Jussie Smollett’s Convictions Overturned by Illinois Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of Illinois overturned the convictions of Jussie Smollett, the actor who was previously found guilty of falsely reporting a hate crime following a high-profile 2019 incident.

The state’s highest court ruled on Thursday, Nov. 21, that Smollett’s rights were violated when a special prosecutor pursued charges after the Cook County State’s Attorney previously dropped them.

Prosecutors previously alleged that Smollett, who formerly starred on the show Empire, staged a hate crime in Chicago after the actor said he had been the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in January 2019.

Smollett, who is Black and openly gay, was accused of paying two brothers, Abimbola “Bola” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, $3,500 each to help him stage the attack.

Smollett was indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct that March, but the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office later dropped the charges, saying that Smollett had forfeited his bond and done work in the community.

But in 2020 a special prosecutor re-filed charges and Smollett was tried on six counts of disorderly conduct. He was convicted on five counts in 2021. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail but was released as he filed his appeal.

The case generated nationwide controversy, particularly after the charges were initially dropped. In its decision, the Illinois Supreme Court acknowledged the high-profile nature of the proceedings.

“We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust,” the court said in its opinion, which was obtained by PEOPLE. “Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied.”

Smollett has consistently denied the charges. In September, he spoke to PEOPLE and addressed the incident.

“I was numb,” Smollett told PEOPLE. “I didn’t know how to connect the dots. I really genuinely did not know. I couldn’t make sense of what was going on, and I couldn’t make sense of what people were actually thinking … what exactly do they think happened? I couldn’t put two and two together.”