Jussie Smollett will appear in a Netflix documentary about the hate crime hoax he allegedly staged in 2019.
Netflix is expected to release “The Truth About Jussie Smollett?” on Aug. 22, Deadline reported Tuesday. The 90-minute documentary will include an interview with Smollett and examine the fallout from the ex-“Empire” star’s claim that he was the target of a racist and homophobic attack in Streeterville in 2019.
Chicago police and prosecutors later said that Smollett staged the attack, and he was charged with 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for hiring men to pretend to beat him up.
Smollett gave up his $10,000 bond and performed 15 hours of community service in exchange for prosecutors dismissing the case. But in 2022, Smollett was tried by a special prosecutor and convicted on five counts, serving six days of a 150-day jail sentence pending an appeal.
That case was overturned last year when an Illinois Supreme Court judge ruled the actor shouldn’t have been re-charged by a special prosecutor.
In May, the city’s Law Department announced it had reached a settlement with Smollett, and the actor said he was giving $50,000 to BBF Building Brighter Futures Center for the Arts.
The documentary will also feature interviews with police, lawyers, journalists and investigators who claim to have uncovered new evidence about the case, Deadline said.