Jussie Smollett is once again speaking out about the events surrounding the controversial 2019 hate crime allegations that derailed his career. In a new interview with Variety, the former Empire star doubled down on his claims of innocence while accusing Chicago officials of conspiring against him.
Smollett alleges that both the Chicago Police Department and then–Mayor Rahm Emanuel played key roles in framing him, going so far as to call them the “real villains” in his case. “The villains are the two people who assaulted me, the Chicago Police Department and, if I may be so brave, the mayor,” Smollett said.
The actor also drew comparisons between his treatment by the media and authorities and the public scrutiny faced by Michael Jackson during the pop icon’s legal battles. Smollett suggested that his case was used as a political distraction, pointing to the timing of its emergence.
He specifically referenced the Laquan McDonald case — in which a Chicago police officer was convicted of killing a Black teenager — noting that missing footage and key evidence in that case came to light just days before his alleged attack. “Did they just find out about the missing minutes and the missing tape from the murder of Laquan McDonald?” he asked, implying that the focus on his case shifted attention away from the city’s ongoing police controversies.
Smollett’s renewed public statements come ahead of a Netflix documentary set to revisit the events of 2019 and explore his claims in detail. The project is being positioned as part of his ongoing attempt at a career comeback.
The former actor maintains that he was physically attacked in a racially and politically motivated incident in Chicago, despite a jury finding him guilty of staging the assault. Smollett served six days of a 150-day jail sentence before being released pending appeal.
