Fox Nation’s new Jussie Smollett docuseries aims for an inside look at how a well-known “Empire” actor went from a Hollywood staple to faking a hate crime.
In the exclusive trailer shared with TheWrap, “Jussie Smollett: Anatomy of a Hoax,” which follows the news that Smollett’s attorneys filed an appeal challenging his conviction, walks viewers through Smollett’s multi-step plan. This includes exclusive interviews with Ola and Bola Osundairo, the brothers who were hired by Smollett to stage the crime.
While one interviewee points out that Smollett’s alleged hate crime victimization didn’t see too out of the realm of possibility, saying, “When I heard that a Black, gay man had been attacked, sounds about white to me,” it’s clear the actor worked to devise a believable plan for the incident.
“Most folks aren’t going out at 2:00 in the morning on the coldest night of the year,” one interviewee says in the clip, as another one noted, “you couldn’t write that better.” Smollett’s plans for the incident required collaborators, which he found in the Osundairo brothers, who recalled the actor told them to “make sure [they] had a red hat for Trump” after hiring them to attack him.
Next up: Play the victim in a soon to be viral moment of news and activism.
“I thought Jussie Smollett’s performance when he gave the interview to Robin Roberts was masterful,” another interview subject notes as one of the Osundairo brothers chimed in, adding that Smollett even “shed a tear.”
The incident widespread generated outrage and public expressions of support from the likes of Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden, people who, interview subjects note, “retweeted these articles as truth.”
“I think that he was looking for that civil rights martyrdom,” another interview subject said as a police official says “Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.”
“Jussie Smollett: Anatomy of a Hoax” debuts Monday, March 13 on Fox Nation.
