Jussie Smollett Is Sentenced to Jail for False Report of a Hate Crime
nytimes.comA judge in Chicago sentenced Jussie Smollett tofive monthsin jail on Thursday, ordering that the actor be incarcerated for falsely reporting to the police that he had been the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in 2019.
Judge James B. Linn excoriated Mr. Smollett from the bench, saying he had concluded that the actor had premeditated the hoax and that, despite his and his family’s admirable past work in social justice, he had an arrogant, selfish side because he “craved the attention.” The judge said he was particularly upset that Mr.
Smollett’s conduct had hurt other victims of hate crimes at a sensitive time, when America was trying to climb out of a painful past of racism. “There are people that are actual, genuine victims of hate crimes that you did damage to,” the judge said.
Given the chance to address the court before the sentencing, Mr. Smollett declined, but after Judge Linn read his sentence, the actor defiantly stood up and declared, “I am not suicidal.
