infamous actor Jussie Smollett He returned to the red carpet on Sunday wearing a tan jacket with long brown pants, as he looks to make a comeback in Hollywood.
The Empire actor, who was convicted last year of lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack, was pictured smiling widely BET Rewards at Microsoft Theater angel,
He was seen wearing a tan jacket, with sleeves rolled up over a white tank top, baggy brown pants reaching down to his heels and black leather boots. And around his neck he wore gold chains, a cross and a gold necklace in the shape of Africa.
In fact, Smollett, 40, looked almost carefree before the awards show, months after he was released from a Chicago County Jail after serving just six days of a 150-day sentence.
The Illinois Appellate Court ordered a stay of his sentence in March as he sought an appeal of his sentence.
Since then, Smollett has tried to rebrand himself in Hollywood—this time as director of the BET+ original film, B-Boy Blues, an adaptation of the James Earl Hardy 1991 novel.
He also released his song Thank You God, which touches on his recent legal troubles.
‘Some people are looking for fame / Some people chase that strength / Just remember this… This ain’t that position / You think I’m stupid enough to kill my reputation?’ read the song
Infamous actor Jussie Smollett, 40, returned to the red carpet for the BET Awards on Sunday, wearing a tan jacket with sleeves rolled up over a white tank top, baggy brown pants to her feet, and black leather boots.
Smollett almost seemed reckless after he was released from the Chicago County Jail in January 2019 for falsely claiming to be the victim of a hate crime. He is now appealing the sentence.
in an interview with entertainment tonight From the red carpet of Sunday’s BET Awards, Smollett said she ‘never thought of herself working my way up’.
He admitted that it has been ‘amazing’ to get the chance to be back on the sets and create content once again.
“It has always been a plan to expand my empire, so to speak,” Smollett told the outlet of his desire to become a director. ‘What I want to do is to expand the level … to a new generation of actors and actors and to be able to bring in these amazing talents.’
Smollett also had a message for those who have supported him through conviction: ‘I say to him with all my heart, just thank you.
‘He never gave up, he never fenced and I am forever grateful for that. I don’t take it lightly even for a moment.
‘My family, my friends, true people, if I never hug you in person, know that ‘I have a hug in my heart that I mean.’
Smollett was indicted in December on five counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police about being the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack he said was shouted at by Trump supporters that ‘this is MAGA country’
Smollett served only six days of his 150-day prison sentence when the Illinois Court of Appeals stayed his prison term, appealing his sentence. He is seen leaving the Cook County Department of Correction Detention Center on March 16, 2022
Smollett was indicted in December on five counts of disorderly conduct for lying to police about being the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack he said had Trump supporters shouted ‘this is MAGA country’.
She told Chicago police that in January 2019 she was stopped on a dark street in Chicago by two masked strangers.
According to his account of the attack, the attackers threw a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while shouting racist and homophobic slurs and expressing support for then-President Donald Trump.
But Chicago police had questions about his story almost immediately, pointing to the fact that he had put a noose around his neck as they questioned him and admitting that he had feared the attack. It was staged that he would be thrown out of the show.
During their investigation, Chicago police found that the two men who attacked Smollett were Nigerians. Brothers Abel and Ola Osundaro, who are black.
And in court, the brothers told the jury that Smollett hired them to fake assault because he wanted to boost his celebrity profile.
Smollett later claimed that in the days before the stunt, when prosecutors claimed he and the brothers were rehearsing the attack, they were actually getting together to smoke marijuana.
Smollett stunned the court by claiming that he was “outcast” and “masturbated” with Abimbola Osundaro during a visit to the bathhouse.
Chicago police had questions about Smollett’s story almost immediately and assumed he might have faked it because they feared he would be fired from his role on Empire.
The Chicago Police Department pointed to the fact that Smollett continued to wear a noose around his neck as they questioned him about the attack as evidence that he had faked it.
During the investigation, Chicago police found that the two men Smollett accused of assault were Nigerian brothers Abel and Ola Osundaro, who are black.
Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx sentenced Smollett in December, nearly a year after Smollett’s charges were unexpectedly dismissed in March 2019.
Months later, Judge Michael Tumin appointed Dan Webb as a special prosecutor in the case, asking Jim to investigate Foxx’s case and decide whether Smollett should be convicted further.
Soon after, Smollett was charged once again, and a trial began.
Eventually, Cook County Judge James Lynn ordered the actor to pay more than $120,000 to the City of Chicago, plus a $25,000 fine, and a sentence of 30 months’ probation and 150 days in prison.
Lynn accused Smollett of ‘throwing a national pity party for herself’.
‘You have turned your life upside down by your misconduct and deceit,’ he said, Washington Post, ‘You have destroyed your life as you knew it.
‘You wanted to attract attention, and you were so invested in social justice issues, and you knew it was a sad place for everyone in this country.’
But in March, an Illinois appellate court ordered a stay of Smollett’s prison term and required him to post a $150,000 personal identification bond.
He’s been independent ever since, and in a recent interview doubled down on his claims. Sway’s SiriusXM performance.
Addressing his highly publicized and controversial trial and its outcome on Sway’s SiriusXM show, Smollett stood by his claims of innocence and insisted that he did not lie about his homophobic assault.
Smollett stated on the show that his moral principles as a black gay man made him incapable of cheating.
‘If I had done that, I would have been a piece of s***. And I don’t think it’s really questionable,’ Smollett said in last week’s episode. ‘If I had done something like this, it would have meant that I have been holding my fist in pain for the more than 400 years of black African Americans in this country.’
‘It would mean that I clenched my fists in fear of the LGBTQ community all over the world. I’m not that mom *****. never have been. It doesn’t have to be,’ he said.
With the benefit of vision, Smollett compared his March six-day prison stay at the Cook County Jail to a cathartic opportunity he used to ‘recover and find clarity’ by fasting.
‘My lawyer…he lied when he said I was fasting for the sake of fasting. I was not fasting. I was fasting, because that’s what we do in our family, we fast for clarity,’ he said.
Smollett also said that he felt compelled to speak out about the attack, which proved to be a hoax in court, because he wanted to help those who did not have the resources to stand up for themselves.
‘Do I feel better than anyone else who has been attacked? Absoo-f******* – Not at all, but at the same time, I was so embarrassed that it happened,’ he said.
Smollett stated that while some of the things that came to light during the trial, such as his drug use, were true, he insisted that he did not pay criminals to attack him in order to gain sympathy from the public. .
While boasting about his career, he claimed that he would never have intentionally done anything to portray him as a victim.
‘I’m an actor, a director, a writer, a producer … If I had to do something, it wouldn’t look like a victim. It has to look like this, if anything, to look strong,’ he said.