Smollett was first indicted on 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, though Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx agreed to drop the charges if he paid $10,000 and did community service. A special prosecutor later charged him again, leading to his trial and conviction.

Smollett had been accused of orchestrating a racist and homophobic attack on himself in downtown Chicago in 2019.

Nearly six years after actor Jussie Smollett was accused of staging a hate-crime hoax in downtown Chicago and lying to police, an Illinois Supreme Court decision overturned his conviction over prosecutorial issues,

The Illinois Supreme Court has overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction on charges that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019 and lied to Chicago police.

The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned former "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett's conviction for allegedly staging a hate crime against himself in Chicago in 2019.The state's highest court did not weigh in on the merits of the case against Smollett,

The conviction against actor Jussie Smollett in a case that accused him of falsely reporting a hate crime to Chicago police in 2019 has been overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court over prosecutorial issues.

The court overturned the case based on the procedural issue of a due process violation during the years of high-profile legal wrangling.