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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
Sun-Times staff

‘Empire’ actor Jussie Smollett reportedly checks into rehab

Jussie Smollett (Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times (file))

Actor Jussie Smollett has reportedly entered a rehab treatment facility’s outpatient program, according to TMZ.

It wasn’t clear the issue Smollett is seeking treatment for.

Smollett, 41, is awaiting a ruling by a three-judge panel of the Illinois Appeals Court on whether to uphold his conviction for faking a 2019 hate crime near his Streeterville home in Chicago.

The former star of the hit show “Empire” was charged in 2019 after it was revealed that he had made up a story about being the target of a racist and homophobic attack on a frigid night while walking to his Streeterville apartment.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office dropped the charges months later. 

A new indictment was later brought against him by Special Prosecutor Dan Webb, who was appointed by a judge to review the decision to drop the case.

After the indictment, a Cook County jury found Smollett guilty in December 2021 of lying to police.

Prosecutors said Smollett, who is Black and gay, staged the attack, including hiring two brothers to rough him up and place a noose around his neck.

The jury found Smollett guilty on five of six counts of disorderly conduct, and he was sentenced to 30 months’ probation, with the first 150 days to be served at Cook County Jail. 

Smollett spent six days behind bars before being released while he appealed the conviction.

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