The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor Jussie Smollett's conviction on charges that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself in downtown Chicago in 2019 and lied to police.

The state's highest court ruled that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County state's attorney initially dropped charges against Smollett in exchange for forfeiting his $10,000 bond and conducting community service. The ruling and the appeal did not address Smollett's continued claim of innocence.

Smollett, who is Black and gay, claimed two men assaulted him, spouted racial and homophobic slurs and tossed a noose around his neck, leading to a massive search for suspects by Chicago police detectives and kicking up an international uproar. Smollett was on the television drama "Empire," which filmed in Chicago, and prosecutors alleged he staged the attack because he was unhappy with the studio's response to hate mail he received.

"We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust," Justice Elizabeth Rochford wrote in the court's 5-0 decision. "Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the state was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied."

Smollett's attorneys have argued that the case was over when Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office dropped an initial 16 counts of disorderly conduct. The deal prompted immediate backlash, with then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel calling it "a whitewash of justice." A special prosecutor was appointed, and a grand jury... Read More