Jussie Smollett Enters Rehab, Takes ‘Essential Steps’ After ‘an Extraordinarily Troublesome Previous Few Years’

The previous ‘Empire’ star has maintained a comparatively low profile following a hate crime hoax

Jussie Smollett is reportedly working to get his life again on monitor after a tumultuous sequence of public occasions.

TMZ reported Wednesday that the Empire star, 41, can be beginning therapy at an outpatient rehab facility.

“Jussie has had an especially troublesome previous few years. He has quietly been working very exhausting for a while now and we’re happy with him for taking these needed steps,” a rep for the actor mentioned in an announcement to TMZ.

Smollett’s rep and legal professional haven’t responded to PEOPLE’s requests for remark.

The assertion didn’t specify what he’s looking for therapy for. Nevertheless, throughout his extremely publicized trial in connection to a Jan. 29, 2019 incident, it was alleged by the Osundairo brothers — Abimbola “Bola” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo — that they offered Smollett with quite a lot of unlawful substances.

Associated: ‘Empire’ Creator Lee Daniels Says He’s ‘Beyond Embarrassed’ by the Jussie Smollett Scandal

In March 2022, The Skinny actor was sentenced to jail time and probation for a hate crime hoax that he staged with the Osundairos, and for subsequently submitting a false police report in connection to the incident. He obtained 30 months of felony probation, together with the primary 150 days spent in jail, and ordered to pay $120,106 in restitution and a $25,000 nice. He was launched after lower than per week in jail pending an enchantment of the conviction, which is ongoing within the Illinois courts.

Smollett, a gay Black man, claimed that on Jan. 29, 2019, whereas on his approach dwelling from a Subway sandwich store, two men attacked him late at night time.

He claimed that the masked males yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him throughout the assault and in addition put a rope around his neck and doused him with bleach.

Throughout the proceedings, Fox CEO Charlie Collier introduced he can be nixing Smollett’s function of musical artist Jamal Lyon for Empire’s sixth and last season.

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Following the choice to not have him as a solid member on the sequence, Smollett’s Empire co-star Taraji P. Henson spoke in assist of him on a number of events.

“We miss Jussie,” she mentioned on the PEOPLE and Leisure Weekly Purple Carpet Reside: 2019 Emmy Awards pre-show. “He’s family to us. There’s no approach we are able to throw 5 years of household away. I miss him.”

All through the trial, Smollett maintained his innocence.

“I’m not suicidal, and if something occurs to me once I go [to jail], I did not do it to myself and you need to all do not forget that,” he advised the court docket.

Lower than per week after Smollett’s sentencing, it was introduced that he can be released from jail as he appeals the conviction.

Court docket paperwork obtained by PEOPLE said that the order was granted as a result of “the defendant has been convicted on non-violent offenses” and that the court docket “might be unable to get rid of the moment enchantment earlier than the defendant would have served his complete sentence of incarceration.”

On the time, one among Smollett’s attorneys, Tina Glandian of Geragos & Geragos, advised PEOPLE, “We’re gratified that Jussie might be again together with his household and family members and stay up for a dispassionate evaluation and reversal of the serial injustices visited upon him.”

After holding a comparatively low profile following the hate crime hoax, Smollett attended his first red carpet appearance in years when he arrived at a screening of his directorial debut B-Boy Blues on the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem multiplex in New York Metropolis in November 2021.

Associated: Queen Latifah Weighs in On the Jussie Smollett Case: ‘Innocent Till Proven Guilty’

“To see all of the love for the movie is loopy lovely. Extra to come back whereas I catch up however to everybody who got here out final night time with a lot love and neighborhood … on behalf of everybody @bboybluesthefilm, Thanks. We love y’all. Now to discover a dwelling for it so the entire world can see,” Smollett wrote on Instagram the next day.

In September, he appeared in court throughout oral arguments in his enchantment.

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