Jussie Smollett reflects on his ‘darkest day’ during hate crime hoax: ‘I was numb’
Jussie Smollett is reflecting on his "darkest day" — the day he was arrested — five years after it happened.
"That was a pretty dark day because that's when everything clicked to me of what was happening," he told People in an interview published Saturday.
"A lot of things tested my strength, a lot of things tested my mental, but the one thing I never lost — I never started thinking that I am somebody that I'm not. That is the one thing that did not happen."
Smollett, 42, was arrested for allegedly perpetrating a hate-crime hoax after he told Chicago police that he was attacked by two masked men late in the evening on Jan. 29, 2019.
The actor, who is a gay Black man, claimed they yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him, wrapped a noose around his neck and doused him with bleach.
In March 2019, he was indicted on 16 felony counts for disorderly conduct and falsifying a police report, to which he pleaded not guilty . All charges were eventually dropped .
However, after further investigation, he was charged with six counts of lying to police in 2020.
In December 2021, he was found guilty of five felony counts of disorderly conduct for making false reports. He was sentenced to five months in jail and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine plus more than $120,000 in restitution for expenses incurred by the Chicago Police Department as they worked on his case.
He was released on bail six days into his sentence. His appeal is still pending.
"I was numb," Smollett further recalled to People about his arrest and the events that would unfold. "I didn't know how to connect the dots. I really genuinely did not know."
"I couldn't make sense of what was going on, and I couldn't make sense of what people were actually thinking ... what exactly do they think happened? I couldn't put two and two together."
The former "Empire" star maintains his innocence and told People he felt as if he was used as a political football ... from both sides."
Ahead of his sentencing in 2022, he reportedly told his legal team that he felt he was the victim of systemic racism in the judicial system.
"My views have not changed," he confirmed to People. "My heart has not shifted at all."
"I'm the same man that I was and will always be this way. If tons of people are listening to you, you should say something worth them hearing."
As he presses for an appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court, Smollett said he is focused on moving forward with his life.
"I'm very well aware of my privilege in this situation. That's why there's a certain point where it's just like, I can't hold on to the pain," he said.
"That's why I'm blessed to continue on and make film and make music and do the things that I was put down here by God to do."
