The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned Jussie Smollett’s conviction on charges that he staged and lied to the police about being the victim of a homophobic and racist hate crime in 2019. 

The court ruled the actor should not have been prosecuted again after he had already reached a deal with prosecutors to resolve the case. 

However, the ruling did not address whether Smollett was innocent of staging the hate crime, as he has continued to claim, overturning the conviction on the grounds that the second prosecution was a due process violation. 

“We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust,” Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the court’s 5-0 opinion, referring to the initial deal Smollett had reached. “Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the state was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied.”

In 2019, the “Empire” star claimed he had been physically attacked by two men in a homophobic and racist hate crime. He told Chicago police that they had put a noose around his neck, yelled slurs, and told him that he was in “MAGA country” during the attack. 

He initially received an outpouring of support, particularly from the LGBTQ and Black communities. But police soon charged him with filing a false report, alleging he had staged the attack as part of a hoax. 

Prosecutors controversially dismissed the initial charges in exchange for community service and the forfeiture of his $10,000 bond. After public outcry, a special prosecutor recharged Smollett with the same offenses in 2020. 

The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday found this second prosecution violated the deal initially reached by the state, as well as Smollett’s due process rights. 

In 2021, a Cook County jury found Smollett guilty on the charges the special prosecutor had brought against him, and he was sentenced to 150 days in jail and 30 months of probation, along with a $120,000 restitution payment to the city of Chicago for the overtime costs incurred by police investigating his initial hate crime claim.

He only served six days in jail before he was released upon appealing his case. An Illinois Appellate Court upheld his guilty verdict last year, after which he appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. 

In a Washington Blade interview in September, Smollett addressed his conviction, denying that he had staged the attack.

“I know what happened and soon you all will too,” he told the Blade.

Asked to address the concern among some in the LGBTQ community that his case would discredit victims of hate crimes and make it more difficult to report future such crimes, he responded, “If someone reported a crime and it wasn’t the truth, that would actually make it more difficult [to report future crimes], but I didn’t. Any belief that they have about the person that I’ve been played out to be, sure, but that person is not me, never has been. So I stand with my community. I love my community and I protect and defend my community until I’m bloody in my fist.” 

BY TIM PRUDENTE | A Bethesda real estate investor nabbed Kevin Spacey’s waterfront Baltimore mansion at auction last month for a bargain, only now he has a problem.

Spacey, he said, has not given up the house.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

British pop megastar and longtime LGBTQ ally Adele reacted to a member of the audience who repeatedly yelled “Pride Sucks” in between songs during her show Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Adele, who is continuing her iconic residency, Weekends with Adele, at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, has been a strong LGBTQ supporter. Last year, she celebrated Pride Month during her Las Vegas residency wearing a black dress with a rainbow flag train and Pride-themed confetti. 

Sitting down on the piano bench next to her pianist bantering with the audience which is routine, the singer eviscerated the unseen audience member:

“Did you come to my fucking show to say Pride sucks? Are you fucking stupid?” Adele angrily said reacting. “Don’t be so fucking ridiculous. If you have nothing nice to say, shut up, alright?”

The incident, which was caught on cell phone footage and posted to X, has since gone viral:

Adele goes off on audience member who yelled “Pride sucks” at her concert tonight:

“Did you come to my f*cking show and just say that Pride sucks? Are you f*cking stupid? Don’t be so f*cking ridiculous. If you have nothing nice to say, shut up, alright?” pic.twitter.com/M3yl2mdzLV

— Pop Base (@PopBase) June 2, 2024

Adele did not hold back when an audience member yelled “Pride sucks!” during her Las Vegas residency on Saturday night.

“Did you come to my f—ing show and just say that Pride sucks?" the singer said. "Are you f—ing stupid?" https://t.co/tDbvFCJRcT

— Variety (@Variety) June 2, 2024

“Happy Pride… not to you though” (points to the man who yelled Pride sucks). 😭#WeekendsWithAdele
pic.twitter.com/Jl0dqymy40

— Adele Daily (@adeledailynet) June 2, 2024