What Jussie Smollett Says In a New Documentary About His Hate Crime Scandal

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The Netflix documentary titled “The Truth About Jussie Smollett?” (released Aug. 22) poses a question in its title, because director Gagan Rehill prefers to let viewers form their own opinions about whether the African-American and gay “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was a victim of a hate crime or if he himself orchestrated such a hate crime.

According to Smollett, it was January 29, 2019, late at night, as he was walking home from the Subway sandwich shop near his downtown Chicago apartment. He alleges that a white man began verbally attacking him with racist slurs like “Empire faggot n” and “this is MAGA country!” He further claims that two men wearing balaclavas then attacked him, throwing bleach on him and putting a noose around his neck. Remarkably, he was still wearing the noose when the police arrived at his apartment.

The tale spread rapidly, igniting compassionate responses from political figures such as President Donald Trump, who described it as “awful,” and Vice President Kamala Harris, who labeled it a “contemporary attempt at lynching.

The legal proceedings concerning this matter have ended, as the Illinois Supreme Court reversed Smollett’s 2021 conviction for allegedly fabricating a hate crime. In 2021, a jury had found him guilty and sentenced him to five months in prison; however, he served just six days due to an early release on appeal.

In some circles, there remains skepticism about Jussie Smollett’s account of events. The attack incident lacks a video recording, and no DNA evidence was found at the crime scene, leaving the scenario enveloped in uncertainty. In “The Truth About Jussie Smollett”, interviews with Smollett himself are presented, along with representatives from the Chicago Police Department, lawyers on both sides of the case, Smollett’s accusers-his two brothers-who claim he fabricated the entire incident, and independent journalists who advocate for Smollett’s version of events.

Rehill expresses uncertainty about obtaining more definite responses,” he says. “In essence, his film isn’t primarily concerned with that…he hopes viewers will leave thinking, ‘Ah, I see, we now find ourselves in a society where such contradictory truths can coexist.’

Here’s how the documentary presents the two schools of thought on Smollett’s case.

The people who think Jussie Smollett is lying

In the footage from police body cameras, former Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson found it peculiar that Jussie Smollett was carefully handling a noose in his apartment – something that raised suspicion since Johnson couldn’t fathom why Smollett would keep the noose around. This intriguing detail will be shown in the documentary for viewers to see.

He mentions that he’s from the deep southern part of Alabama, which gave him a certain perspective during his upbringing. He expresses that if he knew someone who was Black and found a noose, they wouldn’t leave it on or tolerate it – their response would likely be one of contempt and revulsion. Additionally, Johnson points out that Smollett seemed reluctant to share his phone.

The main focus of this case revolves around Abimbola “Bola” Osundairo and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, a pair of brothers acquainted with Smollett, who claim that Smollett asked them to orchestrate an assault on him.

Upon examining ride-share and taxi records, the Chicago Police Department stated that the Osundairo brothers were the sole individuals present in the vicinity where the alleged incident occurred.

On a particular day, Bola recounts that out of nowhere, Smollett reached out via text message and inquired whether they could have a private conversation.

When he rode an Uber to the Empire set, according to him, Smollett allegedly told the driver that he wanted Bola and Ola to attack him, following which he intended to share the video on social media. As Bola explains in the documentary, “It seems he aspired to become a symbol of activism for Black individuals, for the LGBTQ+ community, or for any marginalized group.

But there is also no hard proof connecting Ola and Bola to the crime.

The case that Jussie Smollett was telling the truth

Leading up to the attack, Smollett claims he received a threatening note with magazine letters arranged to form a stick figure of a man wearing a noose. Smollett’s mother was part of the Black Panthers, and he himself is vocal about the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality concerns.

He explains that he didn’t keep the rope around his neck for 35 minutes before the police came. Instead, he picked it up again to demonstrate the situation to them.

According to Smollett’s account, the texts to the Osundairo brothers were not about ordinary messages but a coded request. He claims he was asking for an herbal steroid, used for reducing belly fat, which is illegal in the U.S. but available in Nigeria. Furthermore, he asserted that the $3,500 check was meant to pay for personal training sessions provided by Bola.

Additionally, two individuals corroborate Smollett’s account. A security guard from a Sheraton hotel claims he witnessed a white man running along the street around the alleged attack time as reported by Smollett. Moreover, a resident in Smollett’s building stated she observed a man with a rope protruding from his coat while walking her dog near the building, which she believed could potentially clear him of any wrongdoing. As Smollett puts it, “I thought to myself, this is going to prove my innocence.

Two independent journalists scrutinizing police evidence related to the Smollett case for news coverage suggest in a documentary that the individual sprinting down the street appears Caucasian rather than African American, unlike the Osundairo brothers. Tina Glandian, an attorney from Geragos and Geragos who defended Smollett, questions this scenario: “If Jussie was planning to claim that white individuals carried out the attack as caught on tape, why would he engage two Nigerian men for the job?

Jussie Smollett today

Smollett is currently considering his professional future options, and it seems that taking part in a documentary might help him clarify the truth amidst a media landscape he likens to the “Whack-a-Mole” game due to numerous rumors and speculations.

The documentary concludes with Smollett asserting, “In the end, whether someone admires me or dislikes me is irrelevant. Whether you appreciate this interview or find it off-putting, whether you think I’m attractive or not right now, whether you enjoy my performances or can’t stomach them – these things don’t matter. What truly counts is, regardless of your opinion of me, with all my imperfections and strengths, with all the emotions I evoke – joy and sorrow – what really matters is that I didn’t do that [fake a hate crime], and that’s all there is to it.

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2025-08-22 16:07