The Truth About Jussie Smollett? (2025) on Netflix
R20251h 27mDocumentary
Jussie Smollett tells Chicago police that two masked men attacked him, shouting racist and homophobic slurs and putting a noose around his neck. Celebrities and politicians voice support.
- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb4.9/102,269 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes67%
Trailer
Plot summary
Early on 29 January 2019, Jussie Smollett tells Chicago police that two masked men attacked him, shouting racist and homophobic slurs and putting a noose around his neck. Word of the alleged hate crime spreads fast, and celebrities, politicians and advocacy groups offer solidarity. Footage of him on stage at a concert days later, along with supportive headlines and social media posts, captures the sympathy his account first drew. In the documentary, his account sits beside interviews with investigating Chicago police officials, journalists, lawyers and the Osundairo brothers.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Truth About Jussie Smollett? (2025)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- During promotion of the documentary, Jussie Smollett said it includes previously unreleased footage that investigative journalists obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests; his legal team received it only days before his 2021 trial, preventing it from being introduced as evidence.
- Commentators placed the documentary against the case's legal history: Jussie Smollett's 2021 conviction and the Illinois Supreme Court's 21 November 2024 decision to overturn that conviction on due-process grounds, a ruling that did not equal a finding of factual innocence.
