Jussie Smollett plans to return to acting, activism after serving 150 day jail sentence

Former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett, who was found guilty of staging a hate crime in 2019, has plans to return to acting and activism after his sentencing hearing and serving the time he has been given.

A personal friend of Smollett’s, Tom Wilson, told the New York Post Smollett plans to resurrect his acting career and resume his extensive charity work, which was a hallmark of Smollett’s career in Hollywood before the 2019 staging of a hate crime against himself.

Wilson, who met Smollett 15 years ago while they were doing charity work together, says Smollett “wants to get this over with.”

On Thursday, Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in county jail. Smollett maintained his innocence after the sentence was read. “Your Honor, I respect you and I respect the jury but I did not do this. And I am not suicidal. And if anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself. And you must all know that,” Smollett said to the judge.

In addition to the 150 days in jail, the judge also ordered Smollett to pay $120,106 in restitution to the city of Chicago and a $25,000 fine, as well as up to 30 months of felony probation.