Jussie Smollett opens up about 2019 incident: 'I couldn't understand what happened'

Actor Jussie Smollett, known for his appearance in the hit television series “Rich', sat down with People magazine to talk about his experiences according to what he knows Incident 2019where he was accused of staging a Hate crimes. According to the actor, he was attacked by two men who made racist and racist comments homophobic insults. It was later claimed that he paid these men to carry out the attack. Looking back on this time of his life, Smollett explained how much it really affected him emotionally and mentally.
According to Smollett, he was completely deaf and dazed during this time. He said he didn't know what happened or what people thought about what happened. He said, “I really didn't know.” I couldn't wrap my head around what was happening and couldn't wrap my head around what people really thought…what did they think actually happened? “He couldn’t really process the situation, particularly the way these allegations followed.”
To this day, Smollett remains uncertain about exactly what happened and how the narrative developed.
Furthermore, he added that he couldn't believe that people thought he planned the whole thing. He said it seemed like some people just wanted to attack him for some reason and in all of this he was distant and disconnected from everything. He still talked about the emotional impact, saying it wasn't that easy for him and he didn't want to pretend to the world that everything was fine. Since the attack, Smollett says he has devoted most of his time to healing and self-reflection. “It was hard for him,” he said of the media attention. However, he also said that he was not the victim of the event. “It’s not in my head, it’s not in my soul, it’s not in my spirit,” he said. He has learned to focus on his inner strength and believe that no matter what people say or do to hurt him, he cannot help them control his mind, his soul, or his sense of self.
“You can’t control the knowledge I have about who I am,” Smollett said. For those unfamiliar with this case, Smollett recounted an incident last January in which he was approached by two men while walking home from a Subway sandwich shop in New York. They allegedly shouted racist and homophobic insults, put a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him. However, authorities later accused Smollett of staging this attack to gain media attention.
The two brothers, Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo, are accused of working for $3,500 from Smollett for the entire incident. In 2021, Smollett was found guilty on five counts after a trial disorderly conduct for making a false police report. He was sentenced to 150 days in jail, a $25,000 fine and over $120,000 in restitution for overtime work Chicago Police Department. On the other hand, Smollett was released on bail after six days pending an appeal, which is still ongoing.