An appeals court upheld the disorderly conduct convictions Friday of actor Jussie Smollett, who was accused of staging a racist, homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lying about it to Chicago police.

Smollett, who appeared in the TV show “Empire,” challenged the role of a special prosecutor, jury selection, evidence and many other aspects of the case. But all were turned aside in a 2-1 opinion from the Illinois Appellate Court.

Smollett had reported to police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing ski masks. The search for the attackers soon turned into an investigation of Smollett himself, leading to his arrest on charges he had orchestrated the whole thing.

  • spacecadet@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    I remember being called racist on Reddit for pointing out that this seemed fake or he was making it up. The idea a bunch of Klan members riding around in trucks on Chicago’s south side at 3am to find Jesse Smollett randomly and put a noose around his neck but leave his subway sandwich in tact seemed like bad writing you would find on the CW