The scandal surrounding Jussie Smollett is well known to the American public. The Empire actor allegedly staged an attack on himself, and then was arrested for lying to police about it. He was deemed guilty in the court of public opinion, but the prosecution dropped his charges in a strange twist of events. The entire story sounds like an Empire plotline, and now the city of Chicago is suing Smollett for the cost of the investigation.
Jojo Smollett, Jussie's brother, wrote a compelling op-ed piece for BET entitled What If Jussie Is Telling The Truth? In the article, JoJo writes, "I have literally seen him violently awakening from night terrors, following the assault. Some of my siblings, as well as Jussie’s partner and closest friends have seen similar things." JoJo also takes shots at the Chicago PD, writing, "the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department announced publicly that Jussie’s motive in staging an attack was so he could make more money from Empire. Fox immediately said that wasn’t true but the police chief never withdrew his accusation. The chief also stated as fact that Jussie had sent himself the threatening letter that arrived at the Empire production offices weeks before the attack. The FBI then refuted this claim. Again, the chief did not correct his accusations."
JoJo goes into more facts from a personal level in the piece, but his words will do little save his brother now. Whether or not Jussie committed the crime, he has already faced judgment in the eyes of the public. Although things do look grim for Jussie, Taraji P. Henson claims he will return to Empire.