US actor Jussie Smollett found guilty of staging racist, homophobic attack, lying to police
- A jury found the former Empire actor guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct, but his lawyers said they would appeal
- Prosecutors said he recruited two brothers to fake the attack near his home in Chicago in 2019 for publicity
Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett was convicted on Thursday on charges he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself nearly three years ago and then lied to Chicago police about it.
Smollett stood and faced the jury as the verdict was read, showing no visible reaction. He and his family later left the courthouse without comment.
The jury found the 39-year-old guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct – for each separate time he was charged with lying to police in the days immediately after the alleged attack. He was acquitted on a sixth count, of lying to a detective in mid-February, weeks after Smollett said he was attacked.
Outside court, special prosecutor Dan Webb called the verdict “a resounding message by the jury that Mr Smollett did exactly what we said he did”.
Smollett “wreaked havoc here in the city for weeks on end for no reason whatsoever”, then compounded the problem by lying under oath to the jury, Webb said.
Defence lawyer Nenye Uche said Smollett would appeal the conviction. He said Smollett was disappointed but “holding up very strong” and is “committed to clearing his name”. He expressed confidence the actor would be cleared by an appellate court.