Jussie Smollett attends the 2022 BET Awards.Photo:Paras Griffin/Getty
Paras Griffin/Getty
Jussie Smollettis reportedly working to get his life back on track after a tumultuous series of public events.
TMZreported Wednesday that theEmpirestar, 41, would be starting treatment at an outpatient rehab facility.
“Jussie has had an extremely difficult past few years. He has quietly been working very hard for some time now and we are proud of him for taking these necessary steps,” a rep for the actor said in a statement to TMZ.
Jussie Smollett attends Atlanta Black Pride Weekend 2022.Prince Williams/Wireimage
Prince Williams/Wireimage
Smollett’s rep and attorney have not responded to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.
In March 2022,The Skinnyactor wassentenced to jail time and probationfor a hate crime hoax that he staged with the Osundairos, and for subsequently filing a false police report in connection to the incident. He received 30 months of felony probation, including the first 150 days spent in jail, and ordered to pay $120,106 in restitution and a $25,000 fine. He was released after less than a week in jail pending an appeal of the conviction, which is ongoing in the Illinois courts.
Smollett,a gay Black man, claimed that on Jan. 29, 2019, while on his way home from a Subway sandwich shop,two men attacked himlate at night.
Jussie Smollett video from trial.
He claimed that the masked men yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him during the assault and also puta rope around his neckand doused him with bleach.
During the proceedings,Fox CEO Charlie Collierannounced he would be nixing Smollett’s role of musical artist Jamal Lyon forEmpire’s sixth and final season.
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“We miss Jussie,” she said on thePEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly Red Carpet Live: 2019Emmy Awardspre-show. “He’s family to us. There’s no way we can throw five years of family away. I miss him.”
Throughout the trial, Smollett maintained his innocence.
Jussie Smollett.
“I am not suicidal, and if anything happens to me when I go [to jail], I didn’t do it to myself and you must all remember that,” he told the court.
Less than a week after Smollett’s sentencing, it was announced that he would bereleased from jailas he appeals the conviction.
At the time, one of Smollett’s attorneys, Tina Glandian of Geragos & Geragos, told PEOPLE, “We are gratified that Jussie will be back with his family and loved ones and look forward to a dispassionate review and reversal of the serial injustices visited upon him.”
After keeping a relatively low profile following the hate crime hoax,Smollett attended his first red carpet appearance in yearswhen he arrived at a screening of his directorial debutB-Boy Bluesat the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem multiplex in New York City in November 2021.
“To see all the love for the film is crazy beautiful. More to come while I catch up but to everyone who came out last night with so much love and community … on behalf of everyone @bboybluesthefilm, Thank you. We love y’all. Now to find a home for it so the whole world can see,” Smollett wrote on Instagram the following day.
In September, heappeared in courtduring oral arguments in his appeal.
source: people.com
