Jussie Smollett Has Courtroom Meltdown After Being Sentenced To 5 Months In Jail For Staging Fake Hate Crime
Last December, actor Jussie Smollett was convicted of orchestrating a fake hate crime against himself. He now faces up to three years in prison, and the livestream of his sentencing hearing is above. (Note: The livestream has now ended.)
Update 1: The defense had asked for a new trial for Smollett, but the judge denied that request. They’re now on a 10-minute recess ahead of the sentencing.
Update 2: The judge is back and the sentencing is set to begin…
Update 3: The hearing is finally winding down after several hours of lawyer arguments and testimony from witnesses speaking in support of Jussie Smollett. After telling him that he’s “destroyed his own life” more than he ever could with any sentence, the very annoyed judge called Smollett a hypocrite, told him that he “craved attention,” and said that he “threw a pity party” for himself after staging the fake hate crime. The judge also confronted Smollett with the fact that he’s done serious damage to people who were (or who will be) real victims of hate crimes. In short, this judge is pissed.
Update 4: He’s been excoriating him for nearly an hour! Will the judge ever announce the sentence?
Update 5: Finally, we have the sentence. Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 150 days in jail. Following that, he’ll be on 30 months of probation. He’s also been ordered to pay $120,106 in restitution to the city and a $25,000 fine. Following the sentence, Smollett stood up and had a bit of a meltdown in the courtroom, screaming, “I am not suicidal! I am not suicidal! If anything happens to me [in jail], I did not do it to myself.” It’s not clear what prompted this outburst, but maybe he thinks he’s going to be murdered in jail, and he believes authorities would try to frame it as a suicide? Jussie, please, you’re no Jeffrey Epstein. Video:
Jussie Smollett after the judge sentence to 150 days in Cook county jail: “I’m not suicidal, I’m not suicidal, if anything happens to me, it was not caused by me. I’m innocent” pic.twitter.com/uYjvvkZ8wD
— Giuseppe Mercadante (@itsmercadante) March 11, 2022
The police then immediately took Smollett into custody, where he’ll remain for the next five months. He raised his fist and appeared to be shouting something else as he was taken out of the courtroom.
