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Empire star Jussie Smollett returned to Hollywood, saying he is excited to be back in the industry amid legal battles that have dominated his life since 2019.
Smollett appeared on the red carpet at the BET Awards in Los Angeles Sunday, saying he is ready to look ahead as he focuses on directing the BET+ original movie B-Boy Blues.
“You know, I’ve never thought of myself as working my way back,” the actor told Entertainment Tonight. “It’s always been the plan to expand my empire, so to speak. To expand the level of what I want to do.”
<mediadc-iframe data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1656332739043,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-8cce-d87c-af7f-ddce9ca80000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1656332739043,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000017d-8cce-d87c-af7f-ddce9ca80000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"title":"Jussie Smollett Reflects on 'Wonderful' Hollywood Return After Scandal","iFrameEmbedCode":"","_id":"00000181-a51f-d578-a1dd-afbfc0f90000","_type":"00000161-b425-d761-a563-f7e77e270000"}”>Jussie Smollett Reflects on ‘Wonderful’ Hollywood Return After Scandal
Speaking to what is currently inspiring him, Smollett said it’s being “able to usher in just a new generation of artists, of actors, of this amazing talent that’s out there,” adding, “That’s what is feeding me.”
‘Y’ALL KNOW ME’: JUSSIE SMOLLETT STANDS BY CLAIM HE DID NOT STAGE HATE CRIME
Smollett also thanked his fans for their support.
“I tell them just, with all my heart, just thank you,” he said. “They never wavered. They never straddled the fence, and for that, I’m forever grateful. I don’t take that lightly.”
“My family, my friends, the true ones, supporters, it’s just, you know,” he continued. “If I never get to hug you in person, just know there’s a hug in my heart that I genuinely, genuinely mean.”
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Smollett was released from jail in March on bond after completing about one week of his original 150-day sentence pending an appeal of his guilty verdict earlier this year.
Smollett has maintained his innocence, recently telling Sway’s Universe that he did not create a hate crime hoax.
“I don’t think that that is, that’s not really questionable,” Smollett said. “I wanted to say, ‘If I had done something like this, it would mean that I stuck my fist in the pain of black Americans in this country for over 400 years.’”
“It would mean that I stuck my fist in the fears of the LGBTQ community all over the world,” he added. “I am not that motherf***er. Never have been. Don’t need to be.”
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On Jan. 29, 2019, Smollett told Chicago police officers that he had been targeted by two white men in ski masks who wrapped a rope around his neck and poured an “unknown substance” on him around 2 a.m. The assailants shouted, “This is MAGA country,” an apparent reference to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, before taking off, he claimed.
