There’s a new documentary about Jussie Smollett on Netflix, and as expected, the disgraced actor is still trying to claim his innocence.
“The Truth About Jussie Smollett??” has two question marks in its title on purpose, and the director says the aim of the project is to cast doubt and let viewers form their own conclusions.
“You can tilt it one way [and] it will look like one thing,” documentary filmmaker Gagan Rehill told The Hollywood Reporter of the project. “You can tilt it another and there’s another story behind it.”
“I want … viewers to have a conversation, a debate about that themselves,” he added. “That’s part of the documentary for me — the after conversation, the aftermath of watching it. For that reason, I’m sort of taking myself out of the equation in terms of where I land.”
Smollett told police on January 29, 2019, that he was attacked by two men in Chicago at 2 a.m., who he claimed made racist and homophobic slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck, poured an “unknown substance” on him, and yelled that this is “MAGA country.” It was later found that Smollett had hired two Nigerian brothers to help him stage the attack.
The “Empire” star was convicted on five counts of disorderly conduct in 2021 and spent just six days in jail after appealing his 150-day sentence. Smollett was charged with 16 counts of lying to police, but those charges were dropped.
In November 2024, Smollett’s conviction was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court, which also deemed he could not be retried.
Smollett has insisted upon his innocence all along.
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“As an entertainer, as a businessman, I probably should [stop fighting the charges],” Smollett told Entertainment Tonight during a 2024 interview.
“But as a human being and as a man, as a black man and as an openly gay black man, I have a problem with letting them win on something they shouldn’t be able to,” the actor continued. “I’m a grown man and something happened. I can’t tell exactly what did happen, but I can tell you what did not happen. That’s what I have to sit on. No matter how much people are yelling in my face, saying ‘You’re a liar, you’re a liar.’ No, I’m not. No, I’m not. I don’t want them to believe that, but if that is what they believe, that’s on you.”
Rehill also claimed that the truth is “up to interpretation” and may depend on which news channel you tune into.
“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,” Rehill told THR. “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.”
“Every single other person’s story has changed multiple times. Mine has never,” Smollett told Variety in a new interview. “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 Truth About Jussie Smollett??” is currently streaming on Netflix.
