Jussie Smollett, the former star of “Empire,” has maintained that his account of being attacked in an alleged hate crime in 2019 has never changed, yet questions remain.
The upcoming documentary “The Truth About Jussie Smollett?” features interviews with police, lawyers and officials familiar with Smollett’s case, as well as journalists and “investigators who claim to have uncovered new evidence,” according to a synopsis of the project. Smollett himself also appears.
The placement of the question mark in the title of the film, from the producers of “The Tinder Swindler,” invites the “audience to decide for themselves who is telling” the truth.
The case began early on January 29, 2019, when Smollett told police he was attacked near his Chicago apartment by two men shouting racial and homophobic slurs at him. Smollett said the men placed a noose around his neck and poured an unknown chemical substance on him, according to the Chicago Police Department at the time. Authorities initially investigated the incident as a hate crime.
Initial shock and sympathy turned to skepticism as emerging details led to public doubt about the actor’s claims. It also sent his career into a spiral.
From there, the case began its circuitous legal journey, and Smollett went from being indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct in March 2019, to those charges being dropped shortly thereafter (Smollett pleaded not guilty to the charges), to again being indicted by a grand jury the following year.
Smollett was eventually found guilty in December 2021 of making false police reports to Chicago officers, but last year, that conviction was overturned, with the Illinois Supreme Court citing prosecutorial issues.
In an interview with Variety published this week, Smollett spoke of his public vilification.
“Every single other person’s story has changed multiple times. Mine has never,” Smollett said. “I saw firsthand how narratives are built. I saw firsthand the way that someone can take the exact opposite of who you are and literally sell it.”
“The Truth About Jussie Smollett?” will premiere globally on Aug. 22 on Netflix.
CNN’s Ashley R. Williams, Sandra Gonzalez, Megan Thomas and Lauren Mascarenhas contributed to this story.
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