Jussie Smollett At it Again; Still Maintains Innocence of Alleged Faux Racial Attack Despite Increasing Legal Woes

CHICAGO, IL – Jussie Smollett is at it again, it seems, claiming in a recent interview that he is innocent of charges that he staged a fake racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019, all while still embroiled in a legal dispute with the city of Chicago over the alleged incident.

In an Instagram Live interview with BET recently, Smollett maintained that he was legitimately attacked and beaten on January 29, 2019, despite a grand jury returning a six-count indictment against him of lying to Chicago police about it.

“It’s been frustrating, to say the least,” he said in the interview. “It’s been beyond frustrating, because to be somebody that… speaks up for so much and speaks up about so many things, it’s been difficult to kind of be quiet – to not be able to say all the things you want to say, to yell from the rooftop, because I don’t think people realize that I’ve just been wrapped up in some form of a case for the last approaching two years.”

The former “Empire” star, 37 – who was written out of the HBO show by producers after it came out that he had purportedly faked his attack – claimed that he was accosted by two men wearing ski masks who proceeded to beat and call him racial and homophobic slurs – Smollett is both black and gay – tied a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him. The attack garnered Smollett a great deal of sympathy and media attention, until he was subsequently arrested and charged by Chicago police with falsifying the incident after allegedly hiring two men to stage the incident.

Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx caused controversy herself when she dropped the criminal charges against Smollett, a move that a special Chicago prosecutor later determined was an abuse of her discretion, as well as calling statements her office made in regards to the case “misleading.” However, fortune turned against Smollett once again when his legal troubles awoke anew in the form of a criminal indictment re-igniting charges that he lied to Chicago police about his attack. Despite maintaining his innocence, Smollett has since stated that he does not expect to win his case.