Jussie Smollett is talking out about his ongoing authorized case stemming from a 2019 racist and homophobic assault that he allegedly staged towards himself.

The Empire alum, who lately returned to the large display screen in The Misplaced Holliday — which he directed, co-wrote, produced and stars in — spoke about his ongoing effort to enchantment his 2021 disorderly conduct conviction after he was accused of staging that assault and mendacity about it to the Chicago police.

In a sit-down interview with Leisure Tonight seemingly achieved as a part of his Misplaced Holliday promotion, which has included a smattering of interviews, the actor continued to take care of his innocence, saying he’s nonetheless preventing for the reality of what occurred to emerge.

“I wish to have all of these items in my life, and I don’t wish to have a felony on my document for one thing that I didn’t do,” Smollett stated partly. “That’s what we’re preventing for. I do know that on the floor it in all probability looks like why doesn’t he simply serve the time, why doesn’t he simply let this go. It will be simpler if I had in reality achieved this to say that I did it. I wouldn’t have spent virtually $3 million of my very own cash. I wouldn’t have had a trial.”

After Smollett was arrested in 2019 and accused of staging the assault, the fees towards him had been dropped after which refiled a 12 months later and he was convicted in 2021 of 5 felony counts of disorderly conduct. He’s since appealed that conviction, with the case presently being reviewed by the Illinois Supreme Courtroom.

He admits that as an “entertainer” and “businessman,” he ought to cease preventing.

“However as a human being and as a person, as a Black man and as an brazenly homosexual Black man, I’ve an issue with letting them win on one thing they shouldn’t be capable to,” Smollett stated. “I’m a grown man and one thing occurred. I can’t inform precisely what did occur, however I can inform you what didn’t occur. That’s what I’ve to sit down on. Irrespective of how a lot persons are yelling in my face, saying ‘You’re a liar, you’re a liar.’ No, I’m not. No, I’m not. I don’t need them to consider that, but when that’s what they consider, that’s on you.”

Wanting again on the almost six years since Smollett stated he was attacked in early 2019, he says there are “1,000,000 issues” he would have achieved in another way. Particularly, he regrets doing a high-profile sit-down about what he claimed occurred to him, earlier than he was charged with disorderly conduct, with Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts.

“I want I hadn’t achieved the interview,” Smollett stated. “I by no means wished to. I watched it, and I used to be mortified.”

Smollett final 12 months reportedly entered rehab for substance abuse, one thing that he stated he was informed he “couldn’t” do beforehand.

“I’ve wished to do it for quite a few years. And to be fairly trustworthy, I used to be informed that I couldn’t,” he stated.

He argued that one of many challenges of “preventing the very issues which might be unfaithful” is how “some truths did come into play that they used to type of to show issues that weren’t true.”

“So there have been these moments the place I used to be like, ‘Oh my goodness, my life is type of — oh, effectively, I didn’t try this.’ And so they’re like, ‘However you probably did this.’ And I’m like ‘Ah, I did try this. I did purchase that.’ And there are issues like that that I’ve needed to speak to my household about, that I’ve needed to speak to buddies about,” he stated. “I’m OK with accepting duty for issues that I’ve truly achieved. I’m simply not OK with accepting duty for issues that I didn’t do.”

Smollett maintained that he has not modified his story all through this ordeal.

“I’ve stood by, not my fact however the fact for your complete time, virtually six years,” he stated. “I haven’t switched my story up. I haven’t modified something that I ever stated. I stand by each single factor that I’ve ever stated. Everybody else within the state of affairs, each single particular person, has modified their story quite a few instances.”