¿La verdad sobre Jussie Smollett?

Famous Jussie Smollett is attacked in the small hours, claiming two white men attacked him and put a noose around his neck. A few holes appear in Jussie's story.

I really wanted to believe Jussie's story, I was hoping this would alter my thoughts on it and change the narrative, I'm afraid the lies seem even more evident now.

The story is just all over the place, it's like something out of a comedy farce, if two guys attacked me I don't think I'd be taking my Subway home with me.

After Jussie's failed return last year, that awful holiday movie, this felt like a strong attempt to try and exonerate Jussie and put him back on the market.

There are a couple of interesting people here, I thought the Osundairo brothers seemed like really down to earth and amusing guys, Gloria Schmidt seemed so fun and down to earth, I liked her.

One question though? In Chicago are there no other cameras??

5/10.

It's hard to imagine a more embarrassing and destructive event in one's life, and it is so complete that no retelling of the tale can undo any of the affects of said event. You would have to move to a distant planet to escape this. The evidence is too compelling, the hoax so well investigated that attempts to retroactively provide a measure of redemption fail profoundly. When Smollett exclaimed he was "not suicidal" while being taken to jail after conviction belies the fact that he destroyed his life, killed his own reputation with such a fierce finality that it is not reversible.

When Netflix dropped The Truth About Jussie Smollett? On August 22, 2025, it came dressed up as a thoughtful, "multi-perspective" documentary-complete with a question mark poised to signal fair-mindedness. But make no mistake: this film feels more like a cleverly disguised PR vehicle than an honest investigation.

From the get-go, director Gagan Rehill levers the ambiguity of the case-conviction, reversal, competing narratives-to nudge the viewer toward one conclusion: that Smollett's version deserves equal weight. But one can't help but notice the heavy-handed framing. The central tension the doc presents-hate-crime victim or schemer-for-hire-leans uncomfortably toward absolving Smollett, despite the mountain of evidence suggesting otherwise.

Let's be clear on the facts: Smollett was found guilty in 2021 of staging the attack and filing a false police report-convicted on five felony counts and handed a jail sentence. Yes, his conviction was overturned in 2024-but not because the evidence was exonerating. The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the verdict on narrow due-process grounds: prosecutorial misconduct, not innocence.

Yet the film props up Smollett's denial as the moral high ground. One can't help but feel the editing hand gently sets him up as a misunderstood martyr. Meanwhile, you'd expect a fair documentary to weigh the testimonies of the Osundairo brothers-who claimed he hired them to stage the attack-against his increasingly polished defense. Instead, the editing gives Smollett far more sympathy, even as legal documents still imply serious wrongdoing.

And how about that question mark in the title-it smartly deflects criticism. "Oh, it's just asking questions," they'll say. But let's be honest: we all know it's not an open-ended inquiry. It's a Trojan horse for redemption TV.

At the end of the doc, Netflix's armchair detective stance invites viewers to re-evaluate the story of media overreach, police screw-ups, fractured narratives, and institutional bias. Yet what's glaringly omitted in that invitation is the clear line between investigative nuance and sympathy laundering.

Closing Thought (with a wink at Netflix's weakness for edgy doc series): If Netflix is so committed to making every controversial figure "complex," why not go bigger? Maybe they'd like to air Onision's YouTube "documentaries" next-where he claims (with equally persuasive logic and zero evidence) that he's innocent too, because, well... words and feelings.

Look - some people hate the fact that these kinds of documentaries are on Netflix. I LOVE IT. This further cements the perception of guilt. Comes in handy when enough time has gone by, and enough doting fans have squeaked loudly enough, that people may begin to question what they have heard. Nope. It's true. He's a narcissist who pulled a bad hoax. Others will disagree.

I'm embarrassed for Netflix. Jussie can't help himself and it's obvious this is a desperate pitch to resurrect his career. But Netflix is just showing their desperation (and flaunting their politics) with this very weak "documentary". I will seriously consider ending my Netflix subscription once the last season of 'Stranger Things' has ended.