Jussie Smollet’s 2019 conviction for filing a false hate crime claim has been overturned. Stay tuned for the full story.

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The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of actor/singer Jussie Smollett on charges that he committed a racist and homophobic attack on himself in downtown Chicago and then lied to police in 2019. In 2021, the “Empire” actor was convicted of five misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly committing a hate crime against himself and was sentenced to 150 days in jail. Smollett has always maintained his innocence. He testified that “there is no hoax.” We spoke to him in the studio earlier in September, where he shared this:

Jussie Smollett:

It’s really about knowing who you are and being okay with that, and recognizing and acknowledging your shortcomings, but not letting anyone else tell you who you are.

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That same month, the court heard an appeal arguing that a special prosecutor should not have intervened after the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office initially dropped the charges.

But today, according to the Chicago Tribune, Smollett’s conviction was overturned. Billboard received a statement from Special Counsel Dan K. Webb regarding the Illinois Supreme Court’s reversal of Jussie Smollett’s convictions and sentence. “We respectfully disagree with the court’s factual and legal reasoning, which upends long-standing Illinois precedent.”

We also heard from Smollett’s lawyer Nenye Uche: “This was not a prosecution based on facts, but rather a vindictive prosecution, and such a proceeding has no place in our criminal justice system. Ultimately, we are happy that the rule of law was the big winner today. We are grateful to the Illinois Supreme Court for restoring order to Illinois criminal jurisprudence.”

Stay tuned for more updates here at Billboard News.