Hollywood is no stranger to scandal. From affairs and love triangles – think the 1949 Ingrid Bergman-Roberto Rossellini affair and the Elizabeth Taylor-Eddie Fisher-Debbie Reynolds triangle in the 1950s – to the abhorrent Harvey Weinstein sexual assault case which triggered the #MeToo movement, the geographical and metaphorical epicentre of cinema has long been embroiled in impropriety. One of its most recent and mystifying scandals, however, came in 2019 with the peculiar case of Jussie Smollett – now the subject of a Netflix documentary which premieres today (22 August 2025). 

Born and raised in California, Smollett began his acting career as a child star in the 1991 comedy The Mighty Ducks. It triggered a flurry of other projects – namely guest starring in the likes of American drama series The Mindy Project and Revenge – and releasing his own EP, The Poisoned Hearts Club. His big break, however, came in 2014 when he landed the role of musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series Empire. 

His storyline saw Lyon struggle to gain the approval of his father, and Smollett’s role was hailed as groundbreaking for its positive depiction of a black gay man. Starring opposite Taraji P Henson and Terrence Howard, and enabling him to make his directorial debut with an episode in 2017, Smollett reprised his role in every season of Empire until 2019. The year when everything changed. 

The Truth About Jussie Smollett. Image: Netflix

Jussie Smollett departs after a court appearance at the Leighton Criminal Court Building in February 2020. Image: Alamy

On 29 January 2019, Smollett told police that he had been physically attacked, with the assailants using racial and homophobic slurs and referencing the MAGA slogan synonymous with President Trump, outside his Chicago apartment building in the early hours of the morning. Police also reported that Smollett was attacked with an “unknown chemical substance” and a rope was wrapped around his neck during the incident. 

Naturally, news of the attack triggered a widespread outpouring of love and support for Smollett. Viola Davis and Janelle Monae condemned the attack, while fellow Empire co-stars Grace Byers and Naomi Campbell showed their support, with the series’ creator and producer Lee Daniels sharing an emotional Instagram video saying: “Hold your head up Jussie. I’m with you.”

Roughly 10 days later, things began to go awry. While refusing to hand over his phone over to police, Smollett released a statement saying: “The outpouring of love and support from my village has meant more than I will ever be able to truly put into words […] I am working with authorities and have been 100 per cent factual and consistent on every level.” And why would anyone doubt him? At a pre-planned concert in early February 2019, he made further comments, including “I’m not fully healed yet, but I’m going to” and “there has been a lot of stuff said about me that’s absolutely not true” before closing with “I’m the gay Tupac”, for which no further explanation was offered. 

Things continued like this for several weeks, with Smollett defending his decision to keep his phone – “I have private pictures and videos and numbers,” he told Good Morning America on 14 February 2019 – while news emerged that two people of interest had been arrested but not charged, before being released. They were brothers Obabinjo (Ola) and Abimbola (Abel) Osundairo, friends of Smollett and Empire extras. 

Three days later, Chicago PD released a statement saying they wanted to speak with “the individual who reported the incident” – aka Smollett – and on 20 February 2019, he was charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report. This came after a US journalist discovered CCTV appearing to show the Osundairo brothers buying items, including ski masks, that Smollett alleged were worn by his attackers. On 21 February, he handed himself into police and was arrested. 

During a press conference, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Smollett “took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career” and did it because he was “dissatisfied with his salary”. Police also claimed he sent a racist letter to himself at a Fox studio and paid the Osundairo brothers approximately £2,600 to carry out the staged attack.

Smollett in the new Netflix documentary, The Truth About Jussie Smollett. Images: Netflix

On 14 March, Smollett pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of disorderly conduct before all charges were dropped less than two weeks later – which ignited a furore in the States. Daniels spoke about the “pain and anger and sadness and frustration” the incident had caused the Empire crew; Superintendent Johnson said at the time, “It is Mr Smollett who committed this hoax, period”; Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel added that dropping the charges was “a whitewash of justice”; and President Donald Trump tweeted that the case was an “embarrassment to the nation”. 

Smollett was ordered to pay compensation for police overtime, was sued by the City of Chicago and the Osundairo brothers, and was dropped from Empire. But the story doesn't end there. In early 2020, he was once again charged with six counts of lying to police. The trial ensued in November 2021, and, in December, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days jail time, a fine of $145,000 (£110,000) and 30 months probation. 

In a shocking turn of events, Smollett was released from jail six days later and the entire conviction was overturned in November 2024. He has always maintained his innocence. It’s the complicated nature of the case that made Netflix director Gagan Rehill want to revisit the events in a new documentary, The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, and invite Smollett to offer his version of events on camera. Redhill told Tudum: “I hope to let the viewer sit, watch, and grapple with whichever truth they interpret from what they see. And, most importantly, to consider the nature of truth itself in our ever-increasingly polarised society.” 

The Truth About Jussie Smollett? is available to stream on Netflix now. 

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