Jussie Smollett 'doing well' and 'focusing on work' after alleged fake hate crime exoneration
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Jussie Smollett is doing “pretty well” after his alleged Chicago hoax, and hopes to be publicly exonerated “once all the information comes out,” according to a Saturday report.
“He is focusing on his work here in L.A.,” an unnamed Smollett spokesman told the Chicago Sun-Times. “But he understands many people still have doubts. But he hopes once all the information comes out, he will be vindicated in the minds of the public.”
The 36-year-old actor has been living in Los Angeles, according to his spokesman, since Chicago prosecutors dropped all 16 felony disorderly conduct charges against him after he was accused of faking a racist, homophobic attack.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The “Empire” star is reportedly anxiously awaiting the airing of Wednesday’s episode — the last one he filmed before he was charged, according to the paper.
Smollett, who is openly gay, is “very proud of the wedding episode this week and the history it will make as the first time two African American men have been married on television,” his spokesman told the Sun-Times. “This was an emotional time for him because he had lobbied for this wedding to happen for a long time.”
Smollett still faces a lawsuit filed by the city of Chicago to recoup the $130,000 they spent on his case.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The story originally appeared in the New York Post.