Jussie Smollett was found guilty Thursday evening of falsely reporting to police that he was a victim of a hate crime in January 2019. It’s been nearly three years of conflicting stories and political rancor leading up to the jury’s decision, after the former “Empire” actor said he was attacked outside his Streeterville apartment, and police later accused Smollett of staging the crime. The City Cast team looks back on what morphed into a convoluted and public debate over whether it was all a hoax. Jacoby Cochran, Carrie Shepherd, and Simone Alicea relive the twists and turns of the case while trying understand why (or if) we should care about it.

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