US actor Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail for fake hate attack
- Former Empire actor sentenced for lying to police about a hate attack he orchestrated himself
- Jussie Smollett yelled ‘I am innocent’ and raised his fist as he was led away from the courtroom
A Chicago court on Thursday sentenced actor Jussie Smollett, one-time star of the TV drama Empire, to 30 months probation and 150 days in jail for staging a hate crime against himself.
On Thursday, Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Linn also ordered Smollett to pay over US$120,000 in restitution and fined him US$25,000.
“I know that there is nothing that I will do here today that can come close to the damage you’ve already done to your own life,” said Linn. “You’ve destroyed your life as you knew it.”
Smollett didn’t make a statement when offered the opportunity earlier in the afternoon but maintained that he was innocent after Linn issued his sentencing decision. He also insisted that he was not suicidal, suggesting that “if anything happens” in jail, he did not take his own life.
“If I did this, then it means that I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBT community,” Smollett said, standing up at the defence table as his lawyers and sheriff’s deputies surrounded him.