The embattled actor’s title resurfaces as Netflix’s newest documentary questions the official story and explores how mistrust in regulation enforcement formed public opinion.

Jussie Smollett and the fallout from his 2019 alleged hate crime are again within the highlight because of a provocative new Netflix documentary.

The Truth About Jussie Smollett?? questions the official model of occasions and explores how public mistrust in police and media helped form competing narratives.

Director Gagan Rehill revisits the controversial case that noticed Jussie Smollett convicted of staging a racist and homophobic assault on himself in Chicago.

Netflix launched the documentary almost six years after the unique incident in downtown Chicago, the place Smollett claimed he was overwhelmed by a pair of white MAGA supporters who tied a information round his neck and doused him with a chemical spray.

The movie, now streaming globally, dives into the swirling debate over what actually occurred and why so many individuals nonetheless imagine conflicting variations of the reality.

“What a gift as a director. You can tilt it one way [and] it will look like one thing. You can tilt it another and there’s another story behind it,” Rehill informed The Hollywood Reporter.

Smollett, greatest recognized for his function on Empire, was discovered responsible of felony disorderly conduct in 2021 after prosecuters charged him with faking the crime.

He served six days of a five-month sentence in 2022 earlier than being launched pending attraction. In November 2024, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned his conviction on authorized grounds, that means he can’t be retried.

The documentary options interviews with key figures within the case, together with the Osundairo brothers—Abel and Ola—who claimed Smollett paid them to hold out the staged assault. The brothers reportedly acquired immunity from unrelated gun prices in alternate for his or her testimony.

Rehill stated the movie is not only about Smollett’s guilt or innocence but in addition concerning the broader cultural second.

“This film is about whether you believe Jussie or not, but it’s also about a reaction to [the news coverage of his case] as well. It’s just very interesting that people’s trust in mainstream media and in the police has been eroded so much that they have to open the door to alternate truths, or alternate results or verdicts.”

The case has remained a flashpoint in conversations about race, movie star, and credibility within the United States. Smollett has maintained his innocence all through.

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