We all know the truth about Jussie Smollett : In a desperate attempt to further his career, a talented actor and singer allegedly blew up the worm by fabricating an elaborate scam attack on himself. But what if the attack—what about Smollett's story—was real and true all along? That's the question at the heart of Relocating Gagan's Netflix documentary, like this one from Raw Productions , The Truth About Jussie Smollett?
Yes, the truth is unclear, the title required not one but two points of questioning.
In Chicago in 2019, Smollett said he was jumped by two white men who shouted racist and homophobic slurs at him, leaving him beaten and with a rope around his neck. But then police found Smollett to orchestrate the whole thing, hiring his friends and Empire backgrounds, Abel and Hello Osundairo, to carry out the deed.
Smollett was found guilty by a jury in December 2021 of disorderly conduct for reporting to police that he was the victim of a hate crime. He served six days of a five-month prison sentence in 2022 before an ongoing appeals process brought him back to prison. In November 2024, Smollett's conviction was struck down by the Illinois Supreme Court, which also ruled that he was ineligible to stand trial.
For all of this, Smollett has maintained his innocence and hasn't changed his story (though he's added a bit to The Truth About Jussie Smollett? ). His side of the story is basically suggesting that the Osndariros are lying and asking police in exchange for immunity from prosecution and clearing his record.
"What a gift as a director," Rehill, the director behind Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies and Scandal , says of his latest scandalous assignment.
“You can lean one way [and] it will seem like something,” he said of He was dito/She was It was the nature of the Smollett case. “You can lean another way and there’s another story behind it.”
Via Zoom, Rehill isn't tipping his hand on which side he leans toward in the judgment; though he, like all of us, quickly bought into the narrative hook, the line, and the template. But he entered the project openly, and then opened up (at least) about what he found.
"I want... viewers to have a conversation, a debate about it on their own," Rehill told The Hollywood Reporter . "That's part of the documentary for me—or itself , the outcome of watching. So I'm taking it out of the equation in terms of where I land."
Okay. So, it's worth it, there was a wide range of small sample size responses across the presentations.
“Everyone walks away from it with a different kind of opinion,” Rehill said. “I’ve spoken to some people now who were watching, who weren’t part of the production, and they all had a completely different take. And I think that’s part of the nature of it… it’s open to interpretation.”
Jussie Smollett and Taraji P. Henson in Fox's Empire
Chuck Hodes/Fox
In the divided America where Smollett something happened—Trump's first term as president was ending at the time—the concept of "truth" depends on which cable news channel you turn on. And the media is as much a supporting character in the Smollett saga as anyone in Doc's Deep Bank of Rehill interview.
“This film is about whether you believe Jussie or not, but it’s also about a reaction to [the news coverage of his case],” Rehill said. “It’s very interesting that people’s trust in mainstream media and law enforcement has been romanticized into needing to open the door to alternative truths or alternative outcomes or verdicts.”
The Truth About Jussie Smollett? Now streaming on Netflix, what's your verdict?
