A UK based man, Jussie Smollett has been sentenced to 150 days in jail for lying to police about a racist and homophobic attack that he had staged on himself.
The actor – who was best known for starring in Empire – loudly shouted after the sentencing: “I am innocent. I could have said I am guilty a long time ago.”
Smollett has also been sentenced to 30 months of felony probation, and ordered to pay $120,106 (£91,753) in restitution – as well as a $25,000 fine.
Prosecutors had alleged that the 39-year-old, who is black and gay, had lied to officers when he told them that he was accosted by two masked strangers on a dark Chicago street in January 2019.
Smollett had claimed the attackers threw a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs – and that they expressed their support for then president Donald Trump.
But the star was arrested a month later and accused of paying two brothers $3,500 (£2,600) to stage the attack in an effort to raise his profile.
