Jussie Smollett has completed a 5 month substance abuse program.
The former “Empire” actor —who is awaiting to find out if the Illinois Supreme Court will hear another appeal after his conviction regarding being a victim of a racist and homophobic attack back in 2019 was upheld in December – had been participating in an outpatient program at an undisclosed facility following an “extremely difficult” few years. Sources told TMZ that Smollet’s rehab stint came to an end last month.
An insider told the outlet Smollet put in the work — focusing on his health and being consistent with his workouts during his time in the program — with his substance abuse being mentioned frequently during his original criminal trial in Chicago.
The actor has a new management team in place, who are working hard to prepare him for the release of a new movie and various other projects.
Smollett‘s legal team filed a petition last month asking the Illinois Supreme Court to hear his case after an application for a rehearing was denied.
“What should have been a straightforward case has been complicated by the intersection of politics and public outrage,” his lawyers wrote.
They continued their argument from previous appeals, insisting Smollett’s 2021 trial violated the Fifth Amendment protections against double jeopardy because a 2019 plea deal to drop 16 counts of disorderly conduct had seen him perform community service and forfeit his $10,000 bond — only for a grand jury to restore the charges in 2020.
In December, the actor — who was sentenced to 150 days in prison in March 2022 but was released pending appeal — was told his first appeal had failed.
Smollett had sought to dismiss the charges after arguing there had been an “invalid appointment of the special prosecutor.” However, the opinion stated he had filed an appeal on a case under a different proceeding but also after the deadline had passed.
“Given the absence of a non-prosecution agreement with the CCSAO (the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office), re-prosecuting Smollett was not fundamentally unfair. Because the charges against Smollett were nol-prossed before jeopardy had attached in the first criminal proceeding, the subsequent prosecution did not violate his right against double jeopardy.” the ruling stated.
However, one of the judges, Freddrenna Lyle, had found it was “fundamentally unfair” for former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Dan Webb to be appointed special prosecutor after the actor had completed the community service that was part of a deal his team had previously made to get charges dropped.
