Jussie Smollett returns to TV in 'Special Forces' 6 years after alleged hate crime scandal
Actor Jussie Smollett is making a return to television this fall, six years after an alleged 2019 hate crime scandal.
The 42-year-old actor will be joining the fourth season of the reality competition program "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" alongside 17 other celebrities. The show puts the contestants through military-style special forces training, and the upcoming season will be set in Morocco, according to a press release from Fox.
Smollett will appear alongside other notable athletes, artists, and personalities, including married couples Eric Decker and Jessie James Decker -- a former NFL player and country music singer, respectively -- and former NFL player Andrew East and retired Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson East.
Model Chanel Iman, "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" star Teresa Giudice and Giudice's daughter Gia will also be among the celebrity contestants.
Smollett previously starred as musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama "Empire" from 2015 until 2019.
In 2019, "Empire" co-creator Lee Daniels confirmed Smollett wouldn't be returning to the show ahead of its sixth season following an investigation into an alleged hate crime attack on Smollett in Chicago that authorities say was staged.
Smollett had filed a police report in January 2019 claiming he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack by two men. Chicago police later said they began to question that account after the two men allegedly involved in the attack, which was captured in security camera footage, told law enforcement the actor paid them to help him stage the attack. In a statement at the time, Smollett's attorneys denied the allegation, saying, "Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying."
A grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report in March 2019. However, the charges were later dropped after Smollett completed preemptive community service and agreed to forfeit 10% of a $100,000 bond.
Smollett was indicted again in February 2020 on six felony counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly making false reports to police. In December 2021, he was found guilty on five of six counts of disorderly conduct in connection to allegations of faking the attack and lying to police and was later sentenced to 150 days in county jail and ordered to pay $120,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago. He was also fined $25,000.
In November 2024, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned Smollett's 2021 conviction, stating that the case violated his due process rights and the court was simply resolving a "question about the State's responsibility to honor the agreements it makes with defendants."
"We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust," the court said at the time. "Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied."
Smollett has consistently maintained his innocence. In May this year, he settled with the city of Chicago in its civil case against him to recoup the costs of the initial 2019 investigation into the alleged attack. As part of the settlement, Smollett agreed to donate $50,000 to a Chicago nonprofit serving underprivileged youth. He also said he would give a separate $10,000 donation to the Chicago Torture Justice Center.
"To anyone who has had to prove they have in fact been violated, you know how difficult this can be to navigate," he wrote in an Instagram post at the time. "I stand with and for you."
Smollett also participated in the upcoming Netflix documentary film "The Truth About Jussie Smollett?" which explores the alleged 2019 attack case. The documentary is set to debut on the streaming platform on Aug. 22.
"Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" will premiere on Fox on Sept. 25.
