Source: Gilbert Flores / Getty
The 90-minute documentary is set to hit the streamer’s platform on August 22.
All3Media-owned production company Raw is behind it, which is the same company that made the murky crime-based documentaries like Don’t F**k with Cats and Tinder Swindler.
The documentary is especially interesting because Smollett will be telling his own tale of events for the first time.
Netflix’s logline explains the project as a “shocking true story of an allegedly fake story that some now say might just be a true story. Featuring interviews with police, lawyers, journalists, investigators who claim to have uncovered new evidence about the case, and with Jussie himself, this compelling documentary invites the audience to decide for themselves who is telling The Truth About Jussie Smollett?”
Gagan Rehill has signed on as director and is excited to share it with Netflix viewers.
Love Black America Web? Get more! Join the Black America Web Newsletter
We care about your data. See our privacy policy.
“This story is a thrilling ride, and we were lucky enough to have access to the key players. I wanted this documentary to balance their competing narratives and to also use their compelling, colorful testimonies to thread the light and shade of the story through the film,” Rehill said. “But much more than that, I wanted this film to speak to the particular moment of rapid cultural change when this takes place in 2019; when, as a society, we were becoming more combative, more polarized, more divergent over our shared reality – when we began to lack a common singular truth.”
It all started back in 2019 when Smollett claimed he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack in his hometown of Chicago. He called the police, explaining two MAGA supporters assaulted him, but as facts began to untangle the story, it was discovered that he hired two brothers to stage the ordeal.
Through a lengthy legal battle, Smollett spent six days in jail r
elated to five felony charges, which include filing a false police report and lying to police. The saga ended a few months ago when he
agreed to donate $50,000 to charity in exchange for the civil lawsuit being dropped, less than half of the $130,000 worth of resources the Chicago police department accused him of wasting.
He wrote the check to
Building Better Futures Center for the Arts in Chicago, a nonprofit that aims to “improve the quality of life for underprivileged youth and their families by providing safe, stable, and nurturing experiences that enhance social, emotional, academic, and career development.”
Smollett vowed to move forward and has, recently getting engaged to his now-fiancé and fellow actor Jabari Redd. In June, he shared photos of the surprise proposal on Instagram with the caption reading “I’ll be spending my birthday with my Fiancé… He said YES.”
But now that we’re back focused on the hoax crime, see social media’s reaction to the upcoming documentary.
