Jussie Smollett Confidently Walks Into Court For Hearing

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Jussie Smollett speaks at the Children's Defense Fund California's 28th Annual Beat The Odds Awards at Skirball Cultural Center on December 6, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (
Jussie Smollett wasn't required to attend the hearing.

The Jussie Smollett case is one of the more strange events that's occurred in 2019 so far. The singer gained public sympathy after alleging he was a victim of a hate crime only to be accused of staging the attack himself. Although he's maintained his innocence, the court of public opinion isn't buying it. However, he's adamant that he's proven innocent and he plans on being active in his defense throughout the trial.

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Jussie Smollett confidently walked into the Cooks County Courthouse for a hearing on his case but he wasn't actually required to be there. The hearing was actually for his lawyer, Mark Geragos, to finalize his paperwork in order to represent Jussie in the state of Illinois. TMZ's sources claim that the actor is working towards being an active participant in his defense rather than an observer. The "Empire" actor has been keeping a low profile ever since the alleged attack went down earlier this year but he's reportedly done with hiding from the public.

Jussie Smollett's case reached a new level on Friday after a grand jury revealed that he's been indicted on 16 felony counts for filing a false police report -- one count for each alleged false statement he provided to police during two interviews. His lawyer responded by claiming that the indictment "is nothing more than a desperate attempt to make headlines in order to distract from the internal investigation launched to investigate the outrageous leaking of false information by the Chicago Police Department." 


About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.
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