Topline
Actor Jussie Smollett, who has seldom been seen on screen since he was accused of staging a hate crime in 2019, will star in the new season of Fox’s “Special Forces: World's Toughest Test,” marking his return to the network following his rise to fame on the drama series “Empire.”
Smollett is one of 18 celebrities who will star on season four of “Special Forces,” a reality competition show in which participants face difficult challenges resembling actual military training.
The series premieres on Sept. 25 and will be Smollett’s first gig on Fox since “Empire” wrapped up in 2020 at the height of controversy over Smollett’s allegedly staged hate crime.
Smollett has seldom worked in film or television since the fallout over the alleged hate crime incident: He directed two independent films, “B-Boy Blues” (2021) and “The Lost Holliday” (2024), which were backed by his own production company but were not widely seen.
Smollett, who rose to fame starring on “Empire” between 2015 and 2020, claimed in January 2019 he was the victim of a hate crime and told police two men physically attacked him, poured an unknown liquid on him and called him racial and homophobic slurs. Smollett quickly garnered an outpouring of support from politicians and fellow celebrities, but following a police investigation, Smollett was charged in February 2019 with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report. Charges were dropped the next month in exchange for Smollett completing community service. But in 2020, following another investigation, a special prosecutor charged Smollett again for disorderly conduct and filing a false police report. He faced trial and was found guilty on five of six counts, and in 2022, he was sentenced to 150 days in jail and fined. Smollett served six days in jail and was released after his lawyers filed an appeal, arguing he shouldn’t have been charged again after the initial charges were dropped. In November, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned Smollett’s conviction.
A documentary purporting to have “new evidence” about Smollett’s case will premiere on Netflix later this month. Netflix announced “The Truth About Jussie Smollett?” in July, which it says will investigate the “shocking true story of an allegedly fake story that some now say might just be a true story.” The documentary is produced by RAW TV, the company behind popular Netflix documentaries “Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer” and “The Tinder Swindler.”
The upcoming fourth season of “Special Forces” will also feature “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Teresa Giudice and her daughter Gia, Olympic athletes Shawn Johnson East and Christie Pearce Rampone, Bravo star Brittany Cartwright and social media celebrity Brianna LaPaglia.
Actor Jussie Smollett’s Hate Crime Hoax Conviction Tossed Out (Forbes)