Jussie Smollett is reflecting on the "dark day" that occurred after he reported being a victim of a hate crime—one authorities say never happened. In 2021, a Chicago jury found the Empire alum guilty of five counts of disorderly conduct for falsely telling police in January 2019 that two masked strangers had attacked him on the street while hurling racist and homophobic slurs. Smollett, who maintains his innocence , was in 2022 sentenced to 150 days in jail and was released after six days following an appeal filed by his lawyer.
The actor had turned himself in to police a month after reporting about the alleged hate crime attack, with authorities accusing him of paying two brothers $3,500 to stage the incident . "That was a pretty dark day because that's when everything clicked to me of what was happening," Jussie told People about his arrest in comments published Sept. 28.
"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." The 42-year-old said there was "no way" the public could believe "a stupid rumor." However, he added, "I'm not going to sit here and victimize myself and be like 'Woe is me,' because there's so many people that don't have the platform or the resources that I have to protect themselves.
" The actor said he was aware of his own "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.