Jussie Smollett isn’t backing down. Ahead of Netflix’s August 22 release of The Truth About Jussie Smollett?, the 44-year-old former Empire actor is doubling down on his claim that the 2019 attack against him was real — and not a hoax.
“Every single other person’s story has changed multiple times. Mine has never. I have nothing to gain from this,” Jussie told Variety, rejecting the idea that he staged the incident.
Smollett says he was assaulted by two masked men who used racist and homophobic slurs before putting a noose around his neck and pouring bleach on him.
“What did not happen is the story that’s been out there for almost seven years, that somehow I would have even a reason to do something as egregious as this,” he said.
The actor also accused the Chicago Police Department and then-mayor Rahm Emanuel of working against him. “The villains are the two people who assaulted me, the Chicago Police Department and, if I may be so brave, the mayor,” he claimed.
Smollett added, “I saw firsthand how narratives are built. I saw firsthand the way that someone can take the exact opposite of who you are and literally sell it.”
The upcoming documentary will revisit the case and feature new interviews, aiming to shed light on the controversy that has followed Smollett for years.
