after an appeals court in December upheld his conviction for disorderly conduct.
The conviction stems from Smollett’s 2019 claim that he was the victim of a hate crime – an allegation that proved to be false. The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday released a list of cases that it would allow to appeal, and Smollett’s case is included.
In December, a state appeals court upheld Smollett’s conviction in a 2-1 vote, WLS reported. Smollett then took his appeal to the state Supreme Court. A hearing date for the appeal has not been set.
In January 2019, Smollett claimed he was walking alone at night in Chicago during a polar vortex when two supporters of former President Donald Trump — allegedly carrying rope and bleach — recognized him from his role on “Empire” and brutally attacked him while yelling racial and homophobic slurs.
Smollett returned to a friend’s home and called the police, still wearing the noose that he said was placed around his neck by his attackers.
It was later reported that Smollett hired two Nigerian brothers he had previously worked with to stage the attack to raise his profile and hopefully get him a raise on “Empire” and further his acting career. The brothers alleged that Smollett paid them to buy plain red hats that he later claimed were “Make American Great Again” (MAGA) hats, signaling the attackers’ support of Trump.
In September 2020, Smollett insisted he was “set up” and continued to claim that he was attacked by two white men wearing MAGA hats. The brothers who said they were paid to stage the attack are black. The Daily Wire reported at the time that Smollett suddenly started claiming he had two witnesses who could prove he did not fake the attack.
After Chicago police investigated Smollett’s original claims for two weeks, they suspected he had staged the attack. Smollett was charged with 16 counts of lying to police, but those charges were dropped as part of a sweetheart plea deal made with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office.
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A special prosecutor was assigned to review the deal, and ultimately revived six of the original charges against Smollett, who was convicted of the charges in 2021. He spent just six days in jail after he appealed his 150-day sentence.
In March of last year, the brothers who helped Smollett stage the attack apologized during an appearance on Fox News.
“I just first want to apologize to everyone in the audience, the country, and anyone who might have been affected by this directly. When we were asked to partake in this, we really didn’t foresee the ramifications of what something like this could do to the country,” one of the brothers said. “We allowed our ambition to cloud our judgment.”
