Jussie Smollett has come to terms with people choosing to believe him or not after allegations he staged a racist hate crime in 2019.
The actor sat down with Cam Newton on a recent episode of the Funky Friday podcast for a deep dive into his career and, naturally, spoke at length about the highly publicized incident.
"At this point, I’ve kind of set into the fact that most people have made up their minds about what they want to believe, whether that’s in support of me or against me," he said (around the 58-minute mark of the episode below). "Either way, okay. Because at this point, my people know. My mother has always known. My siblings have always known. My love has always known."
Elsewhere in the interview, Smollett seemingly suggested he embellished his claims of fighting back against his attackers by explaining why he did.
"I wanted to speak for, but I didn’t want to be a part of the club of people who’ve been attacked, assaulted, or jumped, especially for the reason that it seemed like I was," he said. "That’s where the performative nature of 'he hit me, and I hit his ass back' came from, to seem less weak. That certainly comes from being young and hearing my pops say, 'Better know how to fight, or people will think you're a sissy.'"
Smollett was charged by Chicago police weeks after the 2019 incident, ultimately being sentenced to 150 days in jail and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, but the conviction was overturned in 2024, with him having to pay $10,000 and having to do community service .
Last month, Smollet appeared on Kandi Buruss’ Speak on It podcast and spoke about his belief that the incident would have ended his career. "Hell yeah. Absolutely. I was looking for other things to do," he told Burruss. "I'm just like, 'Forget this.'"
"I don't know. I'll become a tap dancer or a teacher or a nanny, something — an au pair, a governess, you know. I don't know. A stripper," he added. "You know, I got the moves."